She can make Lone Star Ridge's sheriff break every rule…
Former child star "Badly" Hadley Dalton can't shake the nickname she got on Little Cowgirls, the reality show that made her famous. Another thing she can't shake: her attraction to hometown heartthrob Leyton Jameson. After their teen make-out session was televised, Leyton ended their relationship, and Hadley left town. But when she learns her beloved Granny Em has gone missing, Hadley returns home and immediately lands in hot water…
Leyton has wanted Hadley since he first knew what desire was. Searching for Em together makes all that heat -- and all their differences -- impossible to ignore. Hadley's past is riddled with bad decisions -- ones that are suddenly rearing their ugly head. Believing she's too much trouble for a good-guy cop, Hadley doesn't think Leyton can ever overlook her faults. But Leyton will sign up for a lifetime of trouble if it means this wild ride never ends…
Good second chance romance. Hadley is the third sister in the trio that starred in the reality show Little Cowgirls. While her two sisters were the sunny-natured, good girls, Hadley got stuck with the nickname "Badly Hadley." Never one to resist a challenge, Hadley did her best to live up to the name, especially as she got older. When an overzealous cameraman caught Hadley making out with her boyfriend, Leyton and the producers televised it, Leyton broke off their relationship. The show was canceled soon after, and eventually, Hadley left town. She became a successful costume designer until a customer's reaction to a wardrobe malfunction tanked Hadley's business. Combined with a strange call from her grandmother, Hadley rushed home to Texas.
Leyton stayed in Lone Star Ridge and eventually became the sheriff. He has a reputation for maintaining a cool head in a crisis, as shown in this series's previous books. That cool head will come in handy when Hadley's arrival in town blindsides him. To complicate matters further, Granny Em has disappeared, and no one knows where she is. It's up to Hadley and Leyton to find her.
I loved watching the rekindling of the relationship between Hadley and Leyton. Truthfully, there wasn't much rekindling to do. The attraction that burned between them back then is still there and growing fast. From the moment they saw each other again, they couldn't deny the sparks. Leyton was all for seeing where it would take them, but Hadley was much warier. She made so many bad decisions in her past that she can't stand the idea of her reputation damaging Leyton's, especially when some of those decisions come back to haunt her now.
One of the first things on their plate is finding Granny Em and making sure she isn't in danger. Em is an interesting woman and sometimes claimed that she used to be the girlfriend of a mobster. When Leyton and Hadley find out that she really was, their worries for her increase. It was quite the eye-opener for both of them when they tracked Em down and found her with her former boyfriend (now fiancé). Finding out that Tony's brother is out of prison and looking for them sends Leyton and Hadley into protective mode as they take the two lovebirds back to Lone Star Ridge.
To protect Tony and Em, Leyton and Hadley spend a lot of time together. Leyton uses the time to show Hadley how good they could be together. Every chance he gets, he emphasizes that her past doesn't need to dictate her future. I loved his patience as Leyton shows her time and again that she is a good person who has made some mistakes. Hadley wants to believe him until another piece of her past shows up.
The TV show's former producer wants to do a reunion show, and neither the girls nor their brother are interested. In fact, they flat-out refuse to even think about it. This time, the producer brings along his partner, a former cameraman, to up the pressure. He doesn't know that Hadley and the man have a history, and Dempsey has a little blackmail in mind to get his way. I ached for Hadley because of the guilt she felt and loved the support she got from her family and Leyton. I also liked Leyton's protectiveness and the points he made in a private chat with Dempsey.
The end gets a little intense when Tony's brother, Marco, shows up. There was an interesting twist to that situation that I did not expect, and it threw a different light on the issue. After a somewhat humorous beginning, the final resolution was good but left Leyton with a bunch of paperwork to do. I loved how Leyton surprised Hadley and himself by telling her how he felt before having to leave her. Unfortunately, that confession scared the heck out of Hadley because she was sure that loving her would come back to bite him. She planned to put some distance between them by leaving Lone Star Ridge, even though everyone tried to tell her it was a mistake to go. I loved seeing Leyton chase her down and how he convinced her to stay. The epilogue was a sweet wrap-up to the story.
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