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A review by lmrivas54
The Bluff by Willa Nash, Devney Perry
5.0
There’s something in Willa Nash’s (alter ego of Devney Perry) books that grab you and you don’t want to stop reading. Her characters are compelling, the stories are enthralling and the feelings, the passion, the small town gossipy nature combined with goodness just suck you in.
Everly is stuck in a limbo. After the stalker that attacked her and her bestie Lucy, she hasn’t been able to decide on a course of action. She used to be a singer but she doesn’t want to be a singer anymore. Her parents want her to have a direction, are pressing her on it, but all she wants is to stay cocooned in her second story apartment, watching life in the small town of Calamity as it goes on, through her front windows. It’s not until one night she goes for a nightcap to a bar, finds this handsome and compelling stranger and has a one night stand with him, that her motor started running. But what really started running were her hormones!
Hux is an ex-con. When he revisits his history, you can tell his situation is the result of wanting to please an ever demanding wife. And on top of being the cause of his imprisonment, she gave birth to a daughter, hid it from him, and once he was out of prison, constantly denies him access to!
Hux has an art gallery, has made a life for himself, but he’s a hermit in town, his only purpose and desire, to have contact with his daughter. When he has the one-night stand with Everly, he remains mesmerized with her sensuality and beauty, but he’s still reluctant to get involved. That is, until Everly convinces him he has a better chance to gain access to his daughter if he presents himself to the town and the judge as a community man, settled in marital harmony.
The chemistry between Everly and Hux is off the charts; and even though their marriage is fake, in the bedroom it’s very much real. I found Everly a little spineless at first, but later on I realized that she exerts herself for the sake of others and not herself.
“Life with Everly had taken me by surprise. She had taken me by surprise. Ev had the grit to gut out the hard moments. She had a smile that made the good ones shine like the sun. Along the way, it had stopped being about sex. Or only sex. She’d become a constant. A companion. Maybe even a friend.”
The person I felt for the most was Savannah. Clearly the bone of contention between her mother and Hux, she craves love from her father but her mother rejoices in being an obstacle. It’s a very frustrating situation, seeing a woman who is so selfish and self-centered that she relishes making Hux’s life impossible, spreading false rumors about his reputation and unrelenting in not allowing him time with his daughter.
“Treats me like I’m this huge burden on her life, this inconvenience. But when I suggest I get out of her hair and live with my dad, she flips out. She doesn’t want me, but she doesn’t want him to have me either.”
When I read that Everly had decided that her purpose and focus would be to fix the estrangement between Savannah and Hux, I admired her generosity of spirit but also had an “uh oh” moment. Her focus was pointed outside and not inside as it should be. The result was an adventure in negotiating a tricky path between a troubled teenager, a grumpy man with lost social graces, and Hux’s longtime friend Katie, who didn’t receive Everly with open arms. Katie manages the gallery where Every arrives to help with the accounts. It was a graceless job with little gratitude except for a fantastic sex life.
.
The story kept me mesmerized, there’s always a hint of suspense, a wonderful supportive best friend, and a villain in the form of a spiteful, malicious ex-wife. It’s a testament of the author’s grace and elegance that she treats everyone, even the evil ex-wife with kindness, I would have annihilated her, she was so annoying.
What I loved most was the teasing bonus epilogue that has the promise of another yummy installment of this series! I can’t wait!
Everly is stuck in a limbo. After the stalker that attacked her and her bestie Lucy, she hasn’t been able to decide on a course of action. She used to be a singer but she doesn’t want to be a singer anymore. Her parents want her to have a direction, are pressing her on it, but all she wants is to stay cocooned in her second story apartment, watching life in the small town of Calamity as it goes on, through her front windows. It’s not until one night she goes for a nightcap to a bar, finds this handsome and compelling stranger and has a one night stand with him, that her motor started running. But what really started running were her hormones!
Hux is an ex-con. When he revisits his history, you can tell his situation is the result of wanting to please an ever demanding wife. And on top of being the cause of his imprisonment, she gave birth to a daughter, hid it from him, and once he was out of prison, constantly denies him access to!
Hux has an art gallery, has made a life for himself, but he’s a hermit in town, his only purpose and desire, to have contact with his daughter. When he has the one-night stand with Everly, he remains mesmerized with her sensuality and beauty, but he’s still reluctant to get involved. That is, until Everly convinces him he has a better chance to gain access to his daughter if he presents himself to the town and the judge as a community man, settled in marital harmony.
The chemistry between Everly and Hux is off the charts; and even though their marriage is fake, in the bedroom it’s very much real. I found Everly a little spineless at first, but later on I realized that she exerts herself for the sake of others and not herself.
“Life with Everly had taken me by surprise. She had taken me by surprise. Ev had the grit to gut out the hard moments. She had a smile that made the good ones shine like the sun. Along the way, it had stopped being about sex. Or only sex. She’d become a constant. A companion. Maybe even a friend.”
The person I felt for the most was Savannah. Clearly the bone of contention between her mother and Hux, she craves love from her father but her mother rejoices in being an obstacle. It’s a very frustrating situation, seeing a woman who is so selfish and self-centered that she relishes making Hux’s life impossible, spreading false rumors about his reputation and unrelenting in not allowing him time with his daughter.
“Treats me like I’m this huge burden on her life, this inconvenience. But when I suggest I get out of her hair and live with my dad, she flips out. She doesn’t want me, but she doesn’t want him to have me either.”
When I read that Everly had decided that her purpose and focus would be to fix the estrangement between Savannah and Hux, I admired her generosity of spirit but also had an “uh oh” moment. Her focus was pointed outside and not inside as it should be. The result was an adventure in negotiating a tricky path between a troubled teenager, a grumpy man with lost social graces, and Hux’s longtime friend Katie, who didn’t receive Everly with open arms. Katie manages the gallery where Every arrives to help with the accounts. It was a graceless job with little gratitude except for a fantastic sex life.
.
The story kept me mesmerized, there’s always a hint of suspense, a wonderful supportive best friend, and a villain in the form of a spiteful, malicious ex-wife. It’s a testament of the author’s grace and elegance that she treats everyone, even the evil ex-wife with kindness, I would have annihilated her, she was so annoying.
What I loved most was the teasing bonus epilogue that has the promise of another yummy installment of this series! I can’t wait!