Publisher: Intermix
Publish Date: 18 Jun
How I got this book: ARC from the publisher via Netgalley
Lucy Ryan got everything she thought she wanted, going from high school queen to Manhattan trophy wife. But none of it was worth staying in a loveless marriage. So now she’s back in Silver Creek—with no money and no place to stay, applying for a job cleaning someone else’s house. And her potential employer is the last person she ever expected to see again.
Mac Denton can’t believe the mean girl who once tormented him in high school is now his housekeeper. He looks forward to making her squirm for a few days before she runs back to her rich husband. But Lucy has changed, and he is surprised to find himself attracted to the beautiful, courageous woman she has become.
Lucy is finally ready to go after what she really wants from life. And what she wants more than anything is Mac. But is Mac ready to truly forget the past and embrace the future?
This blurb came from the author’s website.
I have enjoyed this series ever since I discovered the first one, Unbuttoned while browsing Netgalley last year. Since then, I have been on the lookout for additional installments in the Silver Creek area. One of the things I enjoy about this series is how Yates switches focus between one primary family in her novels and then fleshes out the area by having a different entirely unrelated couple in her novellas. Some of the characters obviously appear in multiple installments but it seems as if I have a much rounder view of Silver Creek than if she had just stayed with one family.
Rekindled really packed a punch. It really spoke about what price would you be willing to pay to regain your sense of self and go after what you want, not what was expected of you. I loved seeing Lucy’s growth from a women who was down to nothing but her self-respect and a stubborn refusal to lose that regardless of what she had to face. It took so much courage for her to ask for a job from the man she had cruelly teased as a high school classmate about their vast class differences. Now the tables had turned, he had the money and prestige and she was a penniless, homeless divorcee without anything to fall back on. Watching her figure out how to keep house and cook along with regaining her sense of self. While she avoided Mac for quite a while she developed friendships with other people and her stubborn persistence worked to drastically change Mac’s perception.
Mac’s growth wasn’t as drastic as Lucy’s but he also changed over the course of the novella. It was entertaining watching him work his way through his moral dilemmas. Did he hire Lucy or not? If he hired her, how difficult would he make her job in retaliation for her treatment during high school? Then as time progressed and lines began to blur where was the separation between employee/employer and who would draw those lines? Mac really was a good guy and sometimes he struggled against temptation, but I loved how he tried so hard to do the right thing, even as he denied any emotional attachment. He was forced to learn from Lucy and her strength to go after what she wanted if he was going to find happiness. I really enjoyed seeing that dynamic because it ran counter to the stereotype of the hero acting as the pursuer/aggressor.
Rekindled was certainly a great installment in the Silver Creek series. Mac and Lucy showed that we are not defined by who we were or what people expected us to be but by what we set out to become. That journey isn’t always smooth, straightforward or even headed in the same direction but it makes such an impact. Watching both Lucy and Mac veer in their path and struggle towards something different and better was very engrossing. In addition to the emotional growth, Yates provided some humorous moments. I got caught laughing out loud in the beauty shop this weekend while reading one particular scene involving Mac, a shower, and Lucy. I can’t wait to see what Yates comes up with for the next installment.
I give Rekindled an A-