Review: Facing West by Lucy Lennox
SYNOPSIS:
Nico:
I left my family and tiny Texas hometown fifteen years ago to escape small-town gossips and to give my mom and sister the chance at a better life. But when a phone call from an attorney back home informs me that my sister passed away, leaving me custody of her newborn baby, I’m shocked out of the steady life I’ve built for myself running a tattoo shop in San Francisco.
The thing is: I don’t do babies. And I don’t do small towns. Or commitment. And I especially don’t do family. My plan is to go back to Hobie just long enough to sign adoption papers, giving my niece the kind of stable, loving family I could never provide.
But the moment I meet my niece in the arms of Weston Wilde, my sister’s best friend and the town’s handsome doctor, my plans begin to change. Because suddenly, I see a different future. One with the very thing I thought I never deserved: a family. If only I can convince West that I’m not the same good-for-nothing kid ready to bolt when things get tough.
Weston:
There’s one thing I know for sure about Nico Salerno: he was a good-for-nothing as a kid and judging by the purple-haired, tattoo’d punk who shows up at his sister’s funeral, he hasn’t changed. There’s no way I’m letting him take custody of my best friend’s baby.
But the more time I spend around him, the more I realize that his rough exterior is just a shell and that beneath all the tattoos is a scared, insecure man searching for a place to belong. And pretty soon I know exactly where he belongs: in my bed and by my side.
The problem is, he abandoned his family once before, how do I know that if we become a family he won’t do it again?
Facing West is the first in the new Forever Wilde series about the huge Wilde family from Hobie, Texas, whose patriarchs aren’t above a little meddling if that’s what it takes to help their grandkids find true love.
REVIEW:
This book is the Lucy Lennox book I have been searching for! I gave up on her Made Marian series because I couldn’t get behind the creepy, pervy grannies who were sexual assaulting their grandchildren’s spouses. But this story nailed the elderly humor with Grandpa and Doc. These two, cute, meddlesome, old men had me laughing out loud. They never crossed a crazy line, the only discussion of sex lives were their own, and they were so supportive it had my black heart swelling with fuzzy feels.
Nico is first introduced in the Made Marian series and I knew his story was going to be a heavy one. And it did in fact break my heart. I can truly understand why he is the way he is. After the hand life dealt him and the crippling guilt he holds over his own head, his skittish behavior and flight tendencies are justified. Yet, West and Nico just worked together. For all the rough edges and harsh tendencies Nico has, West is all tender words and endless comfort. I loved that they contrasted so much, not only in appearance but in personalities.
Their story really took the whole novel to become full circle. They didn’t just fall into bed, they truly took the time to get to know each other. They spent endless moments sharing secrets and hard truths. These moments brought out a more vulnerable side to Nico. And when they weren’t whispering to each other, they were steaming up the pages. I mean, West went from good-ole boy to down right raunchy in two seconds flat. He had me blushing up a storm with his dirty talk and bossy attitude. I think the only thing that I didn’t like in the story was some toe sucking during one of the sex scenes…*gags* that is not a thing I will ever get behind.
West’s crazy big family adds so much to the story. I loved how each sibling seemed to play a different role and they all folded Nico into their craziness. And this family truly showed up when needed, no matter how small the issue, if West needed support – he got it from no less than three people. And while I usually don’t care much for babies in books, I found that Pippa added some much needed release to tense moments. In addition she was just so cute and seemed to captivate the entire Wilde family, as well as Nico. And that epilogue, all it did was make me irrationally excited for the next book.
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