Back to Us by Christi Barth – a Review

Amazon / Barnes & Noble / Kobo

Description:
Ward Cantrell always went for the long shot. But that recklessness cost him his college scholarship and his chance to play pro ball, and—worst of all—it ended his relationship with the girl next door. Neither the town nor the girl has ever forgiven him. Now he’s taking one last long shot by opening a boutique distillery on the family farm he inherited.

Piper Morrissey spent high school in Ward’s shadow, but she’s come into her own in the years since. Maintaining her spotless image, and that of her family’s winery, is priority number one. Nobody knows that she still yearns for her golden-boy ex. Or at least they didn’t—until Ward agrees to sell Piper the land she needs to start her precious port line. The caveat? She’ll need to date him for one month.

Ward hopes a month is all it’ll take to convince his former sweetheart that while he’s changed, his love for her hasn’t. But when the chance arises to thumb his nose at the town that turned its back on him, he can’t afford not to reject Piper’s offer. Will that make her reject him and his love—for good?

Review:

Back to Us by Christi Barth is the 3^rd book in her Shore Secrets series. Piper Morrissey is our heroine, and she is best friends with the two previous heroines in this series. Ward Cantrell is our hero, and he is best friends with all three of the girls. For a long time, Piper and Ward were on the outs, since their breakup during their high school days, where she caught him cheating with another girl. Rather than ruin their group friendship, they remained civil to each other in front of the group. However, both Piper and Ward secretly still have feelings for each other, but neither will act on it.

Piper has grown up to be more independent, and she helps run her family’s successful winery. Piper wants to honor her deceased grandfather, and add a line of port to the winery, which her father steadfastly denies.

Ward runs a distillery, which he inherited from his deceased father that was in huge deb. He has fulfilled the debt, but is desperately trying to get a loan to help cover the cost of increasing and improving his business.   When he finds out from his friends that Piper is still determined to start her dream, Ward uses this opportunity to try and win Piper back. He offers to lease her some unused land that he has, but there is a catch. She must date him for a month. Piper accepts the deal, as she still cares deeply for Ward, but does not want to get hurt again.

What follows is a sweet delightful story of a second chance romance of two people who never stopped loving each other. It was fun, and funny at times to watch them rekindle their romance, and Ward’s determination to go slow, which has Piper doing all she can to to entice him. In the midst of their deal, Ward is offered something that could help give him money to do what he wants with the business, but at the same time it would hurt Piper. Will Ward hurt Piper again?

The great thing about this series is that we get to spend a lot of time with all the characters in all three books of this series.   It was a lot of fun, and it is this wonderful friendship that will help bring this to a happy ever after for all of them. Secret Shores is a fun series, with great couples. Christi Barth always gives us sweet delightful romances. I suggest you read this series, and start with the first book, Up To Me.

Reviewed by Barb

Copy provided by Author