HOOKED...BY MISS INDEPENDENT?
One glance at fiercely single Laurel Redmond, and Sawyer Fortune was a goner. It wasn't her blond hair or her blue eyes-super-rich, super-flirtatious Sawyer could have his pick of beauties in Red Rock. No, what made Laurel stand out was her unspoken message that she just wasn't that into him.
All Laurel really wanted was for the cocky, well-heeled rancher to leave her alone. She'd lived enough heartache to know that Sawyer was trouble she just couldn't afford. Yet the trademark Fortune charm was slowly reeling her in. All right, she thought, what would be the harm of just one...little...affair? No harm at all-until Mr. I Don't suddenly decided he wanted a bride!
Good book. Sawyer is the last of the Atlanta Fortunes standing - the rest have all succumbed to the "Red Rock Plague". He's the youngest of the family and tired of being pursued for his name and bank account rather than himself. When he meets Laurel he is drawn to more than her looks. It's her independent spirit and equal desire to avoid "The Plague" that appeals to him. They start to spend time together, enjoying each other's company but trying to keep it light.
I liked Sawyer a lot. He stood with his brothers when they came to Red Rock after splitting with their father. It's obvious that his family is very important to him. I also liked the way that he wasn't quite as blindly stubborn as the rest of them. He seemed to be more willing to listen to what his father had to say and to get to know his new aunt. He is also somewhat cynical after too many times of women wanting him for what he can give them. I liked his initial lighthearted pursuit of Laurel and how he was interested in keeping it fun. I also really liked the way that he was very sensitive to her moods and patient enough to suit his actions to them. It didn't take him long though to realize that there was something about Laurel that seemed to fill the empty spaces in him. He's the youngest and has always felt like he was out of step with the rest of his brothers. Being with Laurel makes him want to be a better man. He just has to convince her that what they have can last.
Laurel is very independent and very skittish. She had been betrayed by the man she loved and she swore she wasn't going to go there again. She had her mom, her brothers and her nephew and that was enough for her. If she wanted kids she would adopt or something like that. When she met Sawyer she wasn't interested in getting involved with him, but he was persistent. After he told her he wasn't planning on any permanent relationships she thought maybe she could handle just having a little fun with him. She enjoyed spending time with Sawyer until she found herself envisioning a future and that just scared her. Thanks to the actions of her ex she had doubts about being worthy of real love and had no faith that someone would be willing to stick with her for the long haul. When Sawyer made his feelings clear to her she had to decide if she was willing to take a chance.
This book also was the conclusion of the mystery that drove the Fortune brothers away from their father. He finally was able to talk to them and explain, in part, what had been going on. He had still been holding something back, which maintained the friction, until the very end when the whole of the mystery was revealed. It was a little over the top, but it is the Fortunes so it wasn't terribly unexpected. The epilogue was a nice set up for the next batch of Fortune books - can't wait!
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