The Book Date : I Saw Her Standing There. Marie Force

I Saw Her Standing There
Marie Force
Publisher: Berkley Sensation
Date: 2014
Format: Paperback
Pages: 347
Genre: Contemporary romance
Source: Own book

Colton Abbott and Lucy Mulvaney have a secret. Colton’s nosy siblings have begun to put the pieces together, but it’s not like Lucy to keep things from those closest to her—especially her best friend, Cameron, who recently moved to Vermont to live with her true love, Will. But Lucy isn’t about to tell Cam she’s having a fling…

Flitting between New York and Vermont is exhausting, so Lucy is looking forward to a long weekend with Colton at the Abbott family lake house in Burlington. Too bad Will and Cameron have the same idea, and once Colton and Lucy are caught red-handed (and red-faced), will their clandestine romance lose its appeal or will their secret beginnings be the start of something lasting?

I Saw Her Standing There is #3 in Marie Force's Green Mountain series. It has all that makes a great read of those small town series: a fabulous setting, characters that pull you in and those emotional twists and turns as two people are drawn together.

This time it is the story of Colton and Lucy. The main problem for these two is that Colton lives in Vermont on a mountain and Lucy lives in New York. And while Lucy's best friend Cameron solved that difficulty by leaving New York and coming to live in Vermont with Colton's brother Will, that is just so not what Lucy can do.

The Abbott family are a big family - ten, seven boys and three girls. Their parents Molly and Lincoln round that out, with Elmer the Grandad also popping up at odd but significant moments. There's not much the Abbott clan can put past the last formidable three, they have a lot of life experience. Lincoln and Elmer are an unlikely team of matchmakers and will go to any lengths to see the right couples find each other. There is a bit of a competition going on between them.

I love the romance and right along with that the interactions of this large family who love and care for each other, but who also like to engage in quick banter that is geared up to embarrass one of their siblings. I also love how we get a good dollop of previous characters. Marie Force weaves them into the story seamlessly, updates about their lives from their point of view really works for me. This time I loved the secret surprise that Nolan has up his sleeve for Hannah. And a very tender moment when he pulls it off.

This series is fast becoming one of my favourite small town series.