Heart and Sole
by Miranda Liasson
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Release Date: July 14, 2015
Getting even.
One step at a time...
Maddie Kingston just walked away from everything in order to take over her family's struggling shoe business. And she's in some serious trouble. The majority of the company's shares have been bought out by none other than Maddie's ex-boyfriend, self-made billionaire Nick Holter. Now Maddie needs his help...even if it means buying Nick from a charity bachelor auction.
After the Kingstons destroyed his grandfather's career, Nick vowed to take over their company. He's inches from victory when he finds himself bought and paid for...by his sexy ex-girlfriend who's hell-bent on saving her family's company. Between their families' feud and their own unfinished business, tempers - and emotions - run hot. Too hot.
Because kissing with the enemy is a guaranteed shoe-in for trouble...
A second chance, small town romance with a family feud thrown in makes Heart and Sole the perfect fit for a light, fun read. The story was well written, the characters were colorful, and the dialogue was well constructed.
Nick and Maddie are both struggling with issues from their past. Maddie has struggled to find herself a career that fits her passion, making mistakes along the way, causing her family to be skeptical of her abilities. Nick lost his family at a young age and, even though he has become a successful businessman, the pain from the past causes him to shy away from emotional commitments. Their biggest obstacle though has always been the feud between their two families – the reason for which lays with their grandparents, but no one is quite sure exactly what it is all about. They had some pretty scorching chemistry, and watching these two dance around their attraction was both fun and exasperating at times! You would get a peek at just how good these two could be for each other and then one would pull back, mired in issues from the past or weighed down by the expectations they felt were placed on them.
Nick feels compelled to right a wrong done to his grandfather, and when Maddie’s family shoe company begins to struggle he sees an opportunity to give him an avenue to deliver the company to his grandfather. Nick is smart and driven, and part of his success stems from the fact that he makes decisions based on facts and not emotions. But when Maddie inserts herself into his latest business deal, the one to buy her family’s shoe company, that emotional distance he always keeps begins to crumble. I didn’t really like Nick at first, but getting to know him and then understanding more of the back story and reasons for his actions really made him in to a keeper for me!
Maddie knows that the future of Kingston shoes rests in her hands, but only armed with a positive attitude and perseverance, and faced with very little business know-how, she may have bitten off more than she can chew. She is convinced if she can show Nick the impact of losing Kingston shoes, not just to her family, but the community, she can get him to reconsider destroying her family’s business. Maddie was such an optimist and a truly nice person, always seeing the best in people and wanting to do the right thing – for everyone. She’s a bit insecure, but so committed that what she lacks in skills, she more than makes up for with conviction – and you have to love that!
I really loved the supporting characters in the book. Maddie’s family was both a lot of fun and frustrating. Her grandmother, who was responsible for the feud, was so nasty and I kept wondering why the family put up with her nonsense. And then once the reasons for the feud were revealed, I was scratching my head. I loved the little ones – still makes me smile thinking about them running around nekkid in the yard with the kiddie pool– and even though her brother was a bit of a jerk, by the end of the book he really grew on me as well.
This was a fun read that had some angst and some heat, and although it was a bit predictable at times, a few twists were thrown in to keep the story interesting and moving. I enjoyed the writing style and look forward to reading more from Miranda Liasson.
Miranda Liasson loves to write stories about courageous but flawed characters who find love despite themselves, because there’s nothing like a great love story. And if there are a few laughs along the way, even better! She won the 2013 Romance Writers of America Golden Heart Award for Series Romance for the book which became This Thing Called Love, out this spring from Montlake Publishing, and also writes contemporary romance for Entangled Publishing. She lives in the Midwest with her husband, three kids, and office mates Maggie, a yellow lab, and Posey, a rescue cat with attitude.
Miranda loves to hear from readers! Find her at mirandalisson.com, Facebook.com/MirandaLiassonAuthor or on Twitter @mirandaliasson.
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