Ths book was first published in 2014 and I was lucky enough to read the ebook version.

Jason might have this arrogant and bad boy image that he wanted to portray but the truth is he is a caring guy.

I hated it that Julie still believes his ex Billy because come on. Seriously?

I was grateful for the plot twist! Yes!

Thank you BHC Press and Netgalley for the ARC!

Julie Armstrong and Charlie King was best friends in high school. When she met her Charlie's brothers for the first time was when they were engaged in fight. That's how she remembered Jason.
When she lost her parents, she was responsible for her teenage brother so she decided to run a food truck. She never felt threaten until someone try to get into her truck. Jason comes to rescue Julie. Ever since the attack Jason is trying to protect Julie and her brother. But he knows Julie won't easily open up to her so he is trying to help her through her brother.
Now threat is escalating and Julie's ex-boyfriend, Jason's high school buddy is back in town. Jason's family is trying to their best to keep Julie safe. Jason knows what Billy did to her and her parents, but he can't tell her yet until all he has all the evidence is collected. Julie still partly blames Jasons' for her break up but she is seeing Jason in different light.
King's family has been supportive and kind to Julie and her brother. Now she is questioning all her years with Billy. Jason is willing to everything to protect her and make her his. Threat is not over yet and it is escalating even more.
Suspense until the very end and Julie and Charilie's HEA. Can't wait to read all about Jason's brothers.
Thanks to Netgalley and BHC press for ARC in exchange for honest review.

Julie lived her life for the only family she had left; her seventeen year old brother Charlie. Like most women her age she had hopes and dreams of a future with Prince Charming and a family of her own. At twenty five she might have a chance at hopefully ever after but she didn’t have time to put much effort into the search. For Charlie she had to play many roles- parent, counselor, teacher, protector, chef, cheerleader, and taxi driver. She ran a small business just to keep a roof over their head and food on the table. She simply didn’t have time to look for a good man, even if one existed which she surely doubted. The last good man she had known was her father. Unfortunately for both her and Charlie their parents were both dead. So when the chance to go camping arrived the weekend before Charlie started his Senior year started, Julie couldn’t he;p thinking she was being stalked by a toad. He was a nice looking toad, physically fit with a well defined body, bright green eyes that could look into her soul, brown hair kissed by the sun, a killer smile. But the tattoos were a giveaway to his bad-boy nature and he liked to boss people around, he would even use physical force when necessary Jason King was no Prince Charming. Julie’s best friend was Lauren And she was camping with her and Charlie. Julie realized their camp was next to the Kings site. Jason said” are you guys ready for skiing?” His way of saying hello. He was so arrogant she almost couldn’t stand it. She had to see her every single day since King construction had gotten the new shopping center deal. She had parker her food truck, Cafe Armstrong near the site since the day they had broken ground knowing that it would be a steady source of income for her for the next eighteen months or so. Jason had come to her order window the first day and every day there after. If he wasn’t such a fine specimen she would have refused him service, but he had been a perfect gentleman. So she tolerated his effort to get on her good side. Unfortunately for Jason, she was a grudge holder and she just couldn’t let go of the past. Lauren said she would never understand why she didn’t like Jason. She didn’t want to think of Jason at all. Jason was a little surprised when Juliue accepted his invitation on the boat. The deep love Julie had for Charlie was one of the many things Jason loved about her. Something inside of Jason had clicked the first time he had laid eyes on herand it had stuck with jhim all these years, calling to him like a siren. Unfortunately, the feeling was not returned. Charlie was headstrong, something Jason understood, which made him worry that Charlie had something in mind that he wasn’t admitting to anyway. Jason loved Charlie almost as much as he loved Julie. When Julie and Charlie had lost their parents. At twenty Julie had stepped up and made the best home for Charlie that she could. Jason knew Charlie would need… a strong male influence around him. So Jason had taken on the responsibility. He made sure to volunteer his time to any sports team Charlie was interested in and took him out on the boat for ski lessons. Charlie tried a stunt today and needed stitches. Then a couple days later while Julie was parked across the street from Jason’s construction site and three men came up to her food truck I man wanted a hot meal and today was a cold lunch day and the guy tried to force himself into Julie’s truck and Jason and five of his workers showed up. Jason beat the guy up who tried to force his way into the food truck and had harassed Julie. Then the next day a truck tried to push Julie into crossway traffic. This time Julie needed stitches. Jason took care of everything And Jared Jason's brother had no clues who had tried to seriously hurt Julie. Billy had been one of Jason’s friends but he only hung out with Jason for a higher social standing in school. He got to Julie before Jason did and he left town broke her heart when Julie needed him. After Billy had gone with Julie and cheated and didn’t treat her very well Billy and Jason’s friendship ended. As time went on Julie had developed a hatred for Jason thanks to Billy. But things were changing.
I really enjoyed reading this book. I loved that Julie stepped up and quit school to raise her younger brother when their parents were killed. I loved the Kings stepped in to help especially Jason for Charlie. Charlie could have gotten into a lot of trouble with his temper, anger and great grief of losing both his parents. I loved the Josh King was one of Julie’s best friends, that was just so sweet. I loved that Jason had Julie from the time he first laid eyes on her and no matter what he did she was the woman for him. I loved Jason and Julie together. I loved the mystery and danger. I loved Jason wouldn’t leave Julie as soon as she had to get stitches. This was just a great read as far as I am concerned. I loved the plot and pace. I loved the characters and the ins and outs of this book and I highly recommend it.

I really liked that both Julie and Jason shared their own point of views. Although I liked both of the main characters, I do have to say that it has a pretty slow start to the book. It does take the time to build a pretty good foundation of their lives and their families. Jason's family is one that I liked. Still, I found the pace slower than I generally like. It's not until about 50% on my kindle before I felt like much was starting to happen.
Her brother Charlie adds quite a bit when he finally has the ability to share what he's held to himself for so long. His sister Julie loves him but because her ex- Billy was so charming, she had a hard time believing he was so untrustworthy. And she trusted him for years even though he dumped her. But painful things begin to come to more light. The danger also begins to ramp up more. It all comes to an even more dangerous conclusion but with the "good guys" winning in the end. Jason and Julie get their well deserved H.E.A. I just wished I had liked it more. For me it just felt like it was missing something.

"I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.”

I absolutely adored this story, Jason has been in love with Julie since school but she hates him thanks to what he did to her ex
However things may not be as simple as they seem and since Julie was left orphaned and caring for her teenage brother, Jason and his family have stepped into help however they could, both subtlety and not so subtlety
When Julie’s life is threatened Jason and his family would do anything to protect her
Jason is so loveable and so clearly would do anything for Julie and that made me smile but also dream that maybe someone might be that person for me
Julie I will admit to getting a little annoyed with at times but once she understands why things are happening and that they aren’t just for her sake but for her brothers as well things change and she becomes much nicer!
The characters and the story are so well written that they practically jump off the page and this time into my heart. This is already on my list of books to go back to over and over again and as it’s part of a series I’m looking forward to reading the rest
I would recommend this book to whose who enjoy a true love story with drama and action that will keep you on your toes

Complementary copy given for honest review and opinion.
Holy smoke signals!! Love from a childhood that is one sided and misinterpreted is where this book unravels from. I can’t scream loud enough of the praises of this book and this family. I want more. I can’t wait to read about the other King brothers. Alpha male-check; powerful love-check; obsessed with this author and family now-check!!!!

Jason has been in love with Julie for a long time, but she always blamed him for things that happened in the past. When something happens he has the chance to protect her and tell her the truth, and as they spend time together she begins to fall in love with him. Will they have a future together?

Julie Armstrong has had a crush on Jason King ever since she met him her freshman year in high school. But due to rumors and witnessing him get into a fight, she thinks he is a bad boy and wants nothing to do with him. Julie runs a food truck and takes care of her younger brother since her parents death. Coincidentally, Jason runs the construction site where her food truck happens to be parked next to. When Julie starts getting harassed, Jason makes it his mission to make sure nothing happens to her. But will he finally be able to get past Julie's shell and tell her how he feels?

This book is one any romance reader would love. It has the girl in trouble, hero there to help, and an enemies to lovers feel. I could not put the book down and finished it in one night. I cannot wait to read more in the series.

This book was given to me an an ARC from the publisher through NetGalley in an exchange for an honest review. I was not compensated in any way.

This book causes an array of emotions. There is a lot of death, manipulation, abuse, attempted abuse, etc. There are also a lot of good emotions; hope, love, etc. While some of the content was harsh, the good characters were good and the bad characters were bad. People stood up for what they believed in and helped those around them.

I received an advance reader copy in exchange for a fair review.

A great read.

Jason has had a thing for Julie for years. Now her ex is back in town and causing trouble, she finally needs his help and they begin to spend more time together. Is now his chance with her?

Looking forward to reading the rest of this series.

Sometimes it is nice to get back to romance basics - and this book fits the bill perfectly. This story is a small town, second-ish chance, with a dose of enemies to lovers. I would also say it stays on the traditional side of views of male/female relationships.

Jason and Julie have been each other’s lives for years - going back to their high school days. Julie is good friends with Jason’s brother Josh. Even though their fathers are apparently very close, they meet for the first time in high school. Julie was definitely a “good” girl to Jason’s bad boy/wild child and as a result she fled directly into the arms of a not-so-good but very charming guy. For Jason it’s love at first sight and it stays that way.

Fast forward a few years, Julie is raising her younger brother after the death of her parents in a hit and run accident. Jason has stayed on the periphery of her life, very involved in supporting her brother. Julie despises Jason because she feels he drove away her seemingly wonderful ex boyfriend. It turns out there is a whole lot more to the story!

Jason is a typical alpha hero - there to save the day and protect Julie. Julie is pretty naive or maybe just in denial about the facts of her life. Jason hasn’t been up front with Julie about her ex - and even though others in her life tried to talk to her about him she chose to believe the ex instead. Love is blind I guess.

It was nice to see Julie find safety and security with Jason and his tightly knit family.

I received an ARC of this from NetGalley but these opinions are all my own!

The premise of this book is that Jason has loved Julie since the first moment he saw her when she was a freshman in high school and he was a junior. But he didn’t do anything about it because she had immediately begun dating a guy who used to be his friend. But he soon realizes that Billy is actually a really terrible person, but he doesn’t say or do anything to warn Julie. Apparently, just about everyone around Julie knows how awful Billy is, but no one warns her. Then her parents die when she’s 20 years old and she bravely drops out of college and buys a food truck to support her and her 12-year old brother. Jason loves her from afar, but doesn’t say or do much of anything until five years later when she suddenly, out-of-the blue is threatened. Now he’ll do anything to protect her and her brother. At first she resists but, because it’s a romance novel, she comes to realize how great a guy Jason really is.

He does seem like a great guy. But she seems rather oblivious to have taken about a decade to figure out who her real friends were.

I voluntarily reviewed an advanced reader copy of this book that I received from Netgalley; however, the opinions are my own and I did not receive any compensation for my review.