Just One Night: A Small Town Single Dad Romance (Blue Beech Book 2) Kindle Edition

Here’s the thing I learned about Charity Ferrell: it’s a hit & miss situation with her female characters, often. She either writes really great ones OR really annoying ones. AND . . . unfortunately, I found Willow (the female lead) kinda annoying & she got on my nerves a lot throughout the story—so much to the point that I REALLY didn’t like her as a main character AT ALL in the beginning. She just rubbed me the wrong way from the very beginning . . . (That’s actually why it took so long to finish the book; usually, if I like the two main leads of a romance novel, I read it pretty quickly because the story is engaging & the characters are fun & likable. Not so with this one . . . 😒) The reader first meets Willow in Book 1 of the series as Stella’s BFF & to be honest, I thought she was a really good character and friend in that one. That’s probably why I was so shocked to find her annoying & honestly, like selfish little brat at times. Actually, to the point of asking myself, “Why is Stella friends with her again?” I first thought I do not like her when we (the reader) finds out that she wasn’t even planning on telling Dallas (the male lead) that she’s pregnant (and I don’t consider this much of a spoiler since it says this in the little summary on Amazon) in the first place!! I was like, “Okay, Willow, HOW is that possibly going to work? You’re LITERALLY BFF with the woman who is dating HIS BROTHER!! Think, woman!! How could you possibly keep this from him for the rest of his life?!? You’re about to be a mother; GROW UP!! You can’t keep it hidden FOREVER!! What if the baby comes out looking EXACTLY like Dallas?? What are you gonna say then, huh?!” You can say it’s her still being in shock about the pregnancy, but, C’MON, it’s been 3 months already!! Especially if you’re keeping the baby!! I can understand you not telling him if Dallas was a lousy father (like yours was), but he’s NOT!! And that’s the other thing: She’s gonna deny Dallas being a father when she KNOWS what it’s like to grow up without a father herself!! Makes 0 sense to me!! And a lot of previous reviews have mentioned being mad at Hudson (Dallas’ brother/Stella’s now-fiancée) for telling on Willow TO Dallas, BUT I’m not. I happen to think Hudson did the right thing; if I had a brother and I KNEW he got a woman pregnant & she wasn’t going to tell him, I DEFINITELY would, especially if that woman was already 3 months along & I knew my brother would step up (just like Dallas did). And ANOTHER thing I didn’t like about Willow was the fact that she was mad at him for, like, half the story. Okay, should Dallas have slept with her so close to losing his wife (again, not a spoiler; he lost her in the 1st book)?? Probably not. But it happened. Should she be mad at him for complete freaking out the next morning? NO!! Did he leave her alone the morning after?? NO!! He was still grieving & had ever right to, so she should have been more understanding the morning after . . . Sometimes, it takes people YEARS to fully grieve; it had only been a year . . . And did he leave her as soon as he found out she was pregnant after their night together?? NO!! In fact, he BEGGED her to stay so that they could work out a plan . . . He took responsibility for her & the baby . . . At one point, she was down-right RUDE to him, too, when he had been nothing but kind!! 😡 Oh, and her ex- showed up twice for no reason other than to create MORE drama!! 😡 That was one thing that Dallas did that WAS a bit douche-y, actually: he basically questioned Willow on who’s the father? Him or the ex-? That’s the one point I was like, “Really, Dallas? You really had to ask that? After all this time?” 😒 But, anyway, by the end, I liked it. It even had me crying (the happy kind) & smiling by the end. Willow may have just been really jaded & insecure with how her ex- (& her father) treated her in the past: after all, she DID admit herself to being “runner” when situations get tough. also liked that Beth (Lucy (Dallas’ wife’s) sister) was not a snob & a jerk to Willow for “replacing” her sister; instead treating her with the kindness & respect that Willow deserved. 👍🏻😊 That’s why I gave it 3 stars instead of just 2. 😊 Let’s hope Lauren (Dallas’ & Hudson’s little sister isn’t so annoying in Book 3! 😉

Not sure how I never reviewed this, but it is what it is. This book was my first trip to Blue Beech ages ago, and I fell in love. It can be read as a stand-alone, and is absolutely my favorite in the series. No matter how many times I reread it (and it is a lot), it’s like snuggling up with my favorite blanket in front of a fire. A definite comfort reread.Willow and Dallas worked together for five years with Stella (from book one), him as security and she as Stella’s assistant. He left when his beloved wife was diagnosed with terminal cancer, and when the story begins is a now widowed father to their daughter Maven. Willow’s long term sleeze ball boyfriend has been charged after a DUI results in almost killing a child. Through a few series of flashbacks, we see the night a couple months prior where they both are drowning their sorrows in whiskey and trying to forget, and ultimately have a one night stand. One that ends disastrously when Willow awakes after being called his wife’s name, and then his frantically pacing while dropping f bombs and asking “what have I done”. She flees, and spends the next few months avoiding him.Finding out she’s pregnant changes everything. Their journey is not an easy one. It’s so easy to feel both their emotions and pain, as they both try to navigate the path they have found themselves on. Everything they faced felt real and authentic. Both made mistakes and hurt each other unintentionally. Willow’s a runner, always there to fix everyone else’s problems but afraid to face her own. Dallas is terrified that opening his heart to anyone else means he is a bad husband and betraying his wife, even after she made him promise to move on. I love both Willow and Dallas, and even if their journey isn’t an easy one, it’s a beautiful one.My only issue that sticks in my craw no matter how many times I read it, is the timeline and age of his daughter. We are told Maven is 6 when Lucy dies. When Willow tells her mom she is pregnant, she said that Lucy had been gone for “almost a year”. After Willow has been in Blue Beech for some time, Maven has a birthday party but is still somehow 6. She also strangely goes to preschool, and later in the book they all attend a parents night before she starts kindergarten. Six is definitely too old for preschool, and even if she had been 5 when Lucy died she would have been in Kindergarten as her birthday was apparently before the school year started. It’s not the biggest of issues, and Maven is adorable and perfectly written, but it bothers me every time.If you’re looking for a great read and some 🔥🔥, grab that fuzzy blanket and settle in.

Oh this one really pulls on your heart strings, I laughed and I cried, such an emotional beautiful story. Absolutely love Dallas and Willow, so glad we got a bit of Hudson and Stella too.5 star read highly recommend

Surprised by how much I enjoyed this book. Really strong start and good storyline. Characters were really likeable and enjoyed the pull and push between them. Well written and good enough that I’ll look for another to read.

Another fab book from Charity Ferrell. I loved Willow & Dallas’s book. I laughed & cried at it and I can’t wait for the next book.

Loved the emotion in this book.Great read. Can't wait to read more from this Author x x x x

Really lovely story. It was funny in parts and also sad but a brilliant story. I couldn't put it down.