She’s a town icon. He’s all business. Will their rivalry bring ruin or romance?Graphic artist Lucy Shoemaker has never known a life outside of Blackwood. And she’s determined to show the world why she loves her quaint Colorado hometown. But when a billionaire arrives looking to sell the land, Lucy feels both outrage and an irrepressible attraction… John Blackwood usually gets what he wants. He … usually gets what he wants. He never expected that selling the Podunk town would send him directly into a firecracker of a local. John knows that Lucy won’t stop causing him problems…but is that why he can’t get her off his mind?
With compromise off the table, will John and Lucy’s passion disappear along with Blackwood or can they discover love’s common ground?
What If… is a standalone contemporary romance with sizzling chemistry. If you like headstrong heroines, small-town drama, and a fresh twist on billionaire boyfriends, then you’ll adore Kelly Collins’ sassy saga.
Buy What If… to negotiate romance today!
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What If is an excellent start to a new series. Lucy and John get off on the wrong foot but soon realize resisting their super HAWT chemistry is impossible. The tension between them over selling the town is always bubbling just under the surface of their relationship and does cause conflict. It is realistic conflict and adds to the story. I mean, when does true love ever run smoothly? I enjoyed watching Lucy grow and mature as the story progressed. She finally came to terms with why she was so against changing Blackwood and/or leaving it. John was a real romantic at heart and pulled off one of the biggest and best romantic gestures I’ve ever come across. *swoon*
I’m really looking forward to Kevin and Maya’s story in the next book of the series.
If you enjoy well-written stories with well-developed characters set in small towns, look no further. Kelly Collins is superb at writing this type of story. I recommend this and all f the rest of her books.
Favorite Quotes:
If sin had a look, he’d be the model.
All her life she’d tried to shove a hundred-pound dream into a ten-pound bag and it never worked.
She thought that whoever had designed the bra should be given an award equivalent to the Nobel Peace Prize. Anything that could make a pair of ordinary breasts extraordinary deserved recognition. A Grammy? An Oscar? A mammogrammy? The booby prize, she thought with a giggle.
The dark room was lit by beer signs and the bright eyes of jealous women.
“Are they hoping money will just fall off you?” She laughed, imagining people following him with cups, hoping for his pockets to empty into them.
My Review:
I always seem to start a new series with an equal measure of hopeful anticipation and trepidation. Will it be too similar, too different, too complicated, or too familiar? Silly me, I should know better by now when it comes to Kelly Collins. Although, the style and tone of What If seemed considerably different from her usual and the main characters were a bit of a challenge for me to warm up to, especial Lucy. Lucy had a difficult personality; she was a childishly impulsive drama llama who was flippant, hot-tempered, testy, and obstinately resistant to change. I did enjoy her feisty sass and smart mouth – takes one to know one. 😉
I also initially had doubts about John, the wealthy and sex on legs Lamborghini driving lothario, who currently holds the lofty position of my current BBF. I was afraid he was playing Lucy to influence her into moving out of her home and business space without fuss to allow his family to sell their holding without issue, and he kind of was and kind of wasn’t. Of course, Lucy’s heated tantrums and behavioral outbursts led to increasingly hotter exchanges and sheet-scorching sensual encounters. The storylines were original, easy to follow, and held my interest despite a considerable amount of conflict and the pervasive angsty uncertainty about the vexing issue of Lucy’s future living situation.