The Men of Marietta series has been good so far and it was without hesitation that I dove into Todd’s story. Todd’s a peripheral character who has been popping up from time to time and is now in need of his own HEA, and unfortunately finding it with disgraced ex-Olympic athlete Molly Cordero who has fallen so far from public adulation that she can’t see past that ruined reputation.

But the truth is I strangely felt let down with this installment and found it beyond difficult to get into a pairing where my intense dislike for the heroine made the book a struggle to get through despite the lovely clarity of Kaylie Newell’s writing.

Molly was petulant, combative—and somewhat defiant about her narcissistic tailspin into destruction—and immensely annoying as she forces her way into Todd’s life when her advances were not entirely wanted. That she tried pushing Todd into posing for the calendar then tried to pry into his life just so she could find out where his personal boundaries lay reeked of hypocrisy when she herself never wanted the wrong sort of attention on her. In fact, I couldn’t help but think of her as a bitter has-been who is trying to reclaim the glory days and euphoric moments of her former life, when it would have been easier to cheer for her if she could have been more earnest and low-key about building herself back up. Her holier-than-thou attitude in contrast, then not hunkering down but running away, certainly played a large part and it was hard to think she was redeemable in any way because she came across as so unlikeable that I’d actually hoped she was simply just passing through Marietta.

Molly/Todd is an unlikely pair nonetheless and their relationship tumbled down the rabbit-hole so quickly that it looked like skin-deep attraction for most of the book. There’re early hostile scenes, a rescue-a-damsel-in-distress moment and then suddenly they’re making out without the build up and chemistry that I expected to see. The conflict between them seemed to stem from Todd’s desire to settle into small-town life and Molly not ready to give up being in the public eye, exacerbated by the nosy neighbour-vibes all around that put more pressure than needed on the both of them. The rather abrupt conclusion reinforces the realistic HFN ending, but I guess it’s probably the most believable one for this particular couple.

This is an absolutely brilliant novel of a city based policeman turned into forest ranger and a famous Olympic diver. Both have reason to run to the Montana mountains to regroup and during build a new life,
Molly is flabbergasted to see Todd has a pet chihuahua , thinking a man such as he would have a bigger dog, but
when she hears he rescued him from a house fire, her heart melts.
I love the expression in chapter 8 " I think my heart just swooned"
They hear a child's scream whilst out hiking together one day, and rush to the sound to see a school party desperately afrraid because one of the children has fallen into water and can't swim. Quick as flash Molly jumps in and pulls him to the side where Todd is waiting,
She (Molly) " didn't think she'd felt more part of a team accomplishment in her entire life even as an Olympian"
Really lovely story. Well crafted, great descriptive paragraphs that don't get in the way of the story.
Author has woven such a lovely image of Montana I just wish I could see the. Mountains myself.