This book was just so good and I just lost myself in the story. I will most definitely be reading more books by this wonderful author.

A sweet small town, second chance romance that was perfect read for this cold winter day.
It is a second instalment o Belles of St. Clair series and it is the story of florist Laney George and author Adam Fitzpatrick. Our main characters are meeting again after 16 years on book signing and when he sees her, he decides to stay in town longer where he is Laney's next door neighbor. She is not very happy to see him again since part of his first book is based on her and she fears that someone will recognize that.
I liked that every new chapter of the book starts with a quote from Adams first book.
There were lot of characters that were wonderfully entwined together, some of them are loveable others not so much. I found it funny how some fans asked pretty personal questions and it was interesting written. The ending was very sweet and I liked it. Cant wait to read other book from this author.

Cute romance plot. It’s the same as many I have read. Nothing majorly different, than many other romance novels., cute story line.

Delightful story. Liked the town setting and the characters. Would like to see more by this author - set in the town with some of the characters. Will recommend.

Old loves are reunited in this small town romance by Amanda Ashby. Ms. Ashby is a new to me author and I enjoyed her vivid storytelling, the well developed characters, and the way this couple found their way back to one another after a really long and winding road.

Laney George has made a nice life for herself in St. Claire, Oregon; she has good friends, her flower shop which brings her joy, and her sister in law is about ready to give her a niece to love. While she has hopes of expanding her business to include a flower farm, she’s basically happy despite losing her husband five years prior. When Adam Fitzpatrick comes to town on a book tour for the anniversary edition of his only “hit” book, Blue Moon, Laney is worried her life will be upended if word gets out that the most hated character in fiction literature is loosely based on her.

To say that Laney wants nothing to do with Adam is putting it mildly, and he is still carrying a grudge because she wouldn’t uproot her life when he accepted a job without talking to her so their reunion is a bit spirited to say the least.

I loved that these are characters that have lived life and have battle scars, approaching 40 they are both pretty much set in their ways. While Adam wanted to try and clear the air, Laney didn’t want to talk about their past or the book that had her hiding her identity since it came out.

Adam ends up staying in town when he realizes that even verbally sparring with Laney has the words flowing on his work in progress something that hasn’t happened in awhile leaving Laney to worry someone might connect her to the book and giving them time to reconnect.

Once In A Blue Moon was sweet but sensual and their shared history made their renewed relationship complicated, yet it was a completely satisfying romance.

Such a sweet, feel good read. I really liked the heroine, Lainey and Adam. A great second chance romance.

Many thanks to NetGalley, the publisher, and the author for my ARC. All opinions are my own.

Lovely feel good read. It was nice to read. We written and flowed well. Sweet romance to keep us going in the summer months

I received this book complimentary from NetGalley but all opinions are my own.
Oh this was good. Laney and Adam were both full characters and I liked that they have flaws. This was a sweet story and well-written. This was definitely a good one and I’ll be reading more Ashby books.

Once in a Blue Moon is my first read by Amanda Ashby and even though it’s the second book in the Belles of St. Clair series I didn’t feel like I needed to have started at the beginning, but I’ll definitely be checking out this author’s backlist.

I LOVED this read. Second chance romances are a favourite of mine and Laney and Adam made for entertaining reading.

The dynamics between this pair were well written. Laney’s reluctance to see her ex again and her worry about her life changing due to his appearance (and the hype surrounding his book) were understandable and believable.

Adam was still holding on to his grudge even though life had changed for both of them and I was a bit peeved with him when I found out what his issue was... talk about thinking about himself and not talking to Laney.... In saying that I also felt heart sorry for him when we found out about the crumbling of his marriage and I have to say, given their history, I don;t know that I could have stayed in touch and had a relationship with my ex the way he did.

Laney’s friend/sister in law was a bit of a buzz kill for me at times. Laney has been widowed for several years now and she’s entitled to live again and move on, but it felt like she was expected to live a solitary life thinking about her husband!

This was a really sweet book, It had humour, tears, attraction and heat. I liked that the main characters are a little older and therefore, personally, I found them more relatable and we cannot forget Violet, the awesome little rescue dog who loves having her nails painted!

A solid 4.5* and most definitely recommended.

Wonderful small town, second chance romance!
This is a story about mistakes, misunderstandings and the journey to forgiveness.
Laney and Adam dated years ago but split when his career took him to another city. He then wrote a book where Laney viewed herself as the main character and felt betrayed. Years later they meet in her new home and even after all those years, there are still feelings between them. Mostly hurt feelings on Laney's part and Adam tries to right the wrongs from their past.
Both main characters needed to learn who they really were and what they wanted in life before they could finally be together.
I liked the growth that each of them went through during the story, loved a number of the small town residents, the dog, and Adam's brother and ex-wife/SIL.
This was my first book by Amanda Ashby and will definitely read more.

Synopsis:
Book Two of Belles of St. Clair, this is the story of florist Laney George and author Adam Fitzpatrick.

Widowed five years back, Laney is a thirty-six-year-old florist who runs her shop - Branch and Twig - in one of the three Victorian buildings called The Belles, where she lives in the apartment above. When there's a book signing in the next-door store, she steps out with her dog hoping to join in. But, that is when she spots Adam Fitzpatrick, who almost ruined her life sixteen years ago.

Thirty-nine-year-old Adam is a celebrated author who's famous for his first book, and not for the one after that, and definitely not the one ... He sees himself as a fraud, dishing out romantic advice at the publicity tours of his first book's tenth anniversary. Blue Moon is a romance he once wrote and now he's in St. Clair, Oregon which is one of the tour stops. What happens when he runs into Laney after so many years? And decides to stay for a few months since he got his writing mojo back. Playing next-door neighbours is bound to rekindle the old flame...

Review:
The story starts with a quote from Adam's book 'Blue Moon' followed by the woman's story who has a starring role in it! Set in the small town of St. Clair, this was an adorable read. In fact, every chapter starts with a quote from Adam's first book.

Adam divorced seven years ago from Eloise, who married his older brother Ryan soon after having an affair with him, ugh! Even though there may be some reasonable circumstances, I really can't stand that in a romance. But after meeting Ryan and Eloise, you can't help but love them. And then Adam writing about his and Laney's relationship, including their personal details and exaggerating them tenfold, that was really pathetic. But only in the beginning. I was amused by how spontaneous individuals they both are though. So very spontaneous.

The parts of Adam's popularity as an author were hilarious. I mean, I've read about women romance authors always getting asked intrusive questions in real life, which is so not cool but the way Amanda Ashby presents that same situation through Adam is funny.

The best character was without a doubt the part terrier rescue dog Violet, who loves her nail paints! While small-town romances are something I have only just started reading and appreciating, it still boggles my mind as to the number of characters involved in one story, because of the close-knit community. And kudos to the author for the deft way she handles them. It was amazing to read about how accepting everyone is of others, though it did seem a bit too perfect of a world at times. Though I am amazed at the way the author balanced their previous relationship(s) with what was clearly between them again, especially with their respective emotional baggage. And for readers of this review, let me make it clear that there are no hot scenes, 'tis a clean romance. I loved the philosophy of life and death though.

"And what better teacher? Death tells us so many secrets about how to live. The people left behind, the lines on their faces. Death isn’t meant to shut people down; it’s meant to wake them."

I felt really bad for Adam. And mad over Jessica. How can she not accept that Laney needed to move on, instead of holding her back like that? Though Laney herself was holding back too. The revelation at the end regarding their past lives and the book that is at the centre of the shitstorm was really amazing! I so didn't see that coming.

"The butterscotch moon hung low in the sky, mirrored against the heavy dark waves that roiled in swirls, leaving a choppy trail of white caps."

What a sweet ending! And it was really wonderful the way the author drew parallels with the book within the book. I'm totally sold on a story involving books or authors, and this one had the latter plus charm plus vulnerability and I picked it up in a heartbeat! I definitely recommend this book for all you small-town second-chance romance lovers.

P.S. Since What Were You Thinking, Paige Taylor? was Paige (and Luke's) story, I'm assuming Sam's is next?

Thank you to Entangled Publishing and NetGalley for an e-ARC of the book.

This is the first book by Amanda Ashby that I have read, and I enjoyed it! Laney has her life sorted out even though she is a bit lonely. She has wonderful friends and the magic of the town helps her heal after the death of her husband. Adam is a renowned author who just happened to be Laney’s ex (prior to her marriage). His best selling book features a character Nina, who is based on Laney. When the two broke up, Adam was very upset and poured his heart out in this book. Even though most of what’s written is fictional, there is a thread of truth throughout. Laney is completely embarrassed by the book, and so she’s kept the fact that she is Nina completely to herself.

When Adam is doing a book tour, he stops at her small town for a signing event. Laney does her best to avoid him, but he stumbles across her anyway. And after seeing her, and being in the town, the magic hits him and all of a sudden, his writing dry spell is history. He decides to stay for a while and moves in next door! Now they can’t avoid each other! As they get closer and closer, they realize they are destined for each other, whether they know it, want it or not.

I liked the way the plot progressed, and really enjoyed the characters in this book. Recommended!

I received an ARC of this book courtesy of NetGalley and Entangled Publishing. All opinions expressed in this review are my own and given freely.

Heart tugging moments with the perfect amount of sass had me enjoying my first read from this series. The world building was great and I could really visualize the community and characters. The emotions were clear, even when the character was confused and helped pint a picture of what took place from both perspectives. I found the view of their art and profession quite enjoyable and would love to see pictures of some of those floral displays. The addition of a quotation from the “book” at the beginning of each chapter was a great and I loved seeing parts of what has had such an impact for this couple! This is an enjoyable read with entertaining characters, though to be honest Violet took the cake for me!

Thank you NetGalley and Entangled for the chance to read this book and share my opinion.

Following is the German review of the book. The review will be published on sites like amazon.de.

Ja, nein, vielleicht ...

Denke ich an "Once in a blue moon", dann bin ich ein bisschen zwiegespalten. Ich liebe das Cover und auch die Geschichte hörte sich vor dem Lesen nett an. Das ist sie übrigens auch. Teile des Buches habe ich sehr gerne gelesen, mir hat auch der Ort gefallen, in dem alles abspielt. Allerdings gab es auch ein paar Sachen, die mich gestört haben. Insgesamt ging es mir in der Beziehung der beiden Hauptcharaktere zu oft hin und her. Auch gab es einige Szenen, die sich ziemlich gezogen haben und sich fast wie Wiederholungen angefühlt haben. Zu bestimmten Charakteren konnte ich eine sehr gute Beziehung aufbauen, zu anderen wiederum nicht. Es lief beim Lesen also nicht alles rund, es war aber auch nicht alles total schlecht. Daher lande ich bei einer Bewertung von 2,75 Sternen, die ich auf drei aufrunde.

The premise of the book was sweet, and Adam and Laney had cute moments. But the thing with his brother and ex-wife and how that was handled bugged me a little.

I voluntarily offered to review this book with no obligations and my opinions are honest
It was a great book!
Laney and Adam didn't work out, so they broke up.
However, Laney never forgot about Adam.
How can she forget when we wrong a bestsellng book about their break up ?
That is how they reconnect.
Because of the book tour, Adam finds himself in St Clair.
Old wounds are open, but the attraction is sitll there for both of them?
Will they give love a second chance ?
The characters + storytelling were very captivating
It has all the ingredients that you need for an awesome book!

There is something about this book. I couldn't put it down, it's such a sweet story and all I wanted is that Laney and Adam find the way back to each other... 💚

Laney and Adam meet when they were young and had a wind whirl romance. When Adam got a job across the country, she didn't go with him, and that was the end.

Adam wrote the book, heavily inspired by their relationship and it made him famous. She was mortified when she read it, she seen it as a betrayal and didn't like the way he portrayed her.

She lives in a small town with her dog and owns a flower shop. He comes to town on a book tour. She can't believe her eyes when she sees him again, all that anger comes forth. A few hours would have been manageable, but when she finds out he will move to the house next door for the next two months, it will be a lot harder to avoid him forever.

I loved the setting, the town of St. Claire does really seem magical, and all the characters make it so colorful. :)

The writing is great, I was hooked almost from the start. It made me feel all the things. :))

This is the first book I have read from this author and I will be reading more! I adored this story. I felt connected to Lainey from the beginning and I also really liked Adam. I definitely recommend this book for any romance lover!

With Once in a Blue Moon is another wonderful story in Amanda Ashby's Belles of St. Clair series.

This second-chance romance set in the small-town of St. Clair is full of romance, charm, and love.

Laney and Adam dated sixteen years ago, and after a difficult break up he wrote a book that included details of their relationship. Since its release, Laney has feared anyone finding out it's partially based on her. She never even told her husband before he passed away. When Adam comes to town she is not happy to see him, but feelings and circumstances change the more time they spend together.

Both Laney and Adam are older than the characters you see now in most romance novels, I believe in their late 30's. It was nice to be able to relate to them and where they are in life with their careers and hopes for the future.

The only part I struggled with was Adam's brother Ryan and his wife - and Adam's ex-wife - Eloise. While I was so impressed with how Adam was able to forgive them and how their relationship started, it still made them somewhat frustrating to read about.

A second chance romance for Laney and Adam.
After a chance meeting in the small town where she now lives, Laney wants nothing more than to hide from Adam. When he announces he is staying around for a while longer and they start to spend more time together they realise the old feelings are still there. Will their fling be more than a short term thing?