Ms Bliss has written an interesting debut novel, with a hero and heroine that really did need to sort their lives out. 

Christian Kelly was a man on a mission, when he came back to the country town he’d grown up in and never wanted to see again. First attend Muriel Medina Rose’s funeral, and with luck on his side go back to the city and leave the past behind. 

Kezia Rose, Miriam’s granddaughter, is shocked to find out Christian has come back. It’s a sharp reminder of their shared past, one that was filled with pain and resentment. She wasn’t ready to deal with her past, especially while dealing with the added pain of losing her grandmother.  

Neither of them wanted to deal with the past, until they find out the hotel’s finances are in a mess. Christian feels trapped in a time warp, when the lawyer produces an IOU he’d signed in his teens. He realizes his old mentor may have left this world, but she’d left a mess he was supposed to fix. Christian and Kezia need to work together, but they have trouble ignoring each other while living under the same roof. The locals begin to interfere, and tensions rise along with their libidos. They need to fix their broken hearts and the falling apart hotel before life can ever run smoothly again. 

This reviewer felt it was a super romance in all ways, as Christian and Kezia are well drawn and believable. The story is refreshing and filled with humor and pathos. The stories flow was well done and the editing was good. The secondary characters are a very colorful and interesting, plus they take a great delight in meddling with the hero and heroines agendas. The action was easy to follow, and the back-story was threaded through, to reveal the reason for the present conflict. The characters were all fascinating and very human, so easy to relate to. The conflict was deeply rooted in both main characters minds, and worked well. It kept the distrust and inner feelings of resentment alive. It gave the reader the reason for the characters motivation, but also puzzles the reader by their choices. Inner sexual conflict was intriguing, as first love and memories cannot always be wiped out despite trying hard.  The mood combined well with the small town background, and added to the stories depth. There were secondary stories within the plot that added to the tension. The plot worked well and all the loose ends were tied at a very satisfactory ending.

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