Review: Full Throttle by Melanie Moreland (Reynolds Restoration #5)

June 12, 2024

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

Full Throttle is the fifth and final book in Melanie Moreland's Reynolds Restoration series, and it ends this beloved series on such a high, if I do say so myself. If you've read the previous novel, Under the Radar, there's no way you would have missed the connection between Dominic Salvatore and Cherry Gallagher, the former being a mechanic at Reynolds Restorations and embraced by the found family in the garage, and the latter being a single mother and hair stylist a couple of towns away from Littleburn, Ontario, Canada, which is where the series as a whole is set. Dom is forty-eight and is immediately smitten with Cherry, who at forty-six, isn't the type to give in to this intriguing man's charms. She pegs him as a guy who doesn't do commitment and prefers sleeping around to sticking around when it comes to women. Dom sees that Cherry is a woman he needs to not only woo, but he also must show her that she's the only one who has his attention, and more importantly, his heart. But will she still want Dom when he shares his secrets?

When Dom and Cherry first crossed paths in Under the Radar, it's clear that something was brewing between the two of them. Naturally, when I found out that they would actually get their story told and it would serve as the series closer, I was thrilled. I have such an appreciation for "mature" romances, i.e. romances that involve main characters in their forties and up, although I think some consider any MC who is thirty-five and up as "mature". That maturity was clear when it came to Dom, who could have very well gone alpha and insisted on doing things his way, but he took note of the woman that Cherry was and encouraged her to pursue her dreams, refusing to stifle her independence, instead letting her know that he hopes she would make space for him to be a part of her life as well. There wasn't any unnecessary drama or petty bickering with these two; it was about them falling in love and dealing with any and all complexities and complications one at a time. Full Throttle was about finding true love at any age, creating family (blood and found), and how the idea of home is more than just a place. Five stars!

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Read my reviews for the Reynolds Restoration series: