She has many reasons to leave

He’s the best reason to stay

Summoned home by her mother and sisters, novelist Gwen Sutton has made it clear—she’s not staying.

She’s returning to her quiet, writerly life as soon as the family brewery is up and running.

But when Gwen’s lifelong crush, Case Danforth, offers his help, it’s clear there’s more than just beer brewing!

Time is short for Case to convince Gwen that a home with him is where her heart is.

Titles in the Sutton’s Place series include — Her Hometown Man – An Unexpected Cowboy – Expecting Her Ex’s Baby – Falling for His Fake Girlfriend –

This is an adult 18+ story that may contain language, possible violence, and/or sexual situations geared to an adult audience.

Title:  Her Hometown Man
Series:  Sutton’s Place #1
Author:  Shannon Stacey
Genre:  Contemporary Romance
Published:  December 28, 2021
Publisher:  Harlequin Special Edition
My Rating:  4.5 stars

Her Hometown Man begins Sutton’s Place series with an emotion-filled romance on so many levels.  The sudden changes in her family’s life due to her father’s death have her returning home to face many family challenges and her past history with this town… and one particular man.  Gwen has to face her past before she can find a future, and that’s not going to be easy when all she can think of while in her childhood home is how soon she can realistically leave and get back to the safety, the aloneness of her life in Vermont.  Home brings back too many memories, too many second thoughts, and perhaps too many regrets as well.

Her father was in the process of opening a pub/brewery with some local men when he suddenly died leaving not only a grieving family but unfinished business as well.  Gwen’s family has called, cajoled, and even threatened her to return home to help get the new business off the ground.  So, she’s back and not one bit happy about that fact.  The new pub/brewery was partially partnered by her childhood crush, Case… and Gwen is in no mood to run into him again.  Plus, she’s suffering from writer’s block and her agent/editor is on her back wanting to know when that manuscript is going to be delivered.  Gwen’s been putting her off, but something has to give, and soon.  It doesn’t help that there is a bit of hostility from neighbors and townsfolk in her small hometown ever since her best-selling novel became a movie.  Everyone she encounters is certain that a character in her book/movie was them in disguise and not everyone is happy with their perceived fictionalized personality.

Not one of the Sutton sisters wants to be here making their father’s dream a reality for various reasons.  But it’s also their mother’s dream to honor her husband by completing his partnership in this venture.  She’s determined, the sisters are reluctant, and the men in their lives are… often clueless to the tensions around them.

When Gwen’s relationship with Case begins to go beyond friendship to maybe something more life-altering she panics because she believes she cannot stay here… and she knows that Case will not leave.  Stalemate.

I absolutely loved Her Hometown Man and the characters we meet here.  Each sister is unique, with their own far different personality, their own dreams, and fears.  Gwen and Case were obviously perfect for each other from the start.  But those pesky perceptions, the obstacles they saw standing in the way, and their stubbornness as well almost cost them everything that love has to offer.  Unconditional love.  I found Gwen and Case believable, yes, there were times when they each deserved a smack on the back of the head or at least a stern conversation for their unbelievable stubbornness… but I still loved them as a couple, they fit, they filled in the spaces the other lacked.

This book was on my TBR pile for far too long, and now I need to get caught up with the rest of the series.  I had an absolute blast here.  And if you love a good, solid romance with believable characters, secondary characters you cannot wait to learn more about, and a family healing after a devastating loss… then you’d feel right at home with Her Hometown Man.

I own a Kindle edition of this title.

Available in print or e-reader