STUBBORN AS A MULE
Down in Whynot, NC, there are three things that hold true: 1) life moves just a little bit slower, 2) family means everything, and 3) you don’t mess with history.
When his family decides to sell a home that’s been part of their history for over a century, Lowe Mancinkus is madder than a hornet. To add insult to injury, the woman who purchased it is some fancy pants, city girl looking to fix it up and sell it off. Doesn’t matter that she’s sexy as hell or that just being near her gets his blood racing like never before. That home belongs to his family, or at least it did until she came to town.
Well that just won’t do, now will it?
From the moment that she laid eyes on the historical home in rural North Carolina, Melinda Rothschild knew Mainer House was something special. The perfect escape from life in New York City, Melinda signed the papers and set to work restoring the house to its natural beauty. That is until an angry Lowe showed up on her doorstep one day. With a scowl on his handsome, chiseled face. And a shotgun in his strong, muscular arms.
Is it getting hot in here?
Melinda’s about to get a lesson on life in the south, but Lowe is about to learn a lesson of his own – this city girl doesn’t back down from a fight.
EXCERPT
“Looking good, Lowe Mancinkus,” I hear a woman call
out as I stretch upward to paint the top of the frame around the window.
Turning my head to look over my shoulder, I see Lynette Carnes getting ready to
walk into Sweet Cakes across the street. She’s our town’s very own Daisy Duke.
By that, I mean she struts around in miniscule jean shorts, high heels, and a
sleeveless blouse tied off just underneath her very ample chest.
She’s definitely nice to look at, although she
doesn’t have much going on above the cleavage.
“Morning, Lynette,” I call back. “Lookin’ good
yourself.”
She grins and blows a kiss at me before walking into
Larkin’s shop.
The front door opens and Mely steps out onto the
porch, carrying a cup of coffee. There’s no doubt in my mind she witnessed that
exchange from the other side of the doorway. It’s obvious by the pinched
expression she has on her face. Still, she brings the coffee over to me and
sets it on the porch rail.
“Thanks, darlin’,” I tell her as I go back to
brushing paint over the layer of primer I’d put on a few hours ago. I’d decided
to work half a day here at Mainer House, not because I was anxious to get the
work done, but because I wanted to be around Melinda Rothschild.
She may not be strutting around in little shorts and
a low-cut blouse, but she is most definitely a prettier picture than I’ve ever
seen around these parts. She’s wearing a white sundress with a halter top, and
her shoulders are lightly tanned with tiny freckles. Her legs are long, bare,
and perfectly adorned with nothing more than a pair of simple white sandals.
Her silky blonde hair is pulled away from her face at the top of her head and
she looks like a breath of fresh air.
Mely leans against the porch rail, crosses her arms
low under her breasts, and watches me work for a minute. I wonder if she likes
what she sees.
I think so.
There was going to be another kiss last night if
Morri hadn’t managed to ruin that little moment. And while I’d never stoop to
mention this to Mely, I’m pretty sure he’d been hovering at the top of the
stairs, just waiting to ruin it.
“Much better than hot pink,” Mely says as I continue
to apply paint to the casing. I have no clue what the hell I was thinking when
I painted her house pink. It was an attention getter and since the two people
whose attention it got were Mely and Judge Bowe, it doesn’t take a genius to
figure out I might have been pulling on her metaphorical pigtails a bit.
“I should have this finished by tomorrow,” I tell
her. “Then all will be right again.”
“Odd since it took you a single night to do the
damage,” she quips. I don’t look back at her, but I hear the laughter in her
voice.
“Well, neon pink isn’t all that easy to cover up,” I
tell her with a laugh.
She snickers and I can’t believe she was trying to
get me thrown in jail last week. My how the mighty have fallen.
“When in Rome and all that,” Mely says and I turn to
look at her from my perch on the ladder. She jerks her chin over her shoulder
in the direction of Sweet Cakes. “Is that the standard southern girl uniform?”
Chuckling, I cut my eyes over to Sweet Cakes where
sexy Lynette just disappeared into. I’m not about to tell Mely that I have
actual carnal knowledge about that southern girl, even if it was back in my
younger years.
Looking back to Mely, I take in her stylishly sweet
dress that doesn’t reveal much but is still sexy at the same time. Giving her a
wink, I say, “There’s nothing standard about you, Melinda Rothschild, so I’m
advising you to stay away from that look. I think you’re mighty fine just the
way you are.”
Kim's 4 star Review
When Lowe Mancinkus thought his family didn’t care about their
family history their so he took matter into his own hands. That got him another trip to Judge Bowe’s
court room and another showdown with the New Yorker, Melinda Rothchild. Both of them are stubborn as a mule but will
they be able to finally get past what has happen and become friends or will they
both be too stubborn to see what’s in front of them.
I was given this book in exchange for an honest review.
Stubborn as a Mule is the second book in the Sex and Sweet
Tea series for Juliette and so far my favourite. I loved the first book, “Ain’t He Precious” when
we met Trixie and Lowe. When I saw the second book was about Lowe I couldn’t refuse
the chance to review it.
Lowe is a pure Southern Gentleman who has a heart of gold
and a very passionate man. This includes passion for his family history. Lowe
took on Melinda Rothschild as he thought she was going to ruin the house which was in his family for generations, well
that was until his parents sold it to the New Yorker.
Melinda was just looking for a piece of family his when she
found herself in Whynot, North Carolina.
Remembering the stories her grandmother, Mely (Melinda) found the house
that she heard so much and surprised when the offer she put on it was accepted.
Mely isn’t used to the kind a life that Whynot has but was she looking forward
to find more about it.
After being forced to spend time together, Lowe actually got
to know the woman who stole his family history and what he found was much more
than he ever thought possible.
The chemistry between these two is a slow reaction but once
it builds up it explodes with passion. What started out as a love/hate relationship
turn out to be so much more once Lowe and Mely actually listened to each other.
Then Mely’s BFF Morris D (Morri) comes to town to stay with Mely and Lowe fines
himself in big trouble.
As Lowe and Mely spend more time together they become close
but the past does come back to bite Lowe in the butt as Morri and Lowe battle
in the practical joke category for who is the king of jokes or in Morri’s case
the queen. I do have to say I never
laughed so hard while reading a book. I
had my family looking at me strange as I never laugh while I read. Whynot is a small town and it wouldn’t be the
same if you didn’t have a town trouble maker and Lynnette fills that role well
when it comes to Lowe and Mely. You know
when you meet this character that she was up to know good and you don’t have to
read all the book to figure that out.
Juliette gave her readers an amazing
book with characters that touch you heart.
I couldn’t help but get pulled in by Lowe and Mely. Whatever they were doing I felt like a part of
the story. It wasn’t just Lowe and Mely but all of the Mancinkus family are
just those kind of characters. I’ve
fallen in love with this series and I can’t wait to see what comes next.
About the Author
Juliette Poe is the sweet and swoony alter ego of New York Times Best Selling author, Sawyer Bennett.
A fun-loving southern girl, Juliette knows the allure of sweet tea, small towns, and long summer nights, that some of the best dates end sitting on the front porch swing, and that family is top priority. She brings love in the south to life in her debut series, Sex & Sweet Tea.
When Juliette isn’t delivering the sweetest kind of romance, she’s teaching her southern belle daughter the fine art of fishing, the importance of wearing Chucks, and the endless possibilities of a vivid imagination.
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