Review: Leaving Yesterday by Zoe Dawson (@zoedawsonauthor)

Leaving Yesterday

Laurel Falls, #1
Zoe Dawson

Genre: Contemporary Romance
Publisher: Loveswept
Date of Publication: February 9, 2016
Number of pages: 268
Cover Artist: Georgia Morrissey

Available at the following retailers:
Amazon     BN     Kobo 

If you love Susan Mallery, Kristan Higgins, or Rachel Gibson, don’t miss the start of this captivating small-town romance series! Laurel Falls, Montana, features spectacular mountain scenery—but it takes a rugged cowboy to convince one woman to slow down and enjoy the view.

Rafferty Hamilton doesn’t plan on putting down roots anytime soon. With her divorce final, the hotel heiress has left Manhattan behind to scout new locations for her family’s chain of resorts. Which is why it’s so frustrating to be stranded in Laurel Falls while a good-looking, slow-talking, Stetson-wearing mechanic takes his sweet time with her overheated coupe.

A decorated vet who paid his dues in Afghanistan, Trace Black can fix anything with an engine and get it revving—even Rafferty’s ridiculous sports car. He couldn’t say the same for the knockout driver, who looks like she’s never gripped a gear shaft in her life. Women like Rafferty don’t usually stick around in Laurel Falls, but Trace finds himself showing her everything his hometown has to offer before she cruises on down the road.

As the days pass, Rafferty finds herself charmed by the pace of life and the openhearted warmth of the residents. She’s even tempted to trust again—and it’s all thanks to Trace. He’s not the kind of guy she’s used to falling for, but he just might be the man she needs.

Okay ladies, first off, who wouldn't mind seeing him poking around under your hood? And I bet he looks just as fine from the backside. Just sayin'. I have said it before, and I will say it again, a good cover can totally hook me into reading a book. Then there's the blurb. We have a Montana setting with it's big skies, a former Marine and a woman who is nearly his exact opposite. It's big city meets small town country. Let's the sparks begin!

The book started good, but it wasn't long before it felt more like an ensemble piece. The story was about so much more than Rafferty and Trace. The beginning of a series of interconnected stories all appear to have their roots here in this one. I normally am very big on series and stories that flow from one book to another. However, at times, I felt like this might have been just a bit too much going on for the first book. After all, I have seen secondary romances in stories before, but I counted the potential for 5 couples stories. It felt almost like the author was making sure to get them all set up for something further down the line... Oh, wait, maybe she is... Hmmm. I will definitely have to wait and see what transpires in the next book.

I liked that the author didn't turn Rafferty into a snobbish socialite who gets taken down a peg or two by the country bumpkin. But she also didn't make Trace the muscle bound alpha male who comes along and "saves" the little woman. Rafferty was an intelligent, thoughtful and surprisingly funny woman who goes head to head with Trace, a stubborn proud man doing his best to keep his family together. Together they find they have more in common than they realized, and that sometimes, you have to let go of yesterday to find the promise of tomorrow.

There was a few spots that were a little slow for me, but it held my attention pretty well. Overall, I enjoyed the read and plan on picking up the next book in the series, Maybe Tomorrow, featuring one of those 5 side couples I mentioned earlier. I gave this book a solid 3 stars.

Thanks to Netgalley and Loveswept for the opportunity to read and review the book.