always love a Bybee story. it's a shame they have to end. it was great watching them both make the right choices no matter what.

From the outside, Zoe Brown has it all. The fantastic career as a celebrity chef, wonderful, loyal childhood friends, and a childhood boyfriend Luke, who, like Zoe, is still single, and still into her.
What you don't see is the one reason Zoe has left her hometown of River Bend, Oregon and returns rarely. Ziggy Brown, Zoe's dad, has spent the past 17 years behind bars. Before being jailed, Ziggy abused his wife and three kids. But with his parole hearing coming around again, everyone is certain that Ziggy will once again not get parole. So Zoe returns home to help plan the engagement party and ultimate wedding party of her best friend Melanie. She also returns home to see if a relationship with Luke could work now that they are older and live separate lives.
I really enjoyed this book. The writing is stellar, the characters are real and relatable. The situations and feelings surrounding them are authentic. The romance between Zoe and Luke was also fresh and sweet. 
I can't wait to see how this series gets wrapped up.

This is the second book in the "Most Likely To" series and it is out of this world!  We get to learn more about Zoe, her family life and the love she has always felt for Luke.  Jo and Mel are back, along with Mel's fiancé, Wyatt, her daughter, Hope, and their friend, Miss Gina.  There is plenty of laughter, tears and some fright involved.  If you read the first book in the series, you remember that Zoe is a chef, working on TV and in a restaurant in Texas.  She left her hometown of River Bend, Oregon, to get away from her family and try to make something of herself.  She has done that in spades.  However, her friend Mel gets engaged and things start working against her to bring her "back home" more often than she thinks is healthy for her.  You see, her father, who is in prison, is up for parole.

I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley and voluntarily reviewed it.

Once again Bybee hits it out of the park.  Zoe and Luke's story does not disappoint in this second installment.  We  are also treated to updates from all of the secondary characters as well.  Looking forward to Jo's story next.

Book two in Catherine Bybee's Most Likey to Succeed Series, STAYING FOR GOOD tells the story of teenage sweethearts-turned-grownups Zoe and Luke.
After High school graduation, Zoe left the tiny, suffocating town of RIverBend, Luke, and her family behind. With a father in prison for armed robbery  and her memories of being raised in a trailer by a broken mother, Zoe knew she had to leave the sleepy town if she was ever going to do anything worthwhile with her life, esp. after being voted the girl MOSTLY LIKE TO NEVER LEAVE RIVER BEND by her graduating class.
Fast forward ten years and Zoe is a successful cheflebrity living in Texas. SHe's been back home a few times recently tho, because one of her BFF's is getting married soon. And when she's home she comes face to face more times than she can count with the only man she's ever really loved, Luke.
For his part, Luke has stayed in his home town, helped run his father's garage and generally been happy. Except for the fact that he misses the love of his life and wan'ts a life with her. COming up with a way to ensure that is Luke's mission.
I don't like spoilers so I stop the plot there.
This was a good story of coming home, why you should-or shouldn't- and what happens to people you leave behind. Zoe is wracked with guilt and frustration with her family. She knows her mother resents her leaving, just as much as she knows the woman enjoys the money Zoe sends home for her mom to live. With her younger brother and sister looking like they are going to fall into the same trap of teenage pregnancy, substance abuse, and problems with the law as their imprisoned father, she wants them to understand there is more to life than just being trailer=park trash. Unfortunately, the cycle seems to repeat itself without stopping.
If you are a fan of Bybees' - which I am, in spades(!) - you will enjoy this book. Told in rotating points of view, the set up for book, Jo's story, MAKING IT RIGHT is firmly rooted and I can't wait for that one to release.
Well worth the read.

As always from this author this is an amazing story with characters that will touch your heart from the very first page.  This second installment in the Most Likely To series takes us back to River Bend where we meet Zoe Brown.  Voted most likely never to leave in high school, Zoe was determined to prove everyone wrong.  She did leave and did very well for herself - Thank you very much.  She's back now though and facing everyone again is hard.  Especially facing Luke.  The one good thing that had been in her prior life and the only man who could get her to consider staying.

Put this one on the must read list!  I highly recommend it.

4.5 Stars

I love the second chance trope, and I was fully engaged with Zoe and Luke after the first book and hoping for a believable HEA for them. I began with high expectations for this second book in the series, and I was not disappointed. Zoe's family conflict could easily have overpowered the romance, but Bybee skillfully balances the two. I also applaud the way she handles Zoe's choice to return and Luke's role in that choice. Of course, the secondary characters added to the book's appeal. Thus, starry acclaim for another Bybee book that met all expectations and increased my eagerness for Jo's story.

Zoe has been voted the "Most Likely to Never Leave River Bend" at her high school graduation. Part of this is due to her serious relationship with Luke & part is due to growing up in a trailer without any extra money for college. Who would believe that she would come back at her ten year reunion as a celebrity chef? Seeing Luke again has wakened up those same feelings again but she doesn't want to come back & deal with her family & her repressed emotions of bitterness & resentment. 

Luke is the guy left behind. He's a mechanic in his father's shop & was never dissatisfied with his life until Zoe came back. With all the feelings for her being brought to the surface, he begins to wonder if he's made the right choice. But can he leave his hometown, job & family for her? 

This story would be an easy one to turn dark & depressing but somehow Catherine Bybee balances the light & the dark. Zoe's resentment of her "blood" family is balanced by her love of her "family of the heart", her girlfriends that feel like they should be her sisters & Miss Gina. The writer has a way of grabbing you from the first scene & getting you emotionally invested in the story & the characters. I love the relationship between Miss Gina & the girls. She reminds me of a godmother or grandmotherly figure. Ms. Bybee's books are intense & emotional without all of the overt sexiness that seems popular in today's books. A true heartfelt romance with a touch of suspense!

**Advanced copy provided by the publisher and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review**

You always know when you see Catherine Bybee's name on a book that you are in for a treat.  In this second installment of the "Most Likely To" series, we have the chance to revisit River Bend and the wonderful cast of characters who live there and what a great ride it is.

For Zoe Brown, being voted Most Likely to Never Leave River Bend only makes her want to leave her hometown that much faster.  Not only does she want to leave the small town she's grown up in to spread her wings and make something of herself, but she also wants to escape her family and the difficulties that they bring to her life.  The one thing she never really wanted to leave behind, but felt she had no choice, was Luke, her high school boyfriend and likely the love of her life.

When one of Zoe's best friends, Melanie, gets engaged, it forces Zoe's hand and she has to return to the town she was so desperate to escape and it also means she's going to have to face Luke again.  Luke has always been happy in River Bend and never had any aspirations to leave, but when these two former loves come face to face and begin to reconnect, he begins to think that maybe leaving River Bend wouldn't be that bad.  But is Zoe beginning to have the opposite thoughts after spending time in her home town again?  Both are faced with decisions that are going to change the course of the rest of their lives, but for Zoe the choice is to leave everyone she loves again or to stay for good and it may be the hardest decision she's ever had to make. 

Catherine Bybee has a way of sucking you into the world that she's created and she makes you truly care about all of the characters.  It was great to see all of our friends from the first book including, Mel, Jo, Ms. Gina and Wyatt, and then getting to meet new ones.  I have no doubt that Jo's book, which is the next installment, will be fantastic!

A nice second chance romance about old high school sweethearts was a sweet read would read more by this author

A god book! I enjoyed the second chance with Zoe and Luke.

Maybe if I were voted Most Likely to Never Leave [insert name of any small town] it would make me more determined to leave said small town. Especially if I had an abusive, alcoholic father and a mother lacking in self-esteem and a healthy sense of self-preservation. I don’t blame Zoe for leaving. And at eighteen, she was too young to stay solely for her high school boyfriend. They were too young to make a real go of it then.

Luke is the boy who was left behind. He remained in River Bend and worked as a mechanic at his father’s repair shop. They both got on with their lives, which I was extremely happy to see, Zoe becoming a celebrity chef. From what I can tell, there was a ten-year reunion where they kind of got close again?? I’m not sure if this reunion occurred in another book, but in Staying For Good the event is only mentioned in passing so I’m not sure exactly what happened between them during the reunion. If I had to gripe about anything it’s that fact. I wanted to know. Luke has absolutely no animosity toward Zoe, I think knowing what happened would have been helpful in understanding where he’s coming from.

Although Zoe is still super attracted to Luke—her feelings for him stirred up since the reunion—she’s hesitant to become involved with him again. After all, she lives in Texas and he lives in Oregon. She doesn’t want to hurt him and she doesn’t want to get hurt. And her dysfunctional family—the one she hightailed it away from over a decade ago—is in River Bend. For that reason alone, she’s not moving back. In fact, at the beginning of the book we find her house hunting in Texas. Yep, she’s putting down roots. It’s one of her best friend’s wedding that brings her back to her hometown. Oh, and did I mention her twenty-one-year-old baby sister, Zanya, just had a baby (three months ago) and their mother thinks she’s pregnant again? It doesn’t help that Zanya is a single mother who dropped out of school with no real employable skills. Ugh. Real life can be a real downer. Seriously. When I read romance, I like having my heartstrings pulled not be depressed. I was terrified this was the road I was being taken down.

But Ms. Bybee manages something I didn’t think possible. She manages to balance the lack of animosity between the hero and heroine with the challenges Zoe faces in dealing with her family. Don’t get me wrong, Zoe and Luke experience emotional conflict but there’s no anger involved. Luke is so willing to go with the flow, at times he amazed me. If you’re looking for a dark and brooding alpha male hero, I’m telling you right now that Luke is a beta through and through. He’s the guy always willing to try. The guy who has no problem compromising. He’s the guy women want in real life. And just when I thought I’m not seeing any earth-shattering conflict in the horizon, the story takes a rather dramatic turn. A couple new POVs are introduced and the subplot surfaces and heats right on up. And just like that, my interest sharpened and my angst (and anger) level was on the rise. Zoe’s family. Sigh. That’s all I’m going to say.

Staying for Good isn’t just a romance because there are definite women’s fiction and perhaps even suspense elements in the plot that make it more. And Ms. Bybee does of great job of melding those elements together. The secondary characters, Zoe’s two besties and Luke’s parents, feel real and are very likeable. And after a little getting to know Zoe’s brother Zane, so is he. I particularly liked Zoe’s friend Joe, who is the sheriff of River Bend. She’s simply an interesting, intriguing character. But I guess she has to be since she’s getting her own book. 
 
All in all, Staying for Good is a story that does a very nice job in combining a heartfelt romance with the some of the harsher realities of real life. I look forward to reading Making It Right, which will be out May 9, 2017.

~ Beverley

Review will also post on the blog closer to release date