It’s Cliffside Bay and beyond in this heartwarming enemies-to-lovers romantic adventure from USA Today bestselling author Tess Thompson.Stone Hickman is the last of a dying breed. The former Marine believes in integrity, service to his country, a hard day’s work, and taking care of his loved ones. When he meets the clever Pepper Griffin, their obvious attraction has him ready to count the … the stunning beauty among the people that he cares for. But Pepper doesn’t share the instant connection. In fact, she wants nothing to do with him. And for honest, straightforward Stone, not knowing why only makes the rejection worse.
Pepper Griffin is the epitome of scrappy. For years she’s struggled to make acting her career without any help at all from her famous father. While she’s still accepting meager roles with little screen time, her best friend has steadily risen to the height of fame. To make matters worse, that very same friend is happily in love, newly engaged, and wants poor Pepper, whose love life is as sad and pathetic as her last film role, to serve as her maid-of-honor while Pepper’s enemy, Stone Hickman, is sure to be the groom’s best man.
Though Pepper despises the best man, she loves the bride-to-be more. To keep the peace, Pepper willingly includes Stone in the wedding planning process. When the unlikely pair find themselves stranded in a snowstorm while searching for the perfect venue, they’ll have to work together to survive the chill even if that means thawing Pepper’s heart.
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It’s a series but stands alone see characters from other books on series.
There came a point about 68% through the book when I hated Pepper. I get that she had issues after being raped but to me she kept acting tough then scared of everything. This contains SPOILERS: When Pepper and Stone ended up at the Lake house during the blizzard she just made me want to throw the book. #1 Pepper found the house phone and the only person she called was Lisa in LA to whine about what happened. She should have called the police or EMS to alert them about Mr Lakes fall and broken leg. Also should have called the lodge where they were staying to let them know where they were. #2 Pepper complains about being scared of the dark. However when Mr Lake said they would loose power she never asks where the candles are so she can get then out and be prepared. #3 Since the power/heat was off she should have slept by the fire, not gone to the third floor where it is really cold. #4 She thinks there are rats in the wall. Geeeeez….. They are on the top of a mountain not in town. #5 When you live so far out on the top of a mountain when the power goes so does the electric to run the water pump, you don’t get to keep flushing the toilet and brushing your teeth. I seriously doubt there is town water that high up. I have lived in the country most of my life and this blizzard scene just about made me quit the book. After that I lost interest in Stone and Pepper and how beautiful and flawed they are. It ended where I expected it to. At least there is that!
The title could not be more precious for this book. I love visiting Cliffside Bay again and again. It’s like being in family reunion because all your favorite people are there and you get to know what’s going on in their lives.
I absolutely loved Stone and Pepper’s story. They both have demons from their past that they would love being left behind and those wounds be finally healed. Fate. Love. Fear. Such a wonderful chemistry between them! Well developed characters and storyline which made me go through all kinds of emotions and feelings. Some funny moments, some cry, many heart touching and heart warming scenes. Amazing!
(I have voluntarily read and reviewed this Advance Reader Copy.)
Healed: Stone and Pepper (Cliffside Bay, book 7) by Tess Thompson
The Cliffside Bay stories just keep getting better! This was my 2nd favorite book of the series! Tess really dove deep into Stone and Pepper’s pasts to help them both see themselves as they saw one another! This was definitely a beautiful story about healing and letting go of past failures/beliefs to find yourself and love others! Stone and Pepper captured my heart.
This was a truly great read!
We have another winning entry in the Cliffside Bay series by Tess Thompson. This time out, we get the story of Pepper and Stone. As always, Ms. Thompson knows how to craft a plot that makes the reader feel the character’s emotions as they experience them. I loved the nicknames that the two had for each other, but I especially liked how Stone was able to help Pepper trust again merely by being himself. The author does a great job of creating characters who help people through healthy human interaction – there is nothing overly complicated or dramatic (although there is always a little bit of intrigue to make things interesting. This time it is in the form of Stone’s mother who disappeared when he and his siblings were kids). I think that is a reason that I love revisiting Cliffside Bay; it feels like real life and coming home to old friends. This review was written based on a complimentary digital ARC of the book.
I purchased this book a few weeks ago and have waited until I had uninterrupted time to read it and enjoy it! Every book by Ms Thompson has me anxiously waiting for news of all my Cliffside “friends”.
I think Stone is my favorite hero of the series so far! He is kind and sweet and doesn’t take no from Pepper. I look forward to hearing more about their HEA in future books in the series!
I loved this book. After reading missed: Rafael and Lisa’s story, which I loved. I couldn’t wait to read this one. Pepper was so feisty and angry to down to earth Stone. But they turned out so wonderful for each other. I love how Tess Thompson brings all of her characters together in her books. And how the story of Cliffside Bay just keeps growing. Now I am off to a Christmas Wedding! So excited. I highly recommend this book.
I received this book as an ARC, but this review comes from my heart.
Stone is a military man that came from nothing and made himself into everything a girl could dream of. He started his own business with a few of his friends, and has manners to spare.
Pepper had a rough time as a young adult and hates military men. She has a hard time trusting men, and has a rough surface.
When their friends asked her to find the perfect place for her wedding, they told her to bring Stone along with her. The perfect little town by Denver was the perfect place for everything to go wrong. She will learn who he really is, and he will learn her truth.
You never know what could happen when everything goes wrong. Stone and Pepper are the perfect couple. They will make you fall in love with falling in love all over again.
Who loves you enough to stick with you when canned peas fall from the sky?
Tess Thomson’s Healed follows the continued story of a close-knit group of friends who find love and second chances in a small town nobody’s ever heard of – and they like it that way. The characters are deeply flawed, yet eminently relatable. As the series continues I feel more like I know these characters and look forward to seeing their stories unfold. Ms. Thompson does not let her characters find love easily. Each has some secret, some very real obstacle that they must overcome, but somehow it doesn’t feel contrived or forced. These books will make you laugh and cry. There are moments of sentiment and sudden laughter. One of my favorites this time – “Mayonnaise is a foul combination of oil and egg yolks and should not be eaten by humans.”
Pepper is a challenging heroine, and one I wasn’t sure I could like. She lives up to her name and is abrasive and difficult in the earlier books in the series, with limited backstory provided to explain her behavior. Her friends have also had enough of her behavior and force her to address the problem with a therapist. Healed is largely the story of Pepper finding herself and recognizing the incredibly decent man who has been there all along. Stone is everything strong and steady and good, and he loves Pepper enough to let her go.
The journey to love isn’t always rainbows and unicorns, but love finds a way with Stone and Pepper despite emotional baggage, sudden blizzards, and financial windfalls. Well worth-reading, and I am already looking forward to the next in the series.
I am so in love with Cliffside Bay Series! Tess Thompson hits it out of the park again with Healed, book 7 of the series. Every book I’ve read I think is my favorite, until I read the next one. I have heard Tess Thompson compared to Nora Roberts, and I couldn’t agree more! Healed, featuring Stone and Pepper, is a sweet love story that , once again , I couldn’t put down until I read it from cover to cover! That there is book 8 in the plans makes me so happy!
Another winner from Tess Thompson! The story flows at a great pace and the covers are gorgeous.
I love taking these short trips back to Cliffside Bay, and catching up with “old friends” there. This whole series would make great beachy reads, but are really perfect for any time you need to get away. Don’t worry, Pepper & Stone know the way and will take you where you wanna go…
Tess Thompson understands people are not perfect, that along with experience comes baggage. In her latest Cliffside Bay series, Stone and Pepper are two characters whose damage from prior relationships gets in the way of new ones. Stone is scarred from abandonment and poverty as a child. Pepper was brutally attached as a college coed. Both watch their close friends find partners and love, while they struggle with despair that their turn will never come. Together, sparks fly but their baggage gets in the way. It’s like magnets are pushing apart while pulling them together.
Ms Thompson mixes fun and humor in with the drama, making her books fast, fun reads. Like the earlier books in the series, characters are well-developed human beings who are easy to relate to, they keep me coming back for the next installment. This book could be read stand-alone, but treat yourself to the entire series and enjoy seeing the Dogs, Wags and Wolves find love and second chances at happiness, then expand their circle of love to friends and siblings.
I was lucky enough to get an ARC copy of this fun book. Since I can’t visit fictional Cliffside Bay for real, I hope Ms Thompson keeps taking us there with her books.
Absolutely amazing! I love each Cliffside Bay book more and more but definitely in love with Every character! Stone and Pepper had so many scars from their past it wasn’t easy to trust anyone. The love the found in themselves healed them both in ways they never dreamed possible! I loved everything about these characters and highly recommend this book and the entire series! A tear jerking page turning love story that you never want to end! Tess Thompson never disappoints and is a true gem!
I’m always amazed at the way Tess Thompson describes the characters, situations, scenery etc. I feel like I’m right there with them.
Extra fun was that much of this story takes place in the beautiful Colorado mountains where you really can get snowed in within a matter of hours.
If you’re looking for a quick but touching love story you’ll find that here. However, I highly recommend reading the entire series so you have the back stories of all the family and friends of Cliffside Bay.
I’m so glad to be back in Cliffside Bay and revisiting the gang. This story is about Stone, one of the wolves. He is an ex Marine hunk who now is in the construction business with his buddies, the other wolves. Stone has had a lot of canned peas thrown at him his last 30 years and throughout it all he has maintained true grit. Stone has an eye for Pepper, a beautiful actress, who wants nothing to do with him. Pepper has had a challenging past as well.
Now Pepper has to put her feelings about Stone, the best man, aside to be the maid of honor for her friend. Their story has a lot of twist and unexpected turns. I laughed and cried, it is well written and it is a must read to the very end to see who gets healed.
Once again I got totally lost in the book as if I am living in Cliffside Bay. Oh how I wish I could truly live in Cliffside Bay and be part of the gang…..
The story of Stone and Pepper has been one I have been anticipating for awhile!!! I was invested in these two about two books ago in the series and have been dying to see Tess bring these two together and it has finally happened!!!
The love story was great but I enjoyed the struggles both characters had with their families more. Stone’s mom who ran away when they were barely old enough to remember comes back into their lives and him, Kyle, and their sister Autumn have to deal with the emotional turmoil of that. Pepper has a similar situation in that her father really wanted nothing to do with her either. Seeing how they learn from each other’s pasts was really unique and made me really consider some things in my own life.
(4 out of 5 stars) Stone is absolutely perfect and the back and forth bantar between these two hooked me in immediately. The only issue I tend to have with this series is how well things seem to fall into place for characters, which is typical of fiction but life is messy and love is even messier and I want to read about the mess so I know I’m doing it right. Maybe a fuller figured woman in the town would be an added bonus….and I know she can do it cause in her other series she had a thicker girl as the main love interest. I’m just all in my feelings though so despite all that once again Tess Thompson brings an amazing story to life and I’m already excited for the next book featuring Trey and Autumn who are just best friends…..or are they
Healed is Book 7 in the Cliffside Bay Series. Healed is the story of Stone and Pepper.
Stone is an ex Marine who had a tough childhood when his mother left him and his siblings with their alcoholic father. Pepper has also had a trouble childhood as her famous father would not
support her career as an actress and never expressed his love. When Stone met Pepper it was love at first sight. Pepper’s past troubles makes her cautious of Stone. When Pepper’s friend asks her to go to Colorado to search for wedding venues, Stone goes along as driver. A snow storm has them stuck in a cabin and that’s when love sparks.
I don’t want to give anymore of the story away. The book can be read as a stand alone but I recommend reading them in order so you get to know all the characters of Cliffside Bay. Reading this series makes you feel like your a part of the Cliffside gang. Healed is a story of forgiveness, love, and learning to heal. I highly recommend this book.
Healed: Stone and Pepper
I love all of Tess Thompson’s books but am especially fond of the Cliffside Bay series. If you read all of them, you are slowly introduced to new characters and you feel like you are apart of the beautiful beachside town.
With each new book release, it is like going on vacation to my favorite beach town. Book 7 is no different. In book 7 we get to travel with Stone and Pepper to Emerson Pass, Colorado to plan a winter wedding for a mutual friend.
Since it is a Tess Thompson book, of course, there is sweet romance and a little bit of mystery. I throughly enjoyed getting to know Pepper and Stone. Pepper isn’t fond of Stone in the beginning but Stone was in love with Pepper at first sight. I chuckled at the nicknames they gave each other, Pepper Shaker and Stone Soup.
When writing reviews I am always afraid I will give too much of the book away, so I will leave it at this. You could read this book as a stand-alone book, but in my opinion, it is a lot more fun and enjoyable to read all of the series in order.
Thank you Tess Thompson for another 5 star book!
I was thrilled to be back in Cliffside Bay once again. This time, the couple of the hour is Stone Hickman and Pepper Griffin.
Former Marine and upstanding guy, Stone is really a prince among men. He’s interested in Pepper, but knows she isn’t, so patience is the name of his game. He’s crazy sweet and friendly, even when she isn’t. Afterall, he’s had a rotten past as well and understand how to live in and enjoy the moment and all of the little things it has to offer.
Struggling actress Pepper Griffin’s life changed one evening, making relationships hard and being around military men even harder. She’s moved to Cliffside Bay to be closer to her former roommates, but finds herself feeling left behind now that her friends have both found success in not only their careers but also in love.
When Pepper and Stone are thrown together to help plan their best friends’ wedding, She decides to try and put her past behind her and give Stone a chance. Pepper soon realizes that spending time with Stone may be the best decision she has ever made, but when both Stone and Pepper’s pasts come knocking on their door, they will both face major life decisions and changes that may pull them apart physically and emotionally.
Healed was so sweet and so romantic that I just loved it to bits! It left me with all the warm fuzzy feelings I always get when I step back into the world of Cliffside Bay.
I enjoyed learning about Stone’s past and more about his relationship with his siblings Kyle and Autumn. He really is the ultimate nice guy and just perfect for Pepper. And, while Pepper may be prickly, she has her reasons. I loved watching her attitude change and thaw towards Stone as he melted her reservations about him and ultimately her heart.
What I loved best, however, is that the ultimate decisions come down to Pepper figuring out what she needs and wants, with Stone trying to be supportive no matter what the personal cost . . . that’s true love! 5 stars!
This is book seven of the Cliffside Bay series. In books 1-5, the reader meets the Dogs, a group of 5 friends connected by either college, family, or growing up together, whose lives are intertwined in the small California beach town of Cliffside Bay. Book 6 started the story of the Wolves, a group of friends brought together by business connections. Rafael, the first one you meet, is engaged to Lisa. Lisa was the New York City roommate of Maggie and Pepper. Stone is Kyle’s (a Dog) brother and an ex-Marine. This fact alone makes Pepper avoid him. In this book, Stone and Pepper get to know each other, warily circling the other – not wanting to let defenses down. Through a series of events, they gradually get to know the real person, not the misconceptions they each had of the other.
There is family tension among Stone’s siblings when their mother shows up. They had not seen her since their childhood. Meanwhile, in Pepper’s life, she is dealing with her best friends moving on without her. Maggie is married to Dr. Jackson Waller with a wonderful life. Lisa is a movie star with her own series. Pepper is still exploring what she wants to do in life.
There is action, suspense, romance, and ordinary life events in this book. since the title is Healed: The Story of Stone and Pepper, one can reasonably expect that they eventually get together. How, when, and why are left to the reader. I hated to stop reading this book until I finished it. If you are unfamiliar with the Cliffside Bay series, I highly suggest reading the others first. However, reading this book and then starting the series may help you make understand the characters you meet a little better.