Record of Wrongs

Great story of redemption- overcoming what is seemingly impossible to recover from. Cruz had a terrible hand dealt to him and endures 10 tears in prison as an innocent man who is finally vindicated.

Cruz decides to start over in a small town away from the demons in the city of Chicago. He is a sexy, tattooed man in a southern town where life is in slow motion to what he had been used to. Cruz is so relateable as a man just trying to start over. What he hadn't planned on was encountering the beautiful Rosie who has things she to hides in her past.

When the truth is discovered about Cruz I loved how Rosie and even her brother didn't let it cloud their judgment of Cruz and let his current actions speak for themselves. Rosie was open to all things Cruz didn't know he was looking for or needed in putting his past behind him. These two were sweet and vulnerable with one another and stripped themselves bare emotionally.

Great story of overcoming a past, finding love and making a future. Lol forward to other books in this series.

I really enjoyed reading this romance novel. The characters had amazing backstories that helped add to the overall plot line of the story. The setting only adds more detail to the amazing overall story.

Cruz Zaffino is released from prison after ten years for a crime that he did not commit. Now that he has left the big city of Chicago he has ended up in a small town looking for a new life. A start over. One night in a bar he meets Rosie Marlow, she has grown up in Sundown, Illinois. Her brother Shane is a sheriff and he knows all about Cruz and though he wants to give him the benefit of the doubt Cruz does come to Rosie’s aid one night which helps his cause, and that Rosie likes Cruz. You are taken through the two of them getting to know one another and the country girl trying to bring it to the city boy. She is also wanting to open up to him about her past which was an accident and she feels guilty about. The reasons for this are explained in the story and her fears are in part because of a small town. Cruz though helps her as much as she helps him. The real story is can his past stay in the past or will it find its way too small town American. A very good story and good characters. Overall a good book.

Reviews originally posted on the blog: http://www.romancerehab.com/

This was a book that totally surprised me. I’ve read “hero just got out of prison” romances before, and honestly, there’s very few that I enjoyed. They're usually just too angsty for me. (I’m old and grumpy, folks. Angsty just doesn’t work for grumpy old-timers like me.) But this book was surprisingly low angst, and I really enjoyed it!

What I loved most about Cruz’s relationship with Rosie was that it was so honest. They didn’t keep their painful pasts from each other. They talked about it and got it all out in the open just like people would in real life. ​

It was refreshing, because I can’t even tell you how many books I’ve read where either the hero or heroine (or both) spends chapter after chapter wallowing in oh-I-can-never-tell-anyone-my-secrets-because-they’ll-hate-me-forever land. Cruz and Rosie were mature and REAL and I adored them for that.

I kind of liked that Rosie had some secrets in her past, too. She would’ve been too perfect without them. The fact that she’d made some mistakes and had to overcome the consequences of those mistakes just made her even more likeable as a character, in my opinion.

Cruz was a great hero, too. He had the whole alpha, dirty-talking, bad boy thing going for sure, but he was never once an alphahole to Rosie, her friends, or her family. I LOVE an alpha male who still manages to maintain some gentlemanly manners.

(Aside to the author: I’d 1-click the CRAP out of Shane’s story, should you choose to write it. And I would hope that Denver the dog plays a BIG part in it. Hint, hint, hint.)

And this was one of the few small town romances I’ve read where the townspeople didn’t irk the bejesus out of me. Sure, there were a couple of small-minded busybodies, but mostly, everyone was tolerant, understanding, and...real. The characters weren’t caricatures or cartoonish in any way, in other words.

Heat warning: the sexy times are SUPER sexy. If you’re looking for vanilla, fade-to-black sex scenes, you won’t find them here. This one’s steamy with a side of someone-get-me-a-glass-of-ice-water.

If I was to complain (which, let’s face it, I almost always do), I’d mention that I would’ve liked to learn more about Cruz’s family and his past. But that was a super minor nitpick that in no way hurt my enjoyment of the story.

Long-story-short: this one’s worth a 1-click, folks. Give it a shot! You won’t be disappointed.

Full disclosure: We received an ARC from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.