Keep Me Close (MacMillan Brothers 4/ Somerset Harbor 8) by Charlotte Byrd-review

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ABOUT THE BOOK: Release Date December 26, 2023

Everett is the black sheep of his billionaire MacMillan family of Somerset Harbor. He’s a firefighter smoke jumper who is not into his family’s wealth and fame. He’s rarely home and he never tells anyone who he really is.

Including me.

I’m a preschool teacher who likes to follow all the rules. I never had a one night stand before but then I met a hot stranger who talked about poetry and philosophy and I couldn’t help myself.

What I didn’t know was that despite all precautions, I would get pregnant and then the stranger would ghost me.

Five years later, I run into him and realize who he is. The old feelings come back and he wants me as much as I want him.

The only problem is that he doesn’t know that we have a son together…and I don’t know how to tell him.

Keep Me Close is a steamy small town secret pregnancy billionaire romance. It’s the eighth book in the standalone Somerset Harbor series.

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REVIEW:KEEP ME CLOSE is the fourth instalment in the contemporary, adult MACMILLAN BROTHERS romance series, and the eight in the Somerset Harbor series co-authored by Charlotte Byrd and Ronan Byrd. This is firefighter/smoke jumper Everett MacMillan, and pre school teacher Aria Bueller’s story line. KEEPME CLOSE can be read as a stand alone without any difficulty. Any important information from the previous story lines is revealed where necessary.

Told from dual first person perspectives (Aria and Everett) KEEP ME CLOSE follows in the wake of a one-night stand. Five years earlier, Aria and Everett spent one night together, and in the ensuing aftermath, Aria discovered she was pregnant, and the man she knew only as James, was no longer in the picture. Fast forward to present Day, Everett MacMillan returns to Somerset Harbor wherein he will discover he fathered a child he knew nothing about. Having never known Everett’s true identity, Aria has no reason to reveal the extent of the truth but Everett’s reappearance threatens Aria’s long fought struggle as a single parent. Everett wants nothing to do with being a father but a the discovery of his son forces Everett to reconsider his future going forward. What ensues since the building relationship between Everett, Aria and their son, as Everett struggles with what happened and why.

The relationship between Aria and Everett began as a one-night stand in which neither one committed to the other but Everett, more or less, lied about his true identity, leaving a pregnant Aria to struggle alone. Reconnecting with Everett meant having to deal with the possibility of another rejection in the face of Everett battling between head and heart. The $ex scenes are intimate and passionate.

We are reintroduced to Cormac MacMillan and Aria’s best friend Lily (Kiss Me Again), Beau MacMillan and Elsie (Say You’ll Stay), and Beckett MacMillan.

KEEP ME CLOSE is a story of family, friendships, secrets and lies. The premise is engaging and captivating; the romance is seductive; the characters are determined and dynamic.

Previous reviews (Posted at Goodreads)
Hate Mate
Best Laid Plans
PIcture Perfect
Always Never
Kiss Me Again

Copy supplied for review

Reviewed by Sandy