Early Book Review: Count on Me (Petal Georgia) by Lauren Dane

Count on Me is the first book in the Petal Georgia series (a spin off of the Chase Brothers series) by Lauren Dane. Each of the books by Dane seems to stand up fine on its own, but fans of the earlier series will enjoy seeing some favorites make an appearance. This book is currently scheduled for release on July 8 2019.

Caroline Mendoza left home to become a lawyer with one goal in mind: prove her father’s innocence. Now she’s back, and nothing will stop her from uncovering the truth—not the folks of Petal, who have their own ideas about the case, not her siblings and definitely not Royal Watson, who should probably stand trial for being indecently and undeniably hot. 

Count on Me is a contemporary romance that hits many tough topics, has a solid dose of danger, but also lots of heart and sweet moments. Caroline has been struggling to exonerate her father for all of her adult life, and the small town attitudes and stubbornness of family make everything more emotional and challenging than it really should be. Family issue abound, as do problems in finding her place in her hometown. Royal is such a good guy, almost too perfect. He is open minded and protective while still respecting the indepence and abilities of those around him. I liked the honesty and banter between the pair, and how straight forward Caroline is with just about everyone and every issue that comes her way. While the pair came together more quickly than I expected- I really enjoyed how they came together and grew closer throughout the story. The only issue I had with the read is that every now and then there were time or scene transitions that just felt a little rough to me. Or moments that just made me wonder why they were even included. For instance, in one moment Royal's phone rings as he was driving- but no mention of the phone call was made again, so why was it even included. No missed call or message to be followed up. Little petty things like that stick with me, I think only because I love the author so much that I expect better but others might not even notice.

Count on Me is a good return to Petal, and I enjoyed the read. Not my favorite book by Dane, but that is a high threshold to match. Fans of Dane will definitely want to add this to their to be read pile.