Caila has always been a career driven woman. When her grandfather dies she internalizes her feelings, which leads to her getting slightly intoxicated at a work event and embarrassing herself. She is “punished” by having to go to a small town (Bradleton) and conduct a mock review of a factory. Mock, because the board has already decided to shut the plant down. Wyatt is the mayor of Bradleton and is determined to save the factory, which employs a significant portion of the town’s population. Wyatt decides he needs to prove to Caila the town is worth saving and he can only do that by showing her the town himself.

I really liked this book. I loved Caila’s friends group and I can’t wait to see them more. Livesay ends the book not with a standard epilogue, but with an email from Caila to the girlfriends. I thought it was a really unique way to end the book and I loved it! This book talks a lot about what it is like to be a Black woman in the workforce. There is no opportunity for mistakes, so Caila’s one screw up hurts that much worse!

Wyatt is a southern charmer who has no idea how to tell his rich white family how he wants to live his life. I read this after listening to the Tres Black Chicks podcast episode on interracial romance (if you haven’t listened to it, you should). After listening to the podcast, I am more appreciative that Caila finds a way to save HIS town, because she is brilliant. Wyatt does not do the saving. He really needs to just ditch his family’s ambitions and go build furniture wherever Caila wants to live! The next book in this series comes out soon and I’m excited to read it!