Ellie Hayes: Lost in the Corn Maze

 

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/256869803-lost-in-the-corn-maze

Book Blurb:

She came home because Nashville didn’t work out.
Getting lost was definitely not part of the new plan.

Lila Carter has spent six months pretending she knows what comes next.

She doesn’t.

Her career in Nashville is behind her. The owner of Pages & Prose wants Lila to buy the beloved Laurel Ridge bookstore. And everyone in town seems convinced coming home means she has finally figured out where she belongs.

Then her friends drag her into the corn maze at Kyker Farms.

And leave her there.

Enter Jake Turner: local history teacher, volunteer maze guide, chronic helper of everyone—and the annoyingly charming man who catches Lila pretending she is absolutely not lost.

One wrong turn leads to another. Then a literacy fundraiser keeps throwing them together long after they escape the corn.

Jake is easygoing where Lila plans everything. He knows how to help everyone except himself. And the more time she spends with him, the harder it becomes to tell whether Laurel Ridge feels like home because she came back…

Or because she’s finally choosing it.

Especially when Nashville offers her another chance at the life she thought she wanted.

The bookstore.

Her career.

Jake.

Lila has spent years looking for the right path.

Maybe love begins when you stop needing to know every turn.

Tropes:

*Small Town Romance *returning home from the big city *Teacher MMC *just kisses

*Insta love *cozy read *Hallmark vibes *Strangers --> more  *Bingo Board Corn Maze

Thoughts:

Lila (FMC) quits her high pressure marketing job in the big city after her break up and returns to her small home town to regroup and think about what she wants to do next, her parents are letting her stay with them while she figures things out but she knows she can't stay with them forever.

She has a job at the local bookstore and the owner is dropping big hints that she is retiring soon and would like Lila to buy the shop from her... but does she want to stay in her home town?  She was good at what she did and should keep that option open just in case.

Her friends talk her into having some fall fun and she ends up in the corn maze at a farm where she runs into Jake (MMC) a handsome middle school history teacher and maze volunteer... he is there to help lost maze walkers find their way out.  

Soon enough Lila and Jake find themselves volunteered for a project together for the maze and getting to know each other better while on their project leads to bigger feelings.

But now that Lila has kind of started to see Jake she doesn't want him to be the only reason she might decide to stay in her home town... she just met him. 

Jake says yes to everyone which has led to him being overwhelmed at times when he is too busy but helps anyways... Lila helps him find his voice to say no. 

The story does get a bit repetitive and I felt some of that could have been cut out so it wasn't as long. 

I picked this book for a bingo board group challenge (Corn Maze).  This gave hallmark vibes with the FMC returning home from the big city and finding a home town guy.  Just kisses, very insta love, I didn't feel we got to know the characters super well but I wasn't expecting a deeper exploration with this type of book so this would be good if you are looking for something cute, cozy and low stakes without much drama.

We also have the nosy small town residents who are in everyones business which everyone loves in these types of books.  

Have you read this one?  What did you think? 

Bailey Thomas: Kane's Reckoning

 

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/249464381-kane-s-reckoning

Book Blurb:

Can their love survive a father’s ambition to protect his empire?

Kane Miller, heir to PC Miller Corporation, has no interest in working for his billionaire family's business. Driven by his creative passion, he aims to leave a mark on the world through architecture—the one aspect of his life his father can’t control.

Annika Bauer must move forward in her life, yet she finds it hard to contain all the darkness smothering her. Desperate for a change, she relocates across the country for a fresh start, leaving her nightmare behind.

When she agrees to work as a nanny for the Miller family, she’s immediately struck by the chemistry she has with Kane. The more time they spend together, the stronger their attraction becomes. Their forbidden love is a complication his father won’t accept. When Annika’s past intersects with Kane’s future, they find themselves caught in a conflict that could cost them everything.

Tropes:

*High Gravity ALC *Workplace Romance *Billionaire MMC x Nanny *PTSD 

*Family Drama *State Challenge: New York/Idaho *Secrets revealed *tension 

*forced proximity *insta lust/love

Thoughts:

Kane Miller comes from a powerful family he is determined to pave his own way as best as he can and instead of doing what his father wanted (to follow in his footsteps) he went to school to become an architect and had high hopes of making a name for himself but unfortunately in his business he ended up making a deal with his father to help fund a project... now he has to do certain things for his father until he can find a way to get out from under his thumb.

Annika (FMC) is looking for a fresh start, she's been through a traumatic event recently and feels like moving to the other side of the country will help with her healing process but she still struggles with her dark memories and even though she is going to counseling she worries about her past coming back to haunt her.

Kane's brother is over seas and things are becoming dangerous he doesn't want his young daughter to get caught in the middle and decides to send her back to the US to stay with Kane while finishing up his business.  Not to worry he is in the process of hiring a nanny to help Kane with his daughter. 

Annika is excited to start her new job as a nanny she has interviewed and it went well and plans to go to Idaho with the little girl and her uncle things are looking up for her fresh start... no complications especially not the fact that the uncle is super hot... and off limits.

Kane and Annika fight their growing feelings towards each other as they are living in close proximity.  Kane is beginning to fall for the nanny but a curveball gets thrown in the middle when he finds his controlling father has decided to meddle in his affairs... again, not this time!

Annika once back in the city finds that her nightmares may be coming true... will she ever feel safe again?   

Overall I enjoyed this book it kept me wanting to find out what would happen next, even if the romance felt rushed I felt Kane and Annika were good for each other and I would like to check out more of this series. 

While this is said to be a stand alone in this series I think that it would be better read in order, this book starts in the present then goes back in time to tell the story (which is fine) but there were times I felt like I was missing or had missed parts of the story. 

This is a sweet forbidden (ish) romance with a side of thriller, it did seem like certain parts were rushed and as the reader I felt like maybe I had missed pieces of their relationship developing because I didn't think that their relationship was as far along as it was being portrayed in the book... I even rewound it a few times because I was like "did I miss something?"  

I also felt there was a big plot line that was kind of just left open ended like shouldn't more be happening with this?  

The narrators Grace Grant and Christian Black did a great job bringing this story to life. 

Have you read this one?  what did you think?