Fallin' Tides (Holly River Book 1)

Fallin' Tides (Holly River, Book 1)

Author: Tori Ford

Genre: Contemporary Romance / Small-Town Romance

Book Rating: ⭐ 9/10

Spice Rating: 🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️ 4/5

Description

Colt Mitchell left Holly River determined never to look back.

Taken in by the prominent Sinclair family as a teenager, Colt always knew he was the outsider—a charity case brought into their home to keep their star quarterback son on track. After three years under their roof, he traded small-town life for the Marines and planned to leave his painful past behind for good.

But there was one person he could never completely leave behind.

Alice Sinclair.

Growing up in a family obsessed with achievements and trophies, Alice was a dreamer who never quite fit their expectations. Colt—her brother's best friend—was one of the only people who truly saw her. After he enlisted, Alice filled his mailbox with letters full of hope and pieces of home.

Letters Colt treasured, even when he rarely wrote back.

Until one final letter brings him home.

Alice now has just three months to transform her childhood home into the bookshop she's always dreamed of opening or risk losing it forever. And Colt is determined to help her succeed, because during some of his darkest moments away, her letters were there for him.

But renovating a house together means long days, close quarters, and confronting an attraction that's becoming impossible to ignore.

Alice isn't the kid sister Colt remembers anymore.

She's the woman he wants—and the one woman he's always considered completely off-limits.

With Holly River's Fall Festival approaching and the deadline closing in, Colt and Alice might finally discover that sometimes home isn't a place you return to.

It's the person who was waiting for you all along.

Heartfelt, cozy, and steamy, Fallin' Tides delivers Gilmore Girls small-town charm with The Notebook-style longing, all wrapped around a dreamy bookstore renovation and a long-awaited romance.

Tropes / Mood

Small-Town Romance • Brother's Best Friend • Childhood Friends to Lovers • Military Veteran MMC • He Comes Home • Bookshop Owner FMC • Bookstore Renovation • Off-Limits Romance • Forced Proximity • Longtime Pining • Letters Between Them • He Helps Her Chase Her Dream • Found Family • Fall Vibes • Homecoming • Emotional Healing • Cozy Small Town • Slow Burn • Steamy Romance