Blog Tour: Love Him or Leave Him by Sara Daniel

So this is my first blog tour and I'm extremely EXCITED!!!!! *bouncing up and down like a little girl squealing* I feel like this....

The tour stop today is a new romance novel by Sara Daniel. Before reading this book I read about Sara to see what type of novels she tends to write and found that a non paranormal novel about romance would be a good reprieve for me. I love a good ol' fashion love story about pain and heartache and possible long lost love....yes, yes I know I'm a hopeless romantic, but I can't help it.

So let's begin learning about Sara, a little blurb about this book, where you can by this book, a little excerpt and an awesome giveaway as well as my review. A big thank you to Sara and Entangled Publishing for having me as part of the tour. Hope you enjoy!! And thank you for stopping by!!! Have fun!!

About the Author:

I write what I love—irresistible romance, captivating small-town drama, and quirky characters from sweet to erotic and everything in between.  I write fiction to entertain, but

also give people hope and a belief that everything can and will turn out happily ever after. 

On the personal side, I'm a frazzled maid, chauffeur, chef, personal assistant, and slave to my children. I was once a landlord of two uninvited squirrels. (The children's book The Bravest Squirrel Ever by my alter-ego Sara Shafer is the squirrel's fictionalized version of that experience!) I'm crazy about country music and the drama of NASCAR. And I have my very own happily-ever-after romance with my hero husband.

Follow my blog, like me on Facebook or email me for the latest updates on my books and writing projects or to debate the best race car drivers!

Sara online:

 Twitter | Facebook | Goodreads

Blurb:

Sometimes dreams are where you least expect them.

Connor O’Malley and Becca Sanders were once high school sweethearts, ripped apart by rumors in the small town of Kortville, Illinois. Connor left to join the military, and Becca stayed, waiting for her younger brother to graduate so she could live her dreams of traveling the world. But now that Connor's back as the town sheriff, Becca finds herself struggling to resist the too-handsome man who once broke her heart.

Connor loves Kortville—its quaintness keeps at bay the painful memories of Afghanistan he’s sure make him unworthy of any woman, particularly the beautiful brunette he’s always secretly dreamed of a future with. But when a scandal rocks the town, suddenly Connor and Becca must trust in each other if they want to weather this storm…and come out on the other side of it together.

Buy links:

Amazon | B&N | iBookstore | Kobo 

Excerpt:

Connor set the vehicle in motion, and they rode in silence for a moment before he said, “Listen, I wanted to apologize.”

“For?” He’d already apologized for not believing her in high school. Maybe he’d discovered the identity of the real bike rack vandal and felt bad about implicating Toby. Becca resolved to be gracious, no matter which direction his words led.

“For last night with the dog.”

“The dog? You mean Fetch? You’re not responsible for the actions of someone else’s dog.”

“For my own actions,” he corrected. “I’m trained not to overreact or lose my cool, but I did. You have to be appalled at the way I, well, pretty much mauled you.”

“Are you kidding? You provided the most action I’ve gotten in months. I found it exciting.” As soon as the words flew from her mouth, Becca wanted to grab the embarrassing admission back.

His green eyes rounded, and he cleared his throat. “Good to hear. I mean good you’re not offended. Not good you don’t get any action, of course.” He didn’t laugh out loud, but his eyes danced with amusement.


Giveaway

Rafflecopter giveaway

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Now onto my review. Overall, I truly enjoyed this book. I've been so lost in paranormal fantasy here lately, that this was a wonderful reprieve. After finishing this book I want to pack up my home and move to a small town and meet me some young hot sheriff man to fall in love with.

This book starts out with how Becca Sanders has spent the last two years of her life ignoring Connor O’Malley, since he returned to small hometown Kortville. Apparently back in high school they were a thing and of course something happened and they broke up with broken hearts and years later something has brought them back into each other’s lives and of course feelings start to come up again and some more drama comes up and either they try to suppress those feelings and somehow still get thrown together. The book is truly comical watching the way Becca and Connor try to ignore each other and then at times trying to get along.

Becca’s life is kind of crappy in the sense that her dream since she was a little girl was to leave the small town and travel the world. She got an amazing scholarship for college, but had to turn it down because her mother got sick and ended up passing away. When Becca turned 18 her father decided he was down with the small town and Becca could learn to raise and take care of her younger brother Toby by herself and signed over guardianship to her and left. WOW? Really? What the hell kind of parent does that? I don’t care if you want to live in a small town or not, it isn’t like children can’t live in different cities. So poor Becca is stuck in a small town she hates and can’t wait to get out of and this is finally the year. Toby turns 18 this year and will be graduating and Becca is going to start living her life traveling the world. YEY!!!! Or at least that's the plan....however nothing like this ever truly goes to plan...right?

There is mentoring program throughout the town for some of the high school students who need a little extra "help" and it so happens that Connor is Toby's mentor and his advice is very different from the advice that Becca tends to give Toby. She wants him to go to college to get some type of degree and then from there do what he wants. However, that isn't his plan and Officer O'Malley supports Toby, however, at the same time he is undermining Becca and this causes all sorts of issues. When we first meet Toby he seems to have an authority issue especially when it comes to his sister. 

On the flip side of this Connor has been the local sheriff for the last two years. However, before that he served in the military and on the Chicago police department. He has a few of his own scares that he bares and roll over into his job. He is SUPER over protective in his job. He takes it a little too serious....however, when you've seen and experienced the things that he has I'm sure the job does get to you and it changes you. I love that his wake up call every morning at 5 am comes from a crazy old lady to complain about her neighbor being up too early. 

Through different events Connor and Becca seem to constantly be stuck working together on something or another. Which give them a lot of time to learn to have to be around each other and actually talk. Talk about the past, what's going on during the present and what hopes there are for the future. Since Connor and Becca were the "it" couple in high school we find out a little more about their breakup and why they can't really stand each other so many years later. Eventually, of course, they begin to realize that spending all this time together they still have unresolved feelings for one another. Duh duh duhhh....will she still leave? Does she love him? Does she want him to love her? OMG what will happen between these two? Will he chase after her? If she leaves will he follow? If she stays what will she do? So many questions that need to be answered. 

As if that wasn't enough drama for a small town to have....where everyone knows every one's business. There have been a series of pranks happening around the town. They started out as harmless pranks and eventually escalate to the point that people could get hurt. Property is being damaged, older (notice the er so as to not make it too offensive) people are hurt and the town is turning in on itself because people are blaming others, since no one really knows who is behind the damage. 

Furthermore, the old sheriff who retired 2 years ago has come back to town with his wife in hopes of getting his job back as sheriff because he's bored of retirement. Okay really? You left the job for the last 2 years, because no offense it was time to retire, and think you are going to come back and your job is just going to be handed to you? Umm....reality...no. So now on top of pranks destroying his town, having run ins with Becca, trying to mentor a troubled Toby, Connor has to worry about his job.

This book has a lot of twists and turns that keeps the reader interested. I will say (and this is more because of my fantasy mind frame) I was kind of hoping for a little more drama to come up in the town, besides pranks being pulled and getting out of hand. But, the reality of it is that everything that happens in this book is a possible reality for the real world. And while at first I didn't like that....after reading this book and letting everything sink in, I truly value what Sara created. Not only did she make me want to up and move to a small town and become part of that community, she gave me a better understanding of what community truly means when bad things can happen to good people. This was the first book by Sara that I read and I'm excited to get my hands on more of her books to get lost in the "fantasy" she creates. I highly recommend this book as a must read...so make sure to order your copy!!

Soul Fire