Third Time's the Charm - Heather B. Moore

Liz, Gemma, Arie, Jess, and Drew have been best friends since creating "the Five" at Aliso Creek High School. But that was over ten years ago, and each is still trying to find that perfect someone . . . if perfect is even possible.

In fact, Liz Carlson will settle for a normal man. A normal man with a job, that is. Married twice, then divorced twice, Liz had her rose-colored glasses fall off and shatter on the ground a long time ago. Her main focus now is raising her six-year-old daughter and surviving long days at work on her feet as a hairdresser. When Sloane Branden answers her call for help, quite literally, Liz doesn't even give him a second glance. She has sworn off dating for as many years as it takes, and it seems that Sloane has done the same after his own tumultuous marriage. But when Liz realizes that Sloane defies every stereotypical deadbeat she has dated, she might just find room in her heart and discover the third time's the charm.

In this first novella of a planned series, Heather Moore introduces us to Liz, a woman who wants the same thing most of us do, a relationship that is based on the honest truth. But Liz has already been burned, not once, but twice, and is afraid to grow too near anyone again, especially in light of what another romance might mean to her relationship with her six-year-old daughter. Having sworn off men, of course the first thing that happens is that she meets the perfect guy--rich, handsome, and ready to come to her rescue. The only catch--he's got an ex-wife who seems to still be in love with him, and Liz knows the woman would get in the way, if there were a way to get in to. Determined to keep her own distance from Sloane, Liz finds herself drawn closer to him the more she tries to pull away. And that's where the fun begins.

An absolutely delightful and clean read that will satisfy romance fans, and leave them wanting more. As a matter of fact, although the novella came to the perfect conclusion, I'm hoping Moore will someday revisit this couple and answer some of the questions I still have about their future together, and what happens to the nasty, mean ex-wife!

(For the purist fans of Moore's genre historicals, know this novella is not what she writes for the Utah market, but nothing within it will prove more than mild to the general reader.)