WELCOME TO LAST CHANCE - Hope Ramsay
Grand Central Publishing
ISBN: 978-0-446-57609-3
March 2011
Contemporary Romance

Last Chance, South Carolina - Present Day

With just the clothes on her back and five dollars to her name, Jane Coblentz figures that Last Chance is a fitting destination when she gets off the bus. Hoping to finagle a meal at the local bar, Jane takes one look at the fiddler in the band and figures he's the type to stay away from. She has a tendency to fall for the bad boys who will eventually mess up her life, and the sexy fiddler looks like a bad boy.

From the moment the woman enters the bar, Clay Rhodes knows that she's trouble and has no intention of going near her. But when she approaches his mentally impaired friend, Clay puts down his fiddle and decides to save his friend. In spite of his looks, Clay isn't a bad boy; in fact he's the guy who rescues the damsel in distress who eventually leaves him for another man, grateful for Clay's friendship.

Without quite meaning to, Clay and Jane spend the night together, but both have regrets in the morning. Clay is willing to front Jane the money to help her out of town, but Fate has something in store for both of them. Before they know it, Clay's momma Ruby offers Jane a job, and she starts hoping that this sleepy little town will give her the chance to turn her life around. But when both Jane's and Clay's pasts start catching up to them, their shaky relationship will be put to more than one test.

WELCOME TO LAST CHANCE, one of the most interesting small towns you'll ever read about, with some fascinating characters. Jane is down on her luck—in fact, she doesn't believe she has anything but bad luck—but she's still optimistic. Clay is back in his home town, watching his uncle suffer from cancer, his friend suffer from brain damage sustained in an accident, and believing that he's having a mid-life crisis. He knows that his tendency to rescue needy women ends in heartbreak for him, so he doesn't want to get too involved with Jane, yet he can't resist her. Ruby, Clay's mother, hires Jane to work in her beauty shop where Jane meets the church's Ladies' Auxiliary, all of whom have opinions on Jane and Clay, including the eighty-year-old Miriam, well known for her matchmaking skills. Jane also gets to meet—and find herself almost permanently on the bad side of—brother Stony, the town's sheriff. The town itself is much like a secondary character, showcasing both the good and bad sides of small-town living.

A fun and heart-warming story, check out WELCOME TO LAST CHANCE.

Jennifer Bishop