Something to Prove by Kimberly Lang – a Review

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Description:
In the small waterfront town of Magnolia Beach, Alabama, people may forgive, but they never forget—especially when it comes to scandalous reputations, juicy gossip, and a sexy new flame.
 
Former wild child Helena Wheeler was happy to leave behind her hometown—and her sordid past—for Atlanta twelve years ago. But when her grandmother suffers an injury, Helena has no choice but to return, even if it means facing down all the people who have shunned her.
 
Ryan Tanner went from being a football legend in high school to Magnolia Beach’s young, hot bachelor mayor. As a teenager, he never wanted anything to do with a girl like Helena. But when she hires Ryan to do some construction in her grandmother’s house, he finds that she’s grown up into a different person—one he quite likes.
 
For Helena, confronting her past has its share of surprises—and falling for the resident golden boy was definitely not on her to-do list. But will her reformed ways be enough to get her back in the town’s good graces, or will her reputation keep Helena and Ryan apart for good?

Review:

Something to Prove by Kimberly Lang is the 1^st book in her new Magnolia Beach series. This was a nice sweet romance with a wonderful heroine, who returns home after many years, and tries to live down her wild past that still remains in the minds of the Magnolia Beach residents. Helena Wagner is our heroine, and I really liked her from the start. Having left Magnolia Beach after graduation, Helena returns home after 12 years to help her grandmother, who suffered a major injury. She dreads coming face to face with most of the residents, as she was always the wild girl they never forgot.

While her grandmother is in rehab, Helena decides to fix up the house to be safer for her grandmother, when she comes home. Helena asks Ryan Tanner for help with the fixtures, and is shocked to find the former football legend golden boy is now the Mayor of Magnolia Beach.

Ryan is our hero, and has always been Mr. Popularity, which has not changed. In their school days, neither of them hung around each other. Ryan stayed clear of the wild Helena, and she hung around a different and equally wild crowd. Helena’s grandmother has always been well liked in town, and everyone looks out for her, and Ryan accepts the job to make changes in the house.

Ryan, as he spends more time with Helena, begins to see a different side of her, that slowly changes his opinion of the girl he avoided during their teenage years. Helena finds herself coming face to face with many townsfolk, and senses their continued dislike of her. But she holds her head high, and goes about doing everything she can to help her grandmother. Her friend Tate, who was her co-conspirator during those crazy days, is now the town Vet, and his past shenanigans were forgiven. He tries to get Helena to go out with him, which she does as a friend. She isn’t interested in anything more, as she plans to leave when her grandmother is better. But that is not all. She finds herself attracted to one person who can never be right for her, Ryan. Helena knows the town and his family would never allow him to become involved with her. Even some members of his family go to extremes to make sure this does not happen.

What follows is a heartwarming story that shows Helena proving herself to many of the residents, especially with all the hard work she does when her grandmother comes home. She forces herself to ask for help, and in doing so, opens the eyes of others to her being a different girl. It was really nice to see some of those that hated Helena and how they treated her when she came back, to slowly change their opinions.

Ryan sees the real Helena, and knows that the wild girl in the past was a façade to hide her own sorry life. He begins to fall hard for her, despite everyone trying to stop it. Helena herself does not want to ruin his career, since she feels the sins of the past will always come back to haunt them. Will Helena forgo her feelings for Ryan and leave town? Will Ryan allow the town’s hatred of the girl he is falling for effect his relationship with Helena?

Something to Prove is a wonderful romance, with a storyline that had our interest from start to finish. Kimberly Lang has written a wonderful story that pulls on your emotions and never let’s go until the end. I look forward to reading the next book in this series, and suggest you read Something to Prove.

Reviewed by Barb

Copy provided by Publisher