JUST TROUBLE (Carpe Diem Cafe 1) by Deborah Cooke -review

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ABOUT THE BOOK: Release Date February 18, 2025

If I recognize trouble when I see it, it’s because I grew up with a huge crush on my best friend’s older brother, Luke Jones. Born with sinful good looks and enough charm to talk himself out of almost any situation, he’s always been a rebel with attitude to spare—as well as gorgeous, reckless and dangerous for good girls like me to know. Though he’s found fame, fortune and all the fan-girls with his band, Luke remains the star of all my secret fantasies.

But now, he’s back—one sizzling look is enough to set my world on fire— and he wants a favor. (From me!) Time to make the world a better place, Luke says, but I recognize half a story when I hear one. Does it really matter? I need to ditch this crush before it’s too late for me to fall in love for real and find my own happy ending. Luke doesn’t need to know that it’ll be more than a favour for me. He also won’t linger in the sleepy little town of Empire, and when Luke leaves this time, he’ll be gone forever.

The problem is that the other half of the story is the kind of revelation that hooks me hard. Luke’s on a quest to right old wrongs, and making the world a better place is pretty much my theme song. Am I crazy to hope for more from the man who has only ever committed to his music? By the time I learn the whole truth, will my heart be lost forever? For once, though, I’m not going to play it safe. Win or lose, my time to seize the moment is now.

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REVIEW: JUST TROUBLE is the first instalment in Deborah Cooke’s contemporary, adult CARPE DIEM CAFE romance series. This is rock star Luke Jones and attorney Daphne Bradshaw’s story line.

Told from three first person perspectives (Luke, Daphne, Sylvia) JUST TROUBLE focuses on the return of rock star Luke Jones to his home town of Empire, Ontario. After the death of his band mate Taylor Tate, Luke lost his way, lost his muse and struggled going forward with the grief and guilt of his best friend’s demise but his return to Empire comes with a series of requests, and acts of contrition, in an effort to help the people he wronged along the way. Luke’s first stop is to attorney Daphne Bradshaw, with the hope of setting into motion the purchase of several properties and pieces of land, properties and land owned by someone who is refusing to sell. With the help of our story line heroine, Luke begins a slow revival of a town destroyed by one man’s greed, and in doing so, Luke is hoping to prove he is a changed man, a man worthy of his own happily ever after.

The world building follows several paths including Luke’s need to make amends for sins of the past; his need to prove he is much more then the blood that flows through his veins; and his growing love for a woman who has been burned in the past.

The relationship between Luke and Daphne is a friends to frenemies to lovers relationship in which Daphne struggles with Luke’s rock star reputation, and the fact that he is only in Empire for a limited time. Battling between head and heart, Daphne refuses to lose her heart to a man whose lifestyle is unlike her own but a man who is slowly breaking down her walls. The $ex scenes are passionate but often fades to black or are mostly implied.

The secondary and supporting characters are energetic and dynamic. We are introduced to Daphne’s father and fellow attorney Richard Bradshaw; Luke’s brother Mike, and their father Patrick Cavendish; Chef Sylvia Kincaid and her daughter Sierra; and new restaurateur Merrie.

JUST TROUBLE is a story of grief and loss, power and control, secrets and lies, acceptance and love. The premise is captivating and engaging; the romance seductive and impassioned; the characters are charismatic and charming.

Copy supplied for review

Reviewed by Sandy