Total pages in book: 94
Estimated words: 91595 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 458(@200wpm)___ 366(@250wpm)___ 305(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 91595 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 458(@200wpm)___ 366(@250wpm)___ 305(@300wpm)
Kenni Colburn has spent the last nineteen years being the perfect wife, the greatest hockey mom, and the glue holding everyone else together—while her husband built a secret second family. But now that her twins are off to college, she’s done being the woman who puts herself last. Kenni is packing up her car and heading home to Thistlebrook to reclaim her maiden name, her happiness, and maybe even her wild streak.
Dean has been in love with Kenni since he was fourteen, but timing has never been on their side, especially since she’s his sister’s best friend and is also the sister of his baby mama.
That might not have been his finest moment…
Dean is not only the best dad imaginable, but the most reliable firefighter in a community that loves him even if he didn’t marry the woman he knocked up.
She wasn’t the one, and he wasn’t settling for anything but the best.
Now, Kenni is back—fierce and finally free—and Dean knows he’s not letting her slip away this time, even if it means burning every excuse to ashes.
Small towns are supposed to be quiet, but in Thistlebrook, exes return, secrets explode, friendships rally, and second chances set the entire romance section of the library on fire, sometimes literally. Kenni is ready to start over, but she never expected to fall into the arms—and the bed—of the man who’s always been there.
Heartfelt, hilarious, and brimming with found family, small-town chaos, and a swoony firefighter hero who’s waited too damn long, Starting over with You will leave you cheering for Kenni’s era—and maybe texting your bestie to grab Fireball and smash some dinner plates inscribed with the names of all the people who did you wrong against the side of the Smoky Mountains
*************FULL BOOK START HERE*************
PROLOGUE
Dean
Twenty years ago…
“But, Dean! We need you!”
I swear all of them yell the same thing because they know I can’t say no.
Or better yet, I can’t say no to a certain person.
Now, I’m an hour from home, picking up my drunk sister and her two best friends from some field frat party. Why in God’s name did they think it was a good idea to bring Kenni out here? She doesn’t even turn eighteen until Sunday. She shouldn’t be anywhere near this kind of stuff. She should be getting ready to leave for college. Not getting blackout drunk with her two boneheaded best friends.
And I shouldn’t be picking them up. I should be letting them sleep in the field. Serves them right…but now that I know Kenni is here, there is no way I can leave her. While I’ve known Kenni and Missy my whole life, I don’t have the need to protect Missy.
No. That need is only for Kenni.
Thankful for my size, I make my way through the many bodies that are dancing and copping feels of each other. The scents of sweat, stale beer, awful vodka, and really bad skunk weed assault me as I move through the people. The night is bright with stars and the moon is full, but I can’t make out faces. Not when I’m looking solely for the three girls who drive me up a damn wall. Since I’m the younger brother, shouldn’t my sister be the one to take care of me? I don’t know why, but I’ve been the one catering to her. Each time I say it’s the last time, I know I’m only fooling myself.
I almost feel like Sadie knows I’ve got a thing for Kenni Colburn and that as long as she’s with them, I’ll do whatever they want.
I’m a fool, for sure.
It takes me longer than it should to find them, mostly because they didn’t tell me the right spot. No surprise there. They’re all drunk out of their minds and probably think they’re in Disney World instead of a ratty-ass field party.
When I find them, though, the sight before me has me wishing I were anywhere but here.
Sadie and Missy are wearing bright-orange bikini tops with short jean shorts and matching UT boots. On top of someone’s jacked-up truck, they are shaking their asses to the bass of “Dance” by Big Sean. Guys are throwing dollars at my sister and her friend—and shit, is that a twenty stuck to Sadie’s ass?
Fuck me.
I am seeing entirely too much of my sister and her best friend, so I look away, on the prowl for the third part of Shenanigans Inc. I started calling the trio that after a week of pure mayhem caused by only the three of them. They’ve run with the name, making shirts and living up to the title.
Just my plan…not.
I scan my eyes over the crowd, looking for Kenni, but I hear her before I see her.
“You can kick rocks, motherfucker.”
I look up to the sky for patience, but when I glance over at where she is, my mouth goes dry. Kenni Colburn is a fucking looker. She is stunning with her dark black hair up in a high pony, while her bright blue eyes shine even in the dark. Her big bubble butt is hanging out the back of her jean shorts, and her full breasts are barely contained in a bit of Wisconsin burgundy-colored fabric. Unlike our sisters, she’s going to the University of Wisconsin, and she’s dressed to impress. I’m surprised she isn’t covering her belly; she can be a bit self-conscious about it, which is beyond me since I have spent many a night wishing I could nuzzle it, but maybe she isn’t thinking of it now.
Because her finger is in some guy’s chest, her face red with rage and tears in her eyes.
Fucking great.
Before I can reach her, she swings her arm that is holding her white cowgirl boots that have a big T on them for Tennessee—no matter where she’s going to college, she’s a Tennessee girl through and through—connecting with his face before he falls to the ground. Dust flies up from where he lands since I found them not in the field where they told me they’d be, but in the baseball field parking lot that’s more by the main road and farther than I’d like from my truck. It’d take nothing for the cops to show up and break up this party, but just like the girls, everyone is drunk and thinking they’re invincible.
These girls are going to be the death of me.
I’m closing the distance between us as the guy jumps to his feet, calling her names his momma would be ashamed of. He goes to grab her, but I’m there, looking down at him with my shoulders back and ready to fight. “Back the fuck up.”