Good As Gold by Sarina Bowen

A swoony, heart-wrenching small-town romance .

Leila:

What I meant to do: Quietly divorce my lout of a husband and then have a child all on my own. 

What happens instead: My crush comes back to town when I’m at my most vulnerable. After too many cocktails, I ask him to be my baby’s father. 

In my defense, it’s been a rough couple of months. Seeing Matteo Rossi again after fourteen years has done a number on my emotions. And my libido. 

In the morning, I’m hoping he’s forgotten the whole thing. But no such luck. In fact, Matteo has a few clarifying questions. And a few naughty ideas, too…

Matteo: 

What I meant to do: visit Vermont for my brother’s wedding. Make amends to my family, and mourn the loss of a friend. 

What happens instead: a hot affair with the one who got away. But it can’t last. My life is two thousand miles away, and Leila deserves everything. She’s as good as gold.

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/148009584-good-as-gold

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My Review: 5/5 Stars

Sarina Bowen is an author I know I will love anything she writes. I was in a little reading slump and was even stalling a bit with this one despite knowing I would love this book. I mean we all have those moods right? But the second I let myself focus and start, I was hooked. Also helps when this is connected to her True North books because Matteo is a Rossi brother! So this story follow Matteo and Leila. They were best friends when they were younger along with their other friend Rory. Tight as thieves and Matteo had feelings for Leila, but agreed with Rory that neither could make a move or else ruin all their friendships. So he kept it to himself and right after high school he left Vermont to figure out what to do with his life. However, a lot can happen when you leave. Leila ends up with Rory and Matteo stays away. But now it is much later and even more has changed. For Leila, she is newly divorced and determined to do one thing she has always wanted: have a baby. And she’ll do it on her own if she has to. For Matteo, he returns for his brother’s wedding in need of spending time with his family. He knows he has been gone a long time and after losing his best friend in a tragic accident, he knows how precious time could be. And he comes home to discover that the girl he loved is single and may even forgive him for being gone so long. And turns out Leila has some feelings for him too. But as she shares her plans of wanting a baby, she blurts out the idea of Matteo being the father. And weirdly to her, he may just agree. Time for these two to have their second, yet maybe first, chance at love. Loved this story! Leila and Matteo are such a great pair. And it’s always a blast to have the Rossi clan make an appearance. I love that no matter what familiar tropes we may see from Sarina, she always has a new way to twist them and make them different. We’ve got great characters and a strong storyline. And! There is another book coming from this series and I’m super excited! 

I received an ARC in exchange for an honest review.