Some things never changed: when it rained too much it was bound to flood, work on our farm was never done, and no woman alive compared to Sunny Wilbanks. She wasn’t just the town sweetheart with hair like the sun and a golden voice that drove me crazy. She was also the older woman who’d never seen me as anything more than a scrawny, lovesick kid. Then again, some things were never meant to stay … meant to stay the same. Because after college, I wasn’t how she remembered, and the older I got the more I enjoyed women chasing me.
Turned out it was easy to forget about the rain when I was tangled up with pure sunshine, and there was no place I would have rather been. I just had to convince her I’d known what I was doing all along.
Sunshine and Rain is the second standalone novel in the City Limits series. It follows new characters as they navigate their May-December-ish, second chance romance. Welcome to Wynne.
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This one was so sweet! It’s nice to read a book that isn’t full of drama, angsty or crazy people. One of the things I really liked about the story is the age gap between Rett and Sunny. Sunny is older by 5 years and you typically don’t see too many books this way.
Rett has had a mad crush on Sunny pretty much his whole life so 10 years later, when they start hanging out, it was cute seeing him get all giddy that it was finally happening. I wanted to high 5 him and say attached boy! The only thing that drove me a wee bit stabby was Sunny bringing up how much older she was than Rett. Throughout most of the book, she couldn’t let the age thing go. She kept calling her self old and I’m all, you’re 28, not 108!! Simmer down, girlfriend.
But once everything started to unfold and they were learning more about each other as adults instead of kids, it was just so super sweet. Rett is so damn patient and loveable, you can’t help but have a big ole smile for those two!
When I start to read a book by M. Mabie, I always know I’m going to love it. Though her City Limits series is SO different from the Wake Series, it still blows me away!! A sort of second chance romance, with all the feels you’d expect and want.
If you’re in the mood for a feel-good love story with a small town feel, this is the book you need! Just got through something super angsty?
This can be read as a standalone, but why the hell would you want to do that? Wynne is a magical land where the drama is low and love is in the air. So, go grab Roots and Wings. Go ahead…I will wait.
Ok, now that you are back.
I love Wynne and their 3402 residents and Rhett is my new favorite!
“he kissed me like every girl, in all of history, ever dreamed of a man kissing her, With the passion of a lover. The power of a man who could protect her. And a tenderness that begged for her to return it.”
Holy hell. Who doesn’t want to experience that kiss? I want to jump in a truck, tune into Sunny on 98.5 and get my buns to Wynne right away and never leave.
Love, love, LOVED this book!!
Favorite Quotes:
New hot men in Wynne were like Halley’s Comet: they only came around once in a lifetime.
I didn’t want to be the old chick at the bar, dammit. I looked around, and I wasn’t the oldest, by far, but I was one of only two women around my age who were there and single. BethAnne didn’t count though because she was a ho.
Earlier that night, he’d told me my dancing looked like a frog on a hot sidewalk. Then he’d told me he was running home to poop – but he’d be back. We were definitely just friends.
It wasn’t fair to other men how attractive he was. An image of him shirtless, mowing my yard, came to mind. I chalked it up to early onset panther syndrome and bent over at the hip to catch a breath that rushed through me, the image having left me winded.
She obviously didn’t know what she was talking about. A man’s grill is an extension of himself. There’s a bond there. I swear it… ‘Mine isn’t just any grill Sunny. It’s The Grill. I can’t just be flinging my meat around on any old burner.’
After the lawn chairs were unfolded and the card table was set up, the yard was almost redneck romantic.
My Review:
I treasured and adored every page of this refreshingly original, fun, and delightful book. I was in dire need of a sweet and drama-llama free read and I must say I was shocked beyond belief to find just that from M. Mabie. This was not at all what I expected from her given the constant angst, conflict, and tension found in her Wake series – although I also loved those books to pieces. But I was beguiled, enchanted, and fell into a total swoon over Rhett and Sunny. I often laughed aloud, barked, and chortled as I read. Rhett was THE perfect BBF, his patience, the care he took, and the thoughtfulness and creativeness of his efforts to please Sunny were so sweet and tender that it stung my eyes. I relished the tenderness and sweetness of their love story, the irreverent humor, snappy banter, and slyly clever observations and insights. The writing was crisp, humorous, and unfailingly engaging. Ms. Mabie’s characters were just adorable, well fleshed out, endearing, amusing, and lovable. I hated to leave Wynne but hope and pray Ms. Mabie extends a return invitation soon. I will save her some time and just RSVP right now. I’m thoughtful like that…