I’m in complete denial over the end of this series and I really wish it would just keep going and going and going.
I fell in love with this small town series in 2015 after reading a book in the middle of the series. I immediately went back to the beginning of the series, binge read the hell out of it and eagerly awaited each new book. Now, I’m faced with no more new Country Roads books and I just…cannot.
Richard always manages to craft main characters with loads of chemistry. Brie and Finn are no exception, from the moment they meet, there are fireworks. She also weaves the history of Mirabelle and some of its long time residents all the way through this series and that history comes home to roost in this last chapter of the Country Roads book. When I say come home, I really mean it. Brie visits Mirabelle with a very specific purpose, for the funeral of a very significant resident and her own birth mother. The Mirabell resident in question is not loved and therefore, casts quite a shadow on Brie.
Finn is an interesting guy. He’s a veterinarian and bartender and quite the cynical dater. He’s not after a commitment and he assumes that his time with Brie will consist of one and done. I was very frustrated with Finn in the beginning, he was a jerk and Brie had every reason to want to punch him in the face. Leave to the lovely ladies of Mirabelle to gallop in and pull her under their wing and in turn, straighten out some of the men of Mirabelle. Soon, Finn sees the error of his ways and realizes that he and Brie have a lot more between them than just a one-time thing.
I was absolutely fascinated as Brie navigated getting to know her deceased birth mother and understanding why she (her mother) was such an unhappy person. I found myself holding my breath and getting teary eyed as Brie peeled back the layers of her own family history. Which, in turn, made me even sadder that I won’t be visiting Mirabelle again with new characters. This series is definitely on my re-read shelf, so I’ll have to be satisfied with that. Untold and the Country Road series is equal parts sexy, romantic, funny, and undeniably heartfelt.
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“Are you leaving soon?”
“In a bit. I want to see the end of the game.”
“Really now?” He leaned in close to her again. And for what was probably the fiftieth time that night she could smell the clean masculine scent that clung to him. Soap and maybe a little aftershave combined with him. He smelled incredible.
So. Damn. Good.
“Yeah, I’m a Stampede fan now. I’m in it to win it.” She couldn’t stop herself from leaning in a bit closer herself.
“Commitment, I like it.”
“Yeah?”
“Yeah.” His smile grew and his eyes got more intense, the blue getting deeper. “It’s not the only thing I like either.”
“What else do you like?” Her voice dropped low as she spoke. Oh God, the more time she spent with him, the more he affected her. The closer he got to her, the more he affected her. The more he looked at her, the more he affected her.
He just affected her.
“About you? The list keeps growing, and growing. Give me twenty minutes and I’d be happy to tell you about it. In great detail.”
Her stomach flipped and the air in her lungs caught. This time her inability to breath had nothing to do with suffocating pressure. “What happens in twenty minutes?” She somehow managed to ask.
“The game is over.” He turned just a little bit so he could incline his head toward the TV, not taking his eyes off of her while he did it.
“You don’t need to stay here? Until closing?”
“Nope, just came in to help with the rush during the game. I’m free after that.”
“Right,” she nodded slowly, her stomach doing a summersault. “And if I said yes? What happens then?”
He moved back so that he was standing directly in front of her again, leaning in close. The nearness of him combined with the way he was looking at her and the topic of conversation—that she was 99.9% sure was one about them having sex—was making her pulse race. And that wasn’t the only thing he was doing to her. It was taking everything in her not to squirm in her seat. She somehow managed to subtly press her thighs together. It was all she could do to combat the swelling ache.