If You Adore Me by Ciara Knight
Publisher & Release: Self-Published, August 11, 2020
Time and setting: Present Day, Sugar Maple, Tennessee
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Length: 203 Pages
Heat Level: 1 Sweetheart
Rating: 4.5 Gold Crowns
Book Description:
Raised by her abuelo after Stella Frasier’s parents abandoned her in search of fame, she struggles to keep her auto repair shop open in honor of the one man who kept her safe. Her only option to save her failing business is to embrace the life she despises when fame-monger Knox Brevard strolls into her town with the promise of endless customers. All she has to do is sell her soul to the internet producer, a price she vows never to pay until an eviction notice is posted on her garage door.
Knox Brevard hides from real emotional connections after he failed to protect the woman he loved from a suicide bomber in Iraqi. Becoming an internet sensation has allowed him to maintain superficial relationships until he meets a strong, independent woman who forces him to be vulnerable. With a television producer offering to take his show to a new level, he has to convince Stella Frasier that the show is her only option. The problem is, she’ll only agree if he proves himself worthy by opening his heart and sharing his truth. A truth that leaves him wounded and hopeless.
Will fear win, or will Knox and Stella be strong enough to allow true love to shine through?
Knox Brevard hides from real emotional connections after he failed to protect the woman he loved from a suicide bomber in Iraqi. Becoming an internet sensation has allowed him to maintain superficial relationships until he meets a strong, independent woman who forces him to be vulnerable. With a television producer offering to take his show to a new level, he has to convince Stella Frasier that the show is her only option. The problem is, she’ll only agree if he proves himself worthy by opening his heart and sharing his truth. A truth that leaves him wounded and hopeless.
Will fear win, or will Knox and Stella be strong enough to allow true love to shine through?
Buy Links:
Barnes & Noble: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/if-you-adore-me-ciara-knight
Add to Goodreads & BookBub:
Vikki’s Musings
Thanks go to the author and Net-Galley for the complimentary copy of If You Adore Me by Ciara Knight for the purpose of reading and reviewing. My opinions are my own, and no one has influenced me.
If You Adore Me is set in a small rural town in Tennessee and has a lovely array of supporting characters. At first, I had trouble getting into this book, but then I discovered it’s the second book in the series, so I continued reading, and I’m so glad I did. The story started coming together for me. As with other Ciara Knight novels, this book has warmth and shows the advantages of living in a small town.
Stella Frasier’s character does fit the mold of most heroines in romance novels. To say she’s unique is an understate. At first I wasn’t sure I would like her, but I soon discovered she’s a great character with many facets to her personality. I identified with her concerns over in having a relationship with the hero after what happened when they knew each other in the past.
Knox Brevard is a great hero with many of the characteristics I adore, and just his good looks. His character has plenty of depth, and I could understand his need to hold his emotions in check because of the trauma from his past. I enjoyed his baby steps in opening up to Stella, and his willingness to accept Stella as the independent woman and not try to change her. He’s exactly the right guy for her.
The romance between the hero has plenty of trials to overcome, but most of them are external and that worked for me. The emotional connection is strong and satisfying. I truly wanted them to find their happy ending!
If you like small town romances with a great cast of characters and an emotionally charged plot, then you with love If You Adore Me as much as I did. It had been a while since I had read one of Ms. Knight’s heartwarming novels, and this one is a fine example of why I enjoy her books. Happy reading!
Author Bio:
A friend once told me that I live eighty percent of my life in my imagination and twenty percent in the real world. I can’t deny this. I know growing up I drove my family and teachers insane. In my defense, I wasn’t intentionally ignoring my fifth-grade math teacher by watching an ant crawl across the wall for several hours. I was on a grand adventure with a special-ops army ant that was defending his colony from the evil palmetto bugs.
In sixth grade, my adventures came to a screeching halt when I was moved from the regular education classroom to, what my classmates referred to as the stupid trailer, hidden behind the school. Okay, that wasn’t the word they taunted, but the other word shall not be used. This was the day my best friend said she couldn’t be my friend anymore because I was too dumb. For years, I fought my imagination, believing it was something evil that kept me from learning, but it never felt right to me.
When I graduated high school, I tried junior college because I didn’t know what else to do, but when I read about dance auditions at Walt Disney World, I knew I had to try. It was a long shot, but I auditioned anyway and made it. I’d like to say I got the part because I was such an amazing dancer, but honestly, I wasn’t. Instead, after many grueling days of auditions I made it to the final round. After being lined up, the judges stated there were five spots remaining. When they reached halfway down the line, and only had one spot left to fill, I stepped forward and said, “what about me?” The judge in charge said, “Okay.” Yep, that’s how I got the part, and how I learned if you want something you have to go after it.
This door opened into a world full of imaginative people like myself. I felt like I’d arrived home. Unfortunately, after a year and a half, at nineteen years of age, my dance career ended due to a foot injury. With my tail between my legs, I returned home and went to college. I again, abandoned my imagination and worked hard to prove I could be as smart as everyone else, earning a 3.89 in my first two years. For a decade or so, I worked and studied, avoiding the voices in my head, or the settings that drew me from the real world. Although, I wrote a few short stories that were published in literary magazines during college, I never fully embraced my imagination until after I married and had children.
When my kids were young, my husband and I decided I should stay home with them. It was a tough decision, after spending my life proving that the little girl with a speech impediment and language disorder could succeed. At first, I struggled with the extra time and lack of socialization, but then my husband gave me a gift I’ll never forget, a swift kick in the butt. He told me to get over myself and write the damn book.
Knowing my husband is always right; I embraced my adventures into ‘ciaraland’ instead of trying to push them from my mind and wrote my first novel. Even though my first novel wasn’t published, the minute I wrote ‘The End’ I knew I’d found my true calling. After completing some craft classes, I embarked on another grand adventure full of fantastical elements and crazy plot twists, and then several more. I’m proud to say each of the following books have been published, receiving accolades beyond my wildest imagination.
I’ll always struggle with attention span, public speaking and language issues while writing. I know telling stories is what I was born to do. If I even inspire one person, lifting them to a place beyond their everyday world, then I’ve accomplished more than I’d ever dreamed possible.
Social Media:
Website: https://ciaraknight.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ciaratknight
Twitter: https://twitter.com/ciaratknight
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ciaratknight/
