Review: Hideaway Heart by Melanie Harlow (Cherry Tree Harbor #2)


Note: An advance reader copy (ARC) was provided by the author.

When thirty-one-year-old Xander Buckley receives a phone call from Kevin Sullivan, no matter what favor was asked of him, there was no way Xander would refuse. After all, he owed his life to Sully. However, whole he was qualified to be a bodyguard for the guy's twenty-nine-year-old younger sister, what with Xander entering private security after being discharged from the Navy SEALs, the fact that she just happens to be Pixie Hart, country music superstar, presents a complicate situation. Add to that her refusal to have any sort of security with her, regardless of her brother's insistence. This is her time to simply be Kelly Jo Sullivan. She doesn't want nor need anyone shadowing her, telling her what she can and can't do. But Xander isn't the type to simply acquiesce. They're stuck together 24/7 for two weeks, in a town as small as Cherry Tree Harbor and a cabin that's even tinier, all that tension building between them will leave them with nowhere to hide.

All. That. TENSION!!! Gah! Kelly and Xander were both stubborn and strong-willed individuals, so it took a bit for them to earn the other person's trust and to realize that they needed to give a little to get a little. Piece by piece, the walls they'd erected came down, and they saw that there was more to one another than they had initially thought. I loved how Kelly kept Xander on his toes and how he showed her that he was nothing like her ex-boyfriend. He encouraged her to pursue her passions and be the kind of artist she always wanted to be, and she supported his dreams of making his bar a success. There wasn't any unnecessary drama, although I must say that the ex-boyfriend was a true jerk in every sense of the word and deserved what he got. Family was, once again, an important part of the story, and I'm already excited to see which Buckley sibling falls next. Overall, I so adored Hideaway Heart and the bonus scene is a must-read! Five stars.

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Read my reviews for the Cherry Tree Harbor series:


Runaway Love (book one) - 4.5 stars - My Review

Hideaway Heart (book two) - five stars - My Review (posted above)

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Release Date: 07 August 2023

Date Read: 01 August 2023

Learn more about Melanie Harlow.

Purchase Hideaway Heart on Amazon.

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