This beautician is determined to find beauty and kindness everywhere.

Brittany Lambridge wants to bring beauty back to the small town of Harmony Valley. Not only is she opening a beauty shop, but she’s also salvaging junk and giving it a second life as art. Of course, that means she’s poking around a lot of abandoned properties looking for salvage. And not every property comes without its share of secrets.

What she doesn’t expect to find is a beast and a secret.

While prospecting an overgrown plot of land filled with abandoned vehicles, Brittany comes across an intriguing car grill and a cranky car mechanic, a man named Joe with rumpled black hair, icy blue eyes, and an inability to trust. Joe believes those cars are his, and they can’t seem to come to a truce. Not about the rusting cars, where they came from, or his past as the town bad boy.

Titles in the Love in Harmony Valley series include — Dandelion Wishes —♥— A Small Town Second Chance —♥— A New Beginning in a Small Town —♥— A Small Town Summer —♥— Forever Family in a Small Town —♥— A Small Town Memory —♥— A Small Town Romance —♥— Finding Family in a Small Town —♥— A Small Town Girl with a Big City Secret —♥—

This is a romance that includes no swearing, no violence, and no sexual content (beyond a few kisses).

Booksprout ARC

Title:  Finding Family in the Small Town
Series:  Love in Harmony Valley #8
Author:  Melinda Curtis
Genre:  Contemporary Romance
Published:  August 22, 2023
Publisher:
My Rating:  4.5

Finding Family in the Small Town is going to wreck your heart – and heal it back beyond what you expected in this emotionally rich romance.

Brittany and her twin sister have returned to Harmony for a couple of reasons.  One will use their artistic talents in two different ways; the other will fail to bring a dream into reality by taking over ownership of the local B & B.  Both will be hurt by the one person who should be the closest of all others; both will find a rocky road back to each other.

Beyond the sisters who need healing, we have Joe and his daughter Sam (Samantha).  They have returned to the place Joe never, ever expected to come back to.  Once, when he needed it most, his “Uncle” had swept in for the rescue Joe desperately needed.  Then that same man betrayed everything that rescue meant to Joe with one of the most unforgivable betrayals…which put Joe and his preteen daughter in immediate danger.  So, they came home, future unknown and frightening – with a young girl who cannot understand why, who is also going through some of those embarrassing growing pains of preteen girls.

The residents of Harmony remember Joe as one of the bad boys, the ones who got themselves in a lot of teenage trouble.  They have not forgotten one single incident from Joe’s youth – and he’s paying for their lack of memory loss in a huge way.  Yet, for Sam’s sake, he has to make this work for them both; and that includes dealing with the feelings that Brittany evokes in him, this “ugly duckling” in her eyes, well, he sees as the beautiful swan and that’s trouble of a different kind for Joe.

I had such an emotional blast of a time with Finding Family in the Small Town.  Their stories will gut and encourage you as Joe and Brittany work their way through family, town, and personal rocky roads to eventually find that perfect for them person who is not only a safe shelter but the one who could bring about the lifelong love and acceptance they both long for. Their story is one of my favorites from this series.  It’s well-written, emotionally gripping, realistic, and believable…and I highly recommend it to any Romance reader who lives for those “feels good” romances.

*I received an e-ARC of this novel from the author or author’s team via Booksprout, and I sincerely thank them for their trust. It is my choice to leave a review giving my personal opinion about this book.*

Available for the Kindle as this title is currently in KU