Zoe and Luke are the peffect example of love that never forget. Zoe came from the wrong side of the tracks. Luke was from the perfect family...in her eyes anyways. Never did she expects to find live with anyone much less someone like him. And she needed to leave town after graduation. She works hard and finds her calling. Only keeping in touch with her best friends for life Mel and Jo. So when Mel needs her for her wedding shes back. 
Luke never got over Zoe. He understood why she had to leave but he never got o er her. And now that shes back for a while he takes his chance. They still have the explosive chemistry try have always had. Maybe they can make it work living in two states. He's willing and it seems she is too. Until her worst fears are realized and staying is almost impossible. she has to lean on her friends more than she ever has. But she has Luke too. Will she be able to get past her past and stay for good where her heart and home really is or will she run away again leaving heartbreak behind her?

I like the theme of this series, most likely to, that usual tagline in yearbooks in high school. You can be the same 10 years after at the reunion or life changes for the better. For some reason Katy Perry's song keeps playing in my head while reading this.

This installment of the series is about former high school sweethearts Zoe and Luke. Zoe wanted to have a better future than staying in their small town and her dysfunctional family life. Luke seemed happy before but things change when the girl you've loved forever keeps lingering but she's somewhere else. Now he's thinking maybe there's more. How will they find a way and figure it out. It's a sweet and sexy plus tricky situation indeed. The guy who got left behind and the kickass chef. 

These two though, oh the lingering feelings and emotions. After all that time the love is still there, there's something notable about that. The fact that the heroine is likable and relatable is nice for a change. Her long time best friends despite the distance have a strong bond. I has root for this couple. Zoe had a tough upbringing and yet made something of herself. Maybe you do need to leave go places so you find your way back again.

Another wonderful story of this small town series that says something about love and timing. The girls had a lasting friendship and strong bond which is key to this. Luke is one solid kind of guy you'd want around. Catherine Bybee has written a story that maybe ordinary but relatable. This series like her other has a suspense element going on while the main story takes place too. I'm looking forward to reading Jo's story sounds like it will be intriguing.

Staying For Good by Catherine Bybee.....This story was amazing and grab me on the first page. It pulls on your heartstrings with these fantastic characters that are so well written and likeable. I enjoyed watching the story be told for Zoe and Luke. This is one book I highly recommend, it will keep you flipping pages. I voluntarily reviewed an advance reader cop of this book from publisher via NetGalley.

4.5 Gripping Stars!

Catherine Bybee is a new author to me.  I read one of her books a couple months ago and was completely surprised and frankly, just blown away by how much I loved the book.  When I got the opportunity to read another one from her, I had to read it.  

I say I was surprised because what I have learned is that she starts her stories out a bit slow.  I go in thinking it's going to be one of those low key books that are good, but nothing too exciting.  It's like a false since of security before she throws an event or a person in to the story line and I find myself asking where the heck did that come from and I'm sitting on the edge of my seat.  Honestly, it makes the story more of a hit for me.  I love it when an author surprises me.

When I started this one, I thought maybe this one wouldn't be able to hold up to the last book I read...and then two things happened.  First, I mentioned this is a second chance romance so when Luke decided he was not letting Zoe go the second time, the story started to pick up.  I was like, yes, now we are getting somewhere.  Then Zoe's dad got out of prison and holy cow!  I devoured the rest of the book.  Nothing gets my heart pumping more than a bit of danger in a story.  You know it's coming but there is so many directions that the author can take it.  I was biting my nails waiting to see what her dad was gonna do because you KNOW it's coming.  This book went from 0 to 60 and I enjoyed the ride.  It's such are refreshing change for the plot twist to be drama not related to another woman or man trying to break up a couple.  Instead you get a plot twist that brings these two closer.  I loved it!

This is a standalone but part of a three book series and while Zoe and Luke's story concludes, you get a huge teaser for the next book.  And I mean huge! I had to immediately look up when the next book gets released.  I CAN NOT WAIT!

ARC provided by NetGalley.

Bybee does an Amazing job of writing about real life in a way that not only feels real but also by putting her own signature snarky humor and charm on it.  Zoe and Luke are real characters who face real problems that are not easily glossed over or overcome.  Bybee's way of crafting her way through a story and making the struggle feel real and telling it in an emotional way and still making me laugh is why I always put her books at the top of my "to be read" list.  I was not at all disappointed here.  This book is for Second Chance Romance lovers.  This book is for anyone who loves a strong female character.  This book is for anyone who just loves a good story.

I loved this book so much!!!!  Zoe Brown was voted most likely to never leave River Bend but she blew out of town right after high school and made it big as a celebrity chef. The 10 year reunion in the first book of the series brought her back to town and stoked the flames of her high school love with Luke Miller who never left.  When she left after the reunion Luke almost came unglued but now there is something bringing Zoe back to town.  Will she stay? Will Luke follow her to Texas?  These two make a seriously strong couple and the story surrounding them is spectacular.  So many twists and turns and tears and laughs to satisfy.  

Bring on Jo's story and QUICK!

**Received an ARC copy for review from the publisher via NetGalley**

Love me some Catherine Bybee books. I started reading her books from the weekday Bride series. A go to author for a good book.

Zoe Brown had a rough life growing up I River Bend, Oregon. Her home, if you want to call it that, was a double wide trailer that she shared with her two siblings and a mother who was hardly ever home. Being the oldest gave her the responsibility to take care of her two siblings, specially when her father got drunk and beat them. Her mother was never strong enough to stand up to his meanness. It was a blessing when he got thrown in jail for robbery and nearly killing a man. Once Zoe graduated high school, she couldn't get out of her home town fast enough. However, breaking up and leaving the love of her life, Luke Miller, was the toughest thing she ever did. After attending culinary school and making a name for herself in Texas, now she has her own TV cooking show, Zoe is happy, but something is missing. Now that her best friend Mel is getting married, she has no choice but to return home. How can she avoid running into Luke, what can she say to him.<br />Luke thought he was getting over Zoe, that is until he sees her again and all those feelings return like they were back in high school. Realizing that she is the best part of his life, he makes a decision to win her back. When her father is released from prison after 17 years, Zoe fears for the safety of her family. As they rekindle their old flame, Zoe wants to return to River Bend, but can the dynamics of her family make her want to stay away permanently.<br />Catherine Bybee has another hit in her hands. I've always enjoyed her writing of small town families and their drama. I can't wait to the next book in this series. This book can be read as a standalone, but why would,you.<br />
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Zoe and Luke were high school sweethearts. When she broke up with him and took off after high school, it was to get away from her wrong side of the tracks upbringing, and to pursue her dreams. And she moved on in a big way, becoming a celebrity chef, able to send money home to her mom. Luke stayed in River Bend, content to work at his dads shop, happy with the small town life.

But after running into each other at their high school reunion, neither of them has been able to move on in quite the same way. 

When wedding planning picks up for their best friends, Mel and Wyatt, Luke decides its time to take a chance and see if there's still something there for Zoe too. But while Zoe and Luke are testing the waters, drama starts back up with Zoe's family.

While she struggles with the drama unfolding with her family, Luke and he friends in River Bend keep a careful eye out on her childhood home, and provide a strong support system for Zoe when she needs one.

The passion between Luke and Zoe is alive and kicking, and their shared history makes it easy for her to turn to him when she's hurting. Can she get over the damage done by her parents abusive past and learn to trust Luke completely?

Catherine Bybee is an automatic must read for me, and Staying For Good does not disappoint. As always, this book is filled with the best kind of love and friendships. I can't wait for the third installment in the Most Likely to series!

This book wasn't for me. I liked the writer's style, but I don't want to finish it. I couldn't connect with the characters very well.

I was lucky to receive an advanced copy of this book from Netgalley. This is book two in the "Most Likely To" Series.

Zoe has been running from her small hometown and family since high school. But this now successful chef finds herself thinking of her first love, Luke. Luke has never stopped loving Zoe, but can the pick up where they left off over ten years ago? Will Zoe's dysfunctional family keep her away for good? 

I enjoyed the first book, and I enjoyed this book as well. First, I really love the friendship between Zoe and her two old friends, Mel & Jo. I love that Zoe was able to leave her hometown and make a success of herself all on her own. I enjoyed this book, and I'm looking forward to book three & Jo's story.

I have been waiting patiently for this book since I finished Doing It Over. I couldn't wait to see what happened with Jo and Zoe. Zoe's story doesn't disappoint. 

The passion between Zoe and Luke was already established in 'Doing It Over.' This book just brings that relationship to the forefront. This second chance at love is well written with a nice build that can be read at a quick pace. I was rooting for Luke but Zoe just had to face her past. I loved the way he just showed up surprising Zoe and Jo in Texas. Although the guy in the bar that talks to Zoe is on my creep radar even though he is written as a nice guy on the surface. 

I felt for Zoe. It tugged at my heart and made me cry. Her family..... That's all I can say. But Luke's strength is an amazing gift for Zoe. Yet, Zoe needs to be willing to accept it. 

Loved this book for the build of the story, the suspense, the passion, the angst, the make you want to yell at the pages and finally for the book hangover. I couldn't put the book down. When I finished the book I wanted more of these characters.

Estranged from her family and looked down on by her hometown, Zoe sets out to prove she's more than her screwed up family. She left an outcast and returned a changed woman. The problem with returning home is that the past still hovers in her review mirror. The people she hurt, the town that judged her and the family she left behind all await her. Memories whether painful or happy are hard to outrun. For Zoe mending fences means facing her past. Luke is her biggest regret. Her safe haven, has become her biggest heartbreak. Can a damaged heart help heal a broken one? Staying For Good takes a trek down memory lane to establish a lesson in humility and teach the true meaning of love.

Catherine Bybee has become one of my favorite contemporary authors. When I received an invitation to read Staying for Good, I eagerly accepted. I love that Ms. Bybee writes about REAL people with flawed lives, such a change from many contemporary authors. I received an ARC from the published via Net-Galley.

The pacing of Ms. Bybee’s books is always great and Staying for Good is as well. The characters are engaging and plot is believable. I normally enjoy second chance romances and this is an excellent one.

Zoe Brown is a wonderful heroine. Determined to rise above her trouble background, she leaves her dysfunctional family in River Bend, her best friends and her boyfriend to go on to achieve astonishing success as a celebrity chef. I could feel her pain when she realizes that her love for Luke is still as strong as ever when she returns for her friend’s wedding.

I thoroughly enjoyed Luke’s character. He’s one of the good guys, loyal to his family and friends. While he’s not lived as a monk, he has never found a woman that would suit him the way Zoe did. When he sees her at their 10th year class reunion, she won’t leave his mind. When an opportunity arises to visit her in Texas, he takes it, determined to win her back. I loved his gentle pursuit of her and his patience. 

What I like most about Ms. Bybee’s novels is that not only does she give me a great hero and heroine; she gives me an entire cast of characters that I grow to love as well. I can’t wait to read Jo’s story! 

If you like small-town romances with a community to love, then you will love Staying for Good as much as I did. I highly recommend this book. It has been Ms. Bybee’s best so far. Happy reading!

At first this second chance romance seemed like a familiar small town girl made good returning home and reconnecting with a former flame type of tale. It’s a story told many times before and a trope that I often enjoy. This one, though, packs quite an emotional punch with Zoe’s family issues getting firmly and painfully in the way.

I really liked both Zoe and Luke. She’s a strong woman who has worked extremely hard to put her past behind her and achieve the success she thoroughly deserves, while Luke is a good guy who has no hard feelings for the way things have turned out. They have such a strong connection that it’s easy to see why, even through all the years, they still care deeply for each other – even if they’ve tried to ignore it.

I loved seeing them reconnect. Their relationship is great to read about and they make an excellent couple. Of course there are troubles along the way, but Luke in particular is amazing throughout, always willing to try. I adored him.

But this book is more than just the romance. Zoe’s family problems are dark and deep and play a very important role in how things turn out. They are dark and heart wrenching, but deeply compelling and kept me gripped to the page.

In all I really enjoyed this. It’s romantic and emotional and has some seriously likeable characters, and isn’t afraid of tackling deeper, darker issues such as domestic abuse. If you’re looking for a romance with a little bit more than feel good fluff, give this a try. It still has lovely light moments, but it also has depth. I will definitely be looking out for the next book in this series – and catching up on the first one in the meantime.

What was your most likely to when you were in school? 
Zoe Brown’s was most likely to never leave River Bend. But after a bottle of tequila and a nightmare as a teenager she gets out of River Bend. Leaving everything behind. The good, the bad and the ugly.
Eleven years later. 
Zoe, Mel and Jo are still as thick as thieves. They have always stuck together and after Mel’s ordeal it is no different. These are the two Zoe shared a bottle of tequila with after graduation.
Zoe Brown chef extraordinaire has cooked her way up to the top. Coming from a trailer park home and always wanting to do better she has managed most of her dreams. She is successful, has a lot going for her but there with all that there is just something missing.
Zoe has had an awful childhood and her father being locked away was a heaven sent. But it still did change anything and she never wanted to go back but her feelings for Luke and the connection that she has with River Bend is growing once again. 
After her ten year reunion and seeing her childhood sweetheart she is even more restless. 
Luke Miller has had everything in River Bend that he has needed. He’s happy and content always has been. He even understood why Zoe left. But he also feels as if something is missing. 
After ten years at their high school reunion they realise that they are both still in limbo.  They can’t move forward and yet neither one expected to go back and revisit the past. 
Until Wyatt gives Luke a nudge well actually a plane ticket to Texas to go get his girl back as a last ditch effort. 
Luke and Zoe are great together. Luke is a rock for Zoe and I liked that Zoe came to realise that you can have so much money and always look for the next big thing because at one time it could all be gone. But in time she comes to realise what is really important and does the right thing.
This is a story of sacrificing something that is already beautiful and going after what you want. That nothing is set in stone and that things people can change but that some things still stay the same. But we all make choices. 
I found reading the scenes of how Zoe’s father and I’m using that term very loosely here and what did/does to his own kids/wife sickening. 
This book was a lot better IMO then the first one. It was good to begin with but Zoe said or did something I can’t remember what and I thought Oh, Oh this isn’t going to be good but after that time seemed to fly while reading it. And that ending? Well I didn’t see that coming. Saddening, heart breaking yet freeing all at the same time and all the siblings deserved it. 
Last but not least I love the hippy Ms. Gina and I’m hoping that Zane will get a book. Just saying Ms. Bybee, he’d make a fantastic Hero.

In Staying for Good, Catherine Bybee has written an at once satisfying love story about love re-found, and a powerful book about domestic violence. This book, though a standalone, is also the second in Bybee’s “A Most Likely Novel” trilogy about the enduring friendship between three childhood friends whose bonds grow ever stronger as the women reunite as adults. The first book featured Melanie Bartlett, the girl most likely to succeed. This book centers around Zoe Brown, the girl most likely to never leave their hometown of River Bend.  I expect the third will feature Jo(Anne) Ward, the girl most likely to end up in jail. 

Though her life is based in Texas, Zoe is returning to River Bend on a regular basis, not the least because she and her high school sweetheart, Luke Miller, are trying to rekindle the embers of their long ago romance. Theirs is a sweet, supportive relationship with some welcome heat. In visiting home, Zoe is forced to deal with her difficult family face to face. All, including Zoe, carry scars inflicted by her now incarcerated father. These storylines supply the meat and potatoes of the novel. 

Staying for Good has a large cast of characters; some colorful, most likable, and others weak and not so likable. The interaction between these characters lend depth and texture to the book. 

I enjoyed this book very much and couldn’t put it down. It is a delicate task when it comes to successfully intertwining a romance/romantic suspense book with a message, and Ms Bybee succeeds admirably in this endeavor as she deftly weaves the darker subplot in with a sweet romance.  I highly recommend this novel.

I. was given a free copy of this book by NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review. I was not compensated, nor was I required to write a positive review. The opinions stated are solely my own.

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This book is about Zoe a celebrity chef who left her hometown to get away from her very dysfunctional family and make something of herself.  But by leaving town she also left her high school boyfriend Luke.  They now are starting to run into each other due to mutual friends they have.  Luke was devastated when Zoe left and never got over her, Zoe on the other hand was all about her career and not being the poor kid any longer.  She had to leave in order to overcome her past.  Her and Luke start out by feeling awkward with each other, then becoming friends and finally realizing they both still love each other.  In the mean time you get to read about her and Luke's friends from the previous book in this series which was great.  Also Zoe has to finally deal with her family in a way that really is out of her comfort zone.  I look forward to the third book in this series.

Zoe was bound for greatness, determined to make her past not her future. She had a few battle to over come, that she did with greatness and strenght. I really enjoyed this book. With a little suspense added. I Loved Zoe and Lukes new relationship. They are a breath of fresh air. Catching up with Melanie and Jo was just an added bonus. Zoe over came so much in this story without the sadness attached. A great romance

I’m ready for the next book in the series! I loved this book. Catherine is an author that when she has a new release, her book bumps others down and become first priority on my to read list.

Staying for Good was the perfect pace, the perfect depth, and had the perfect balance. It held a few steamy scenes, some mystery and intrigue, some suspense and drama, then a whole lot of love. The reason her books stand out is because the love in the book isn’t just the lust captured between two love birds. It’s deeper than most books and that is what draws the reader in and makes them feel like they are a part of the story. Staying for Good captures the love between friends and family, who sometimes are your friends, and even the love and support of your community. I felt the warmth of the characters hearts as the story progressed and that makes a great read. There was a point in the book that Luke states, “I learned that every time you pushed to another level, it proved you had to leave this town to get there. And as much as I missed you, I was proud that you were doing it.” To capture how intertwined I was with these characters already during the first half of the book, I had to look away for a minute because my eyes had started watering because I could sense that pride.

I love that this book doesn't tease you and go the stereotypical route. I usually can figure out a book within the first chapter or two and this one was not what I expected. It wasn't a constant tug-a-war between if she was going to stay or go. This story was about a strong, independent woman who overcame her obstacles and showcased her growth through the rain in life. I could convey many more compliments, but I’d want to go into detail about the twists, so I will just highly recommend that you read this book for yourself then let me know what you think.

The only thing I would mention is the alternating perspectives. I read the eBook version that was provided to me by the author before release, so that I could provide an honest review during the release tour. That being said, I’m not sure if the final edition might have addressed it, but the alternating third person confused me a few times. I’d have to reread a paragraph on more than one occasion to make sure I understood who was speaking; it seemed to slow down my reading a little. During the first 80% of the book it was just alternating between one or two characters, but then all of a sudden mid chapter it began letting a supporting character with a smaller part take over the perspective. It did add depth to those characters with that different view of things which contributed to the story greatly, I just wished the switches were more clearly identified or separated. I’ve never read a book that didn’t just have two alternating perspectives, but had several interchanging.