Dinca’s review of Liam’s Perfect Woman (Home to Harbor Town, Book 2) by Beth Kery
Contemporary Romance published by Harlequin 19 Jul 11
Beth Kery has done it again. I am really enjoying this series. Liam’s Perfect Woman is the second installment in the Home To Harbor Town series. Once again her characters are jumping off the pages. I could almost see the beautiful ballerina dancing on the white sand beach and the hungry eyes of Liam wanting to know who this dancing beauty could be.
Ms. Kery’s unforgettable characters are back in this second book in the Harbor Town series. Usually when I read a series I feel a need to skip over the back filler in the story, but it doesn’t happen in this book. The way the story unfolds in a different point of view than the first book really makes it a standalone title. But I will not miss the next story to come in this series. The strong, compelling characters created by Ms. Kery unfold in a drama that runs deep and grabs you on so many levels.
I really enjoyed watching Natalie Reyes grow into the woman she should have been years before if not for the tragic accident caused by Liam’s father. Her need for closure on that part of her life is so tangible I could feel it and understand her desire to know the underlying facts and feelings of the man who changed her life and appearance forever.
Natalie pulls at the heartstrings when she is dancing in solitude on the deserted beach at night. Ms. Kery’s description is so vivid I could feel the lonely shore that surrounds her and is embedded in her soul. She was only eleven years old when her life was tragically changed forever by the car crash that killed her mother. Scared and having undergone years of facial reconstruction, now sixteen years later she has the opportunity to hire her own private investigator. She wants to learn more about the state of mind of the
driver. Not just that he was drunk and driving, but why a prominent, successful attorney would become drunk and drive. So she hires the only person she feels can provide those answers: the son of the man who killed her mother and left Natalie scared.
Liam Kavanaugh promised his family he would leave the Chicago Police Department, so he returns to Harbor Town to take the job as the new County Police Chief. He purchases a beach-front cottage outside of town and starts renovating before he has to report in at his new job. Strolling down the path leading to the beach, he spies a moonlight fantasy dancing on the sand. Liam watches until her dance ends and then calls out to her, only to have her run away.
Being a detective, Liam is suspicious of why Natalie wants to hire him as her investigator into the crash his father caused. Just when he agrees to take the job, he realizes she is the mystic dancer from the beach and nothing could keep him from having a reason to see her again.
Natalie blossoms in Liam’s arms into the women she could and should be. And between the two of them working together, they do find the reason a stable home and family man would lose it and drink and drive. So the bad guy may not be a lousy, thoughtless bad guy and the good guy may not be the good, upstanding, faithful, loyal person everyone thinks they are. And the guy who has lost a lifetime of love and family will break your heart all over again, so you will just have to read her next book in the series.
Writing this review actually brought tears to my eyes, which was why it took me so long to get the review out. I would rate this right up there with a let’s sit down and have a good cry chick flick. (Just let out big sigh.) Warning…you may need popcorn or chocolate to read this book!
Grade: A+
Summary: It happened one summer…
The moment Liam Kavanaugh first glimpsed the exotic beauty dancing across a moonlit beach, he was smitten. But he was in for the surprise of his life when she turned out to be Natalie Reyes! The big-city cop had returned to Harbor Town to be the chief of police. Instead, he was battling an intense attraction to the woman who was forcing him to confront his past…
The lone survivor of the crash that had destroyed their families, Natalie needed Liam’s help to finally move past the tragedy that shattered her life. Yet the innocent beauty wasn’t prepared for the passion that flared between them. And now her very future was in the hands of a man who just might be able to heal her heart with his loving touch…
Read an excerpt.
Other books in this series:
I just purchased this book. I’ve never read anything by this author. Is it necessary to read the first book in the series or can this be read as a stand-alone?
Hi, Kim.
You get enough info in this book to know what’s going on in the series, but I would still read the previous book first. This is such an emotional series, it helps to follow what happens, its aftermath, and the characters from the beginning. It’s only one book and they’re short! LOL. I think it would be worth it to get The Hometown Hero Returns.
It is a stand alone. But don’t miss the first one. It is worth reading. Look for my other review of The Hometown Hero Returns. I am looking forwrd the the next book in the series.