5 Star Review & Excerpt: Waylaid (True North #8) by Sarina Bowen

Photo by Wander Aguiar
Cover design by Sarah Hansen of Okay Creations

RELEASE DATE: July 20th, 2021

It’s a tale as old as time: the bad boy meets the good girl. He makes a daring proposition. Then the boy gets a mysterious head injury and loses a year of his life…

The first time I meet Rickie, I don’t know what to make of him. The second time we meet, he doesn’t remember the six hours we spent together. Or standing me up afterward.

I’m not the same, either. I’ve got secrets. I’ve told lies. Bad boys aren’t my type, anyway. Even the ones with troubled gray eyes.

But now we’re roommates. Cue the awkward moments in the hallway when he’s wearing only a towel and a smile. He’s determined to win me over, and his talented hands weaken my resolve.

It’s all fun and games until my past rears its ugly head and his secrets come to light, shaking our fragile connection, maybe even breaking it…

Note: this is Daphne Shipley's story. Contents include Vermonty ice cream flavors, nerdy awkwardness, tattoos, and a playboy grandpa.

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Excerpt

I read all the way to the highway exit, but I only get halfway through the first article. It’s dense and full of statistical analysis that’s over my head. 

By the time Rickie rolls down the exit ramp, I feel the onset of a full-blown case of imposter syndrome. Dr. Drummond is expecting me to be sharp. What if they ask me to work on this type of analysis, and I can’t do it?

“I see the ice cream place,” Rickie says. “But there’s no entrance back onto the highway. What the hell?”

“Doesn’t matter,” I mumble. “It’s three miles down a side road to exit 6.” I close the journal with a sigh. I feel so panicky right now. I’ve always tried to be the smartest girl in the room. But it’s all an act. I’m obviously the worst kind of dunce—the kind that can’t see her own mistakes until it’s way too late. (See: the last twelve months of my life.)

Is it normal to have a midlife crisis right before your twenty-first birthday?

Rickie rolls into the gravel parking lot of the Dreamy Creemee and puts the truck in a shady spot. He rolls down the windows before killing the engine. It’s getting toward dinner hour, so there aren’t many people here. Just a couple of moms pushing toddlers on the swing set.

And I’m quietly having a panic attack in the passenger seat.

I take a slow but shaky breath. Do I even want ice cream? Is there a flavor on that signboard that could take me out of my own head? I reach for the door handle, but Rickie stops me. 

“Look," he says. "About that time we shared a ride home from Connecticut...” 

“No,” I say forcefully. If he makes me relive that embarrassing experience, I might lose my cool. “Just forget it, okay? So what if you ghosted me?”

His eyes widen. But my rant is only picking up steam. 

“None of that matters. I didn’t even blame you. And the only way I'm going to make it through this year is if I put Connecticut behind me, okay? Just leave it alone.” 

My voice cracks on that last word, and I realize that I might actually cry. Which is a thing I never do. But Harkness College was my dream, and I blew it. My damn eyes get hot and my throat constricts. 

“S-so just forget it," I squeak. “It's already in the past. It can just stay there.” 

Rickie's gray eyes are soft now. And they're moving closer. To my utter surprise, he leans forward and presses a kiss to my lips.

So soft, my brain sputters. 

“Shh,” he says against my lips. His kiss is warm and unhurried. Like a ray of sunshine when you’re shivering. 

For once, my squirrel brain forgets to scurry. And I just let it happen. He kisses me again. It’s still gentle. His bright eyes measure me. I don’t know what he sees. But whatever it is, he decides he likes it. 

Those soft lips brush and press. Again. And I'm only human. Rickie's surprisingly tender kiss has caught me at a vulnerable moment. I lean in, experimenting with the slide and pressure of his mouth against mine. A sizzle of heat flashes across my skin. It’s the strangest sensation—as if he’s transferred an ounce of that devil-may-care attitude across the steering column and right into my soul. I drink him in, lips parted. Ready for him to take it further.

But then it ends. Rickie sits back, his head cocked to the side, as if in deep contemplation.

I’m bereft. “Wh-what was that for?” I stammer.

I expect a smirk. But his expression remains soft. “You seemed a little freaked. So I brought you to an ice cream place on a hot summer’s day. But that wasn’t enough, apparently. You needed even more distraction. So I gave it to you. And I’m good at that. A real specialist.”

Replying is impossible. All I can do is sit here and try to process that kiss. That lovely kiss. 

He really has some nerve.

 

 

What I thought about Waylaid

Sarina Bowen delivers yet another satisfying new adult romance based around the Shipley family with Waylaid, the story of Rickie Ralls and Daphne Shipley.  Readers were introduced to Rickie in Heartland, the previous book in this series.
 

When Rickie rents his house out for the summer, he ends up living at the Shipley farm and lending a hand with the chores.  Daphne is there too, and these two have some history -- if only Rickie could remember it.  

Daphne has her secrets too, and she's not willing to share them. But when it turns out there is a connection between Daphne's secrets and Rickie's lost memories, everything explodes in a very exciting scene that has both of them reaching out to family for help.  I adored this story in so many way, but I've got to say the ending is everything and multiple reads have occurred.  It's just so good.

I love Daphne and Rickie together. They are really sweet and even though it took some time for everything to fall in place for them, Waylaid was a satisfying romance reading experience.  

There's lots of Shipley's in this book, including Grandpa and his shenanigans (love him), grumpy Griff and Dylan Shipley.  Really, I love visiting with all of them -- any time!  And there's a wedding too that made my heart sing. 

 

What really distinguishes this series for this reader are the familial relationships that bring real heart (and often conflict) to these stories and have as much impact as the romance between the main characters.  The unresolved tensions between Daphne and May evolve to a new place in Waylaid and those were some of the most emotional scenes for this reader.  I've always had a girl-crush on May Shipley and Waylaid made me love her even more with May's lawyer-ly skills and sisterly love in the exciting conclusion.

 

Another terrific addition to a terrific series.  Loved it!   

 

About Sarina

Sarina Bowen is the award-winning author of more than thirty contemporary novels. She has hit the USA Today bestseller's list sixteen times and counting. Formerly a derivatives trader on Wall Street, Sarina holds a BA in economics from Yale University.

Sarina is a New Englander whose Vermont ancestors cut timber and farmed the north country since the 1760s. Sarina is grateful for the invention of indoor plumbing and wi-fi during the intervening 250 years. She lives with her family on a few wooded acres in New Hampshire.

Sarina's books are published in a dozen languages on four continents.

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