Just One Vacation Night

3.75 stars--SPRING FEVER is the second instalment in Deborah Cooke’s contemporary, adult SECRET HEART INK slightly paranormal, erotic, romance series of novella-a spin off from the author’s Flatiron Five series. This is cupcake shop owner Reyna Tate, and police officer Kade Sullivan’s story line. SPRING FEVER can be read as a stand alone without any difficulty. Any important information from the previous instalment is revealed where necessary including tattoo artist Chynna who’s imbues her designs with a touch of magic. There is a slight time line cross-over with book one –Snowbound. NOTE: SPRING FEVER contains scenes of domestic violence that may be triggers for more sensitive readers. Told from dual third person perspectives (Reyna and Kade) follows the building relationship between cupcake shop owner Reyna Tate, and police officer Kade Sullivan. Kade Sullivan was spending his ordered time-off in the small town of Honey Hill, fixing and updating his Aunt and Uncle’s home when the sexy cupcake shop owner Reyna Tate catches his eye. Kade knows his time in Honey Hill is limited but meeting small business owner Reyna Tate has Kade thinking about a possible future with the mysterious and feisty woman who refuses to acknowledge the demons from her past. What ensues is the back and forth, up and down ‘thing ‘ between Reyna and Kade, and the fall-out as Reyna is unable to let go of the past, a past that controls her head and her heart. Reyna Tate’s issues are personal and emotional such that the demons prevent our heroine from moving on from the past. Unable to allow herself the possibility of love, Reyna goes through life waiting to be hurt, or hurting someone that she loves. Reyna’s behaviour and attitude is troubling; her back and forth is disconcerting; she struggles to reveal the truth or accept Kade for the man that he is. Kade Sullivan’s attraction to Reyna is immediate and swift but Reyna’s rules for dating leave Kade wondering if Reyna’s walls will ever come down. The $ex scenes are intimate, erotic and passionate without the use of over the top, sexually graphic language and text. SPRING FEVER is a story of betrayal and loss; acceptance and denial; love and a happily ever after. The premise is engaging; the romance struggles in the face of Reyna’s emotional up and downs; the characters are colorful but damaged and lost. SPRING FEVER touches on issues of domestic abuse, an all too familiar reality for many women and men.