COMPROMISE…OR ALL-OR-NOTHING?
The heart-stopping attraction's still there, but today
Lily needs only one thing from old flame Gannon Montgomery -- the best damn
legal counsel ever. The stakes are high -- custody of Lily's son, Lucas. And
the rules are clear. Lily's not giving Gannon the chance to break her heart
again. They can be friends. That's all.
Not enough, thinks Gannon. He's only in town to sell the
family ranch, but Mayor Lily McCabe makes sticking around seem pretty
attractive. He can see the desire in her eyes every time they're thrown
together. And with the court case and the Texas chili cook-off he's been
dragged into, that's a lot. As the stress grows, so does the attraction. But
Lily won't compromise, and Gannon can't let go. Someone's gotta give!
Good book. Gannon is back in Laramie for a few days to take care of selling the family ranch. He's a big shot lawyer in Fort Worth now, but he and Lily had been friends and more back in law school. She's mayor and a single mother who is facing a custody battle with her son's father. She's willing to accept Gannon's help, but that's all she'll accept from him.
The history between Gannon and Lily was interesting. Both were very intense students, determined to do their best. Gannon was, and still is, a man who goes all-in when he wants something, so when he wanted a relationship with Lily he refused to think about what could go wrong. All he would consider was that if they wanted it they would make it work. When he was growing up, Gannon saw that his parents didn't go after the things they wanted the most, instead settling for other things and not always happy with them. He swore he would never compromise on something that was truly important to him.
Lily, as one of six children, was accustomed to having to compromise and make adjustments to anything she wanted. She was certain that the stresses and rigors of law school would be too much of a strain on a relationship. All she wanted from Gannon was some space and the chance to think about what they were doing. Unwilling to compromise, he broke things off. Lily, who tended to look for the good in everyone, got involved with the campus football star instead, which ended up not working out either.
For the past four years, Lucas's father has mostly ignored him. He's allowed generous visitation rights, but has never taken Lily up on them. Bode had desperately resisted being named father to the boy, trying to smear Lily's reputation, only giving in when his paternity was proved. But now that his football career is in trouble, his lawyer's are telling him he needs to do something to make himself look good, and spending time with Lucas is it. Lily is afraid of the effect that everything could have on Lucas and finds herself leaning on Gannon more than she likes. There were times when I thought that Bode was actually getting better about being a father, and others when he seemed just as big a jerk as ever. I can say that I wasn't surprised by the way it all worked out.
One thing that hadn't changed over the years is the attraction that is still there between Gannon and Lily. He would like to see where it goes, but Lily is afraid of getting her heart broken again. I really enjoyed seeing the way that Gannon found every excuse he could to spend time with Lily, hoping to show her that they could have something good together. He's also really good with Lucas, and spending time with both of them shows him what he's been missing in his quest to be the best professionally.
Lily can't deny the heat between them, but she can't see anything coming from it. She likes her life in Laramie and has no desire to live in the city. The problem is that she finds herself liking Gannon even more now than she had before. He's there for her emotionally in her battle with Lucas's father. He's fantastic with her son. And he has no problem getting involved with all the small town things he left behind so easily before. But though she's great at finding the middle ground with anyone else, she finds it impossible to do so with Gannon. Both of them had to take a hard look at what they really wanted and what they were willing to do to get it. I loved the epilogue and seeing where they were a year later.
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