Baby, Come Home by Stephanie Bond

I have never really thought about why I started to like books so much until today. When I was younger my parents were so overprotective, and at times I felt suffocated, so I would grab a book and I would forget that feeling. Anyway, I was reminded today because my dad was working on a water leak at home (under the house). As I was helping him, I remembered a specific incident that brought back memories like a flood. My dad didn’t want me to have a cell phone; he said it would be a distraction or something crazy. My mother being the bad ass that she is bought me a cell phone, but made it clear that my dad was not to find out. One day my cell phone rang (ring tone was some sort of kitty sound) and apparently my dad thought there was a cat under the house, and down he went searching for said kitty. I should probably tell him that there was no kitty under the house but it’s funnier this way.

Baby, Come Home by Stephanie Bond

It’s obvious that I love to read (especially about hardworking men). When I picture a hardworking man, I picture a shirtless man, tan, with muscles flexing. Yes, that’s exactly how I picture the Armstrong brothers, too (I love the book covers!). So, in the first book we learned about Porter and Nikki. Now in the second book focuses on the middle brother and his love interest Amy. Amy grew up in a harsh environment, her parents died when she was very young and was raised by her aunt. Amy had to deal with the bullying of kids her age, and fell in love with Kendall when he stepped up for her. They had a sweet young love, but Amy didn’t want to stay in the same town she grew up in, she wanted to get away and build a new life elsewhere. Kendall didn’t want to leave because he was rooted there by his family. Amy decided to leave without him, and asked that he never talk to her again.

After thirteen years Kendall still has not been able to stop loving Amy. He is filled with regret for not stopping Amy when she left. Amy comes back to Sweetness to help the brother re-build a bridge, and is confronted by Marcus (older brother) to tell Kendall the secret she has been keeping since she left. Kendall on the other hand, is trying desperately to win Amy back. I love his persistence, and the challenges he is willing to take on to win her back. The entire story is a huge misunderstanding, secrets, and bottled up feelings. I was a little disappointed with the end because it felt like it was cut short. I still enjoyed the book and I am waiting for the last book to be released in November.

Baby, Drive South by Stephanie Bond

Have you ever tried to add how much money you’ve spent on books? (I don’t recommend it.) I was going through tough times and I thought food or books? Obviously, I know how to set my priorities straight and I decided to continue purchasing books, I could go about three weeks without eating. Anyway, after a while I realized that food was necessary to have the energy to read, so I re-considered and decided to only download free e-books. I read the first few pages of some, and I kept skipping over Stephanie Bond’s free book Baby, I’m Yours and I honestly don’t know why I did such a thing. I finally ran out of resources and read the prequel to the Southern Roads Trilogy. Like Stephanie has mentioned before the purpose of BBB is not to say negative things about books we don’t like, but to share the ones we love. I didn’t exactly love Baby, I’m Yours but it did a little nibbling at my curiosity and I absolutely loved the first book in the series Baby, Drive South (I finished the book in one day).

Baby, Drive South by Stephanie Bond

Porter is the younger brother in the Armstrong family. He is Tall, muscular, with cobalt blue eyes (yum). The brothers have embarked on a project to re-build their town Sweetness. They created an ad to attract about 100 women to live free with room and board for two years. The idea behind the ad was for the prosperity of the town and to help rebuild it after the town was destroyed by a tornado. Porter and Kendall (middle brother) are positive that their advertisement will work; Marcus (older brother) is not so sure and he doesn't think of women as being an asset to their project. Porter is hoping for good looking women to surround them, but once the women start to arrive it's comical to see how little the brothers know about women. Women arrive on a caravan and Porter is so excited he decides to get a better view and climbs a water tower and of course injures himself in the process. When he is treated by the new physician in town he is clearly disappointed, and doesn't hide it (I am not going to lie, I thought he was a douche in the beginning).

Nikki regrets arriving to Sweetness the moment she realizes that the man (Porter) she is helping, doesn't hide the disappointment in her appearance. She immediately thinks about the warnings her friend Amy gave her about small towns and southern men. Nikki underestimates her good looks because she doesn't try to impress anyone, but she thought that by moving to Sweetness she could hide from the heartbreak she experienced. I personally liked the misunderstandings and confusion between Porter and Nikki. She doesn't fall for his charms (so she thinks) and he can't believe that he can't convince her to stay, because women always fall for him. Anyway, I loved the way Porter's feelings developed for her. His feelings transitioned from trying to convince her to stay for the benefit of the town to his own. I just finished the second book and will be posting a review about it next time.