Oh yay here’s my second book for the Carina Adores blog tours! I think this was the second book that they had for their initial blog tours if I remember correctly so I’m really glad that I got to participate in some of their first blog tours! I’m hoping to participate in more when things start calming down for me. Thank you so much to Harlequin Trade Publishing for having me on the tour!
High school wasn’t the right time or place for their relationship to grow, but now, fifteen years later, a chance encounter changes both of their lives forever.
No one in the charming river town of New Hope, Pennsylvania, needs to know that Vince Amato plans on flipping The Hideaway Inn to the highest bidder and returning to his luxury lifestyle in New York City. He needs to make his last remaining investment turn a profit…even if that means temporarily relocating to the quirky small town where he endured growing up. He’s spent years reinventing himself and won’t let his past dictate his future.
But on his way to New Hope, Vince gets stuck in the middle of nowhere and his past might be the only thing that can get him to his future. Specifically Tack O’Leary, the gorgeous, easygoing farm boy who broke his heart and who picks Vince up in his dilapidated truck.
Tack comes to the rescue not only with a ride but also by signing on to be the chef at The Hideaway for the summer. As Vince and Tack open their hearts to each other again, Vince learns that being true to himself doesn’t mean shutting down a second chance with Tack—it means starting over and letting love in.
One-click with confidence. This title is part of the Carina Press Romance Promise: all the romance you’re looking for with an HEA/HFN. It’s a promise!
Philip William Stover splits his time between Bucks County, Pennsylvania, and New York City. He has an MFA in writing and is a clinical professor at New York University where he is the former chair of the writing curriculum. As a freelance journalist, his essays and reviews have appeared in Newsday, The Forward, The Tony Awards, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, The Houston Chronicle, The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, and other national publications.
Philip grew up tearing the covers off the romance novels he devoured so he wouldn’t get teased at school. Now he enjoys traveling the world with his husband of over twenty years and sitting in front of the woodstove with their half-Bassett, half-Sharpei rescue pup and he would never consider defacing any of the books he loves.
He is thrilled to be returning to romance and loves to write cozy, warm-hearted stories served by hairy forearms with a side of fries. He can be found on social media as Philip William Stover.
Carina Adores is home to highly romantic contemporary love stories featuring beloved romance tropes, where LGBTQ+ characters find their happily-ever-afters.
A new Carina Adores title is available each month:
- The Girl Next Door by Chelsea M. Cameron (available May 26, 2020)
- Just Like That by Cole McCade (available June 30, 2020)
- Hairpin Curves by Elia Winters (available July 28, 2020
- Better Than People by Roan Parrish (available August 25, 2020)
- Full Moon in Leo by Brooklyn Ray (available September 29, 2020)
- If You Can’t Stand the Heat by KD Fisher (available October 27, 2020)
- Just Like Us by Cole McCade (available November 24, 2020)
Disclaimer: I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own. Thank you to Harlequin Trade Publishing, Netgalley, and Carina Adores for this free copy. All quotes in this review are taken from the Advanced Reader Copy and may change in final publication.
This book was pretty interesting because it was indicated as a second chance romance, but one side of the couple didn’t realize that they were the cause of the other person’s heartache in their high school years. So would it really be a second chance romance if they didn’t know how they hurt the other person? Maybe. But that’s just me.
I like that Tack and Vince are able to open up to each other years later, and find love in one another during their time together while working on Vince’s flipping project in their hometown. Maybe it worked out that things happened the way they did and Tack was able to help Vince out when things didn’t turn out the way he wanted them to? I don’t think Vince expected to be stuck in the “middle of nowhere” while he was on his way back to New Hope, PA, but that paved the way to bring Tack back into his life again.
Again, we have another Happily Ever After novel so this was a good novel to take a break from the troubles of the world today. It felt like a breath of fresh air to just watch the relationship form between Vince and Tack, and see where it would lead for them after all these years.
What three words best describe The Hideaway Inn?
Gingham, sunshine, skinny-dipping
Where did the inspiration for The Hideaway Inn come from?
A few years ago my husband and I were touring Beacon Hill in Boston and I was struck by the random purple windowpanes on the historic brownstones. I later learned they were made to be clear but an imperfection turned some panes purple during transit in the mid 1880s. At first they were considered damaged but eventually they were considered rare and beautiful. I’ve always wanted to write a story about someone who learns that the thing they are trying to hide that they consider to be a flaw is actually the very thing that makes them whole and loveable. As a young adult I was always trying to present to the world what I thought it wanted to see. It took a long time to stop self-directing myself and trying to make people have the experience of me I wanted them to have. Vince is a character who struggles with this. He wants everyone to see him as this person he has constructed. Those purple panes or Lavenders, as they are called, inspired his story.
What would you like readers to take away from reading Vince and Tack’s story?
I’d like readers to feel as if they have taken a wonderful, romantic gaycation in a quirky picturesque town full of loving, unique and authentic LGBTQIA people. If they also took away a deep desire to read the next book in the Seasons of New Hope series, I wouldn’t mind at all.
And there you have it, friends!
Sometimes Leelynn Reads 