In one blinding flash, the very fiber of her existence is shredded. For criminal lawyer and single mother, Stacie Gustafson, a dependable career, a well-organized life, and an immaculate image, had always been her armor. Without it she’s left exposed and struggling to create a new existence for her and her daughter. No matter how hard she tries, she is unable to avoid her history.All it takes is … history.
All it takes is one look at the blue-eyed woman, for Nicolas Flynn to be transported back ten years. Sure, her appearance has changed, but then so has his, since he turned his life around. His devotion to his small-town law firm is tested with the arrival of this bittersweet blast from the past, making for a persistent distraction. One that drags along more trouble than she left behind.
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There are a number of reasons a book has me clicking those 5 stars at the end of a book. Sometimes it’s easy to explain why, and others not as much.
The easiest ones are when the couple just hits every one of my boxes. For me, it’s really easy to gush about a couple and not spoil anything. When it goes beyond the couple, that’s when I struggle expressing my feelings for a book only because I don’t want to spoil anything for other readers.
As much as I like the main couple here, they aren’t the only ones who stole my heart in this book. Once you read this, you will know exactly what I’m talking about, and even though I won’t spoil things, this gives you the idea to look forward to more than just the couple.
A few things I can talk about would be the small town setting. This gives us readers a chance to get to know a few side characters that just really add to the story and gives you hope that there will be more books based off some of them in future.
Then there is the sense of family. Our heroine is the sister of the hero in book 1. That brings us a bigger family picture than just the heroine and her daughter into the story. Even better, the hero brings his father as part of the family package as well. And to top things off, the heroine is a single mom. I love single parent tropes.
Finally, there is the actual couple themselves. Anastasia, Stacie for short, is a character we got to meet in book one. She got caught up in the danger meant for the heroine of that book and now Stacie is having to deal with the aftermath.
She’s a strong heroine who I think reacted in a very realistic way to her burn scars. I really admired how she pushed herself to be better with the insecurities for her impressionable young daughter. She did have a few moments of being too strong.
Nick is not normally a hero I seek out. I’m all about the big strong tough guys. While he’s not the typical alpha, he is very protective and that is just as appealing in a hero. He has a few insecurities he deals with as well. He’s the former nerd turned hot.
There are some scary moments in this book that will get your heart racing. The suspense really had me on the edge with a few scenes. Add all of this together and you get a fantastically well written story that I can’t recommend enough.
Freya Barker and KT Dove, I really want Jen’s story, and Drew, and Ryan!
I loved this collaboration as much, if not more, than the previous book, Freeze Frame. Stacie’s story is a testament to strong women everywhere and Nick is nearly the perfect man. The secondary characters add color and flair to the storyline as does Mak and her friend, Becca. There is suspense, love, humor, strength, and passion in this book and the unexpected twists are a treat for the reader.
That wonderful feeling of serenity you feel when you finish an awesome book full of characters you have fallen in love with. Watching them pick up the pieces and expose themselves to others again. Showing strength and courage to everyone near, leading by example and always being there for others when needed. Makes the happy. I never want these books to end but always know that soon will be another group of characters for me to fall in love with.
This is exactly how I feel as I just finished my ARC of Ideal Image. Freya and KT you have done it again. . I will be singing praises for some time about this wonderful book.
Stacie decided long ago that she was going to take charge of her life. Fighting to be a respected lawyer in her field all while being the best single mom she could be. To see Mak, you would agree she has done a pretty damn good job too. Now she finds herself fighting one more time. Still very insecure about her scars she carries from the explosion and working to heal both physically and mentally from the ordeal but wanting Mak to see the strong woman she wants her to become.
Nick has always felt he will never be good enough. He has worked hard on himself, eating well, working out and running his own legal practice keeps a man busy. When he realized that the one woman he desired all those years ago is living in his town, he thinks maybe it might be time to see if she might notice him now.
Two people who worried with insecurities that run very deep. Can they claw over those insecurities and see where life will take them? Will they be willing to give love a try? Will they get the family they have always wanted?
Stacie and her nine year old daughter Makenna aka Mak were first introduced in Freeze Frame, the previous book in the series and I was hoping that Stacie would get her own turn in the spotlight. Fortunately the authors obliged us!
As the story opens, Stacie is recovering from being badly burned and nearly killed in an explosion at the end of Freeze Frame. After spending time in the spotlight in her career as an Assistant District Attorney in Albuquerque, she has become used to being the center of attention but now she feels like people are staring due to her scars instead. She is struggling to find her equilibrium after having her reality completely altered, she is now adjusting to a new town as she moved herself and Mak to be closer to her brother Ben and his wife Isla, and she is quick to go on the defensive when interacting with others.
A prime example of that defensiveness is Nicholas Flynn. Nick is an attorney she met at Ben’s wedding, and while he initially seemed interested in speaking to her about a job opportunity, she is annoyed and disgusted when all he can do is stare at her from across the room all the night. Then he never contacts her again so she is certain that he is put off by her appearance. She has no idea that his silence is for exactly the opposite reason though. We soon find out that Nick and Stacie have a connection in their past and he was staring because he still thinks she is beautiful regardless of the scars, and it left him a little bit tongue tied.
Their next interaction doesn’t exactly go smoothly either, but eventually they find a middle ground and she discovers Nick is actually a pretty likable guy. As they get to know each other, they fall into an easy friendship with a smokin’ side of UST thanks to Mak’s constant presence, Nick’s friendship with Ben, and Nick’s own determination to take things slowly until Stacie is certain of what she wants. He has his own hangups about his appearance too thanks to his own demons from his younger years, and that realization is a wake up call to Stacie. So many people struggle with self-image for different reasons, and she finally realizes that she is not willing to let her scars define her. She starts to regain her inner strength and sass as she moves to reclaim her life.
Since she started recovering from her injuries, Stacie has become involved with a charity benefiting burn patients and she even agreed to let Isla take some photos to be sold with the proceeds going to the charity. When they are a bigger hit than either woman could ever imagine, it leads to a national news article being run and Stacie’s identity and location are exposed. She never dreamed that one of the cases she prosecuted in the past would come back to haunt her, but that article triggers exactly that scenario and suddenly Stacie, Mak and all their friends and family are in imminent danger as a result.
Nick and Stacie have great chemistry and that definitely carries over to behind closed doors! One of the things I love most about Freya’s (and now KT’s) stories is that they feature people in their late 30s and up who are real characters you can relate to. They have flaws, and they are not picture perfect with nary a hair out of place. They are people I can imagine being friends with or remind me of people that I am friends with. I especially loved Nick’s father who everyone calls Pops! He is the older relative we all have that doesn’t have a filter and is not shy about discussing bodily functions or just says the first thing that comes to mind, political correctness be damned, but he has the best of intentions.
Another wonderful part of this story was the addition of Becca, a friend of Mak’s from school who becomes an integral part of the plot. My heart broke for that little girl and all that she goes through but I loved the way she is immediately folded into their inner circle. The authors did a wonderful job marrying the fun and romance aspect of the story with the heartpounding twists and turns of the suspense aspect, and they even managed to throw in a bit of a twist I wasn’t expecting which is saying something!
All in all, Ideal Image was a fabulous story that I didn’t want to put down. The flow of the book is seamless and I couldn’t tell where one author left off and the other picked up in the narrative. If you have not read the previous stories in the series, don’t worry- you can absolutely pick up Ideal Image as a standalone and enjoy it with no problems at all. So what are you waiting for? Go 1-click this book now!
Ideal Image.
This is another fabulous addition to this series.
The story of Stacie and Nick. We all have the picture in our head of the ideal person. we may see it as outward beauty , brains and personality but really it is so much more.
Stacie has been made into a strong independent woman. She has suffered for years physically and mentally following an injury.
Nick he has know Stacie for a very long time but he has really never looked at the real woman until now.
This is an amazing journey with Stacie and Nick. You will experience a plethora of emotions on this ride. These characters are real, well written and indebt. I was pulled in and felt like I was watching their story unfold. Loved it !!
~~Michele McMullen ~~