I Do With You (Maple Creek 1) by Lauren Landish-review

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ABOUT THE BOOK: Release Date November 12, 2024

Hope Barlowe is a vow away from a lakeside wedding to her high school sweetheart. Next, check off her follow-up two kids, a dog, a home, and a happy ever after. But suddenly, ever after seems like a very long time. Instead of saying I do, Hope thinks I can’t and bolts for the woods—right into the unpredictable life of a handsome tattooed hiker.

Days into a three-week getaway, struggling musician Ben Taylor is in search of inspiration. He never thought he’d find a bride stumbling through the bramble. Right away her sweet baby blues, confounding dilemma, and spirited independence strike a chord. Ben has found his muse, and he’s falling fast. Hope is finding something just as important—herself.

Soon enough Hope and Ben have all of Maple Creek talking—and divided. Where do they go from here? If Hope has learned anything, it’s that happiness is more than a checklist, and dreams can change in a heartbeat.

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REVIEW:I DO WITH YOU is the first instalment in Lauren Landish’s contemporary, adult MAPLE CREEK erotic, romance series. This is Dental hygienist Hope Barlowe, and musician Ben Taylor’s story line.

Told from dual first person perspectives (Hope and Ben) I DO WITH YOU follows in the wake of the wedding that never was. Hope Barlowe was struggling in the weeks before saying her ‘I do’s’ but never expected to turn around at the altar, running into the woods beside the lake. Enter Ben Taylor, a struggling musician, hoping to find his muse, a man with secrets that will threaten his future with our story line heroine. Staying clear of her ex-fiance means having to face the people of Maple Creek, a town of busybodies and law enforcement all connected to the man Hope pushed away. As Ben and Hope begin a dance around one another, someone else is about to destroy the small bit of happiness for our story line couple.

The world building focuses on the building romance as Hope battles with the townsfolk of Maple Creek but Hope has supporters, many of whom believe she should have walked away years before. Ben Taylor has a secret, a secret he is not allowed to reveal, a secret that is about to push Hope out of his life.

The relationship between Ben and Hope is one of immediate attraction but meeting Hope within minutes of her disappearance from the lakeside wedding means Ben will become the focus of those struggling with what happened and why. Falling for Hope was easy but breaking her heart was not what he wanted to do. The $ex scenes are intimate and passionate without the use of over the top, sexually graphic language and text.

The secondary and supporting characters including Hope’s extended family: sister Joy, brother Shephard, and their parents; Hope’s ex fiancé Roy Laurier, and Ben’s childhood friend Sean.

I DO WITH YOU is a story of secrets and lies, power and control, betrayal and jealousy, family and friendships, relationships and love The premise is inviting and imaginative; the characters are quirky and animated; the romance is sensitive and seductive.

Copy supplied by Netgalley

Reviewed by Sandy