Sofia Loves Books: Blog Tour: Once Upon a Time in Bliss (Nights in Bliss, Colorado Book 8) by Lexi Blake

Go back in time to Bliss’s first happily ever after…

Once Upon a Time in Bliss, an all-new sexy romance in the Nights in Bliss, Colorado Series from New York Times bestselling author Lexi Blake writing as Sophie Oak, is available now!

CIA operative John Bishop arrived in Bliss, Colorado, seeking a respite from the high-stakes game of blood and lies that sent him to the worst corners of the world. A week playing the role of vacationing professor Henry Flanders would recharge his batteries, especially if he found a gorgeous woman to occupy his time.

Nell Finn has spent her life focused on helping others, but when she meets the tall and mysterious Henry Flanders, she can’t stop imagining what he might do for her. When Nell and her mother are threatened, Henry comes to her, offering his protection and comfort.

But as the threats escalate out of control, Henry discovers that the beautiful and innocent Nell is much more than a plaything. Can he save the woman he loves without exposing the secrets that would drive her away?

Download your copy today!

Amazon: https://amzn.to/2WmOQGA

AppleBooks: http://bit.ly/OUATIBApple

Amazon Worldwide: http://mybook.to/OnceUponaTimeBliss

Nook: http://bit.ly/OUATIBNook

Kobo: http://bit.ly/OUATIBKobo

Google Play: http://bit.ly/OUATIBGoogle

Add to GoodReads: http://bit.ly/2ZdyhPu

Review:

Rating: 5+ out of 5 stars

Once upon a time (6 years ago to be precise), a man went to spent a couple of weeks in a small town named Bliss. His name was John Bishop, but to anyone who is remotely familiar with the series, he is known as Henry Flanders and so, from now on that's how I will call him. In that small town, he met a woman named Nell, who changed his life forever, in a vegan cruelty-free way of course. And that's how our story began...

Once Upon a Time in Bliss might be listed as book 8 in the Nights in Bliss, Colorado series, but it's not a continuation of it. It's a prequel story. As I mentioned above, the events of this book take place 6 years before the events of book 9 will. I am not sure about the overall timeline and that's why I am not mentioning anything about how many years before book 1 this book took place. Rye is not even a Sheriff when the story began. It was weird and nice at the same time, to see all these characters before they got their other half/thirds/whatever you want to call it. Laura, for example, has just arrived in town as well, Holly is trying to pick up men even though she regrets it, Rye is not a Sheriff and many others. At least Mel is still running around talking about aliens. I would love to read his story one day. Another "special" thing about this book is that we don't have a menage and there are only two people in the relationship.

Every time I read about these two in the previous 7 books, I pictured them as old hippies. As it turns out they are not old and they are not hippies. As it was hinted, to put it mildly, we learn that Henry is not the innocent cruelty-free man we assumed he was. And that made him even hotter and it warmed my heart to think of how much he changed because Nell is the love of his life. He climbed the ranks in the book boyfriend ladder. He also has a dominant side that was unexpected, but the stuff he and Nell do are on the light side.

I was thinking that this book was all I wanted, but my greedy self decided that is not. The whole story takes place before the events of the first book and only the events of the epilogue take place in the present and it's not about our couple, but rather a tease for the next book. What I wanted to see in this book is Nell and Henry as a couple in the present. I guess that will happen when book 9 arrives because the stories are connected. Henry is one of the reasons Seth will come back to Bliss after all. And since this is a prequel, I feel free to say that I want Nell to find the truth about Henry and who he was. As it was obvious in the previous books, she is not aware of what her man did before he decided to leave that life behind. Seth and Logan are two of the three next main characters and they had some hilarious lines and were fun to have around, so I am very excited for their book, even though Seth and Logan are not very close anymore.

Since this is a prequel, you can read it before the other books in the series I guess. It doesn't matter in what order you are going to read it though, as long as you plan to. This is one of the best books I read this year. Nell's character is naive and innocent and as usual, she is all about protesting, but I wouldn't trade her for anything. What matters to me is that they lived happily ever after....

Excerpt:

“Is there any way you could drop me off in town?” He felt his eyes narrow because she had plans. That was obvious. He was fairly sure that he wouldn’t like her plans. “Why?” “Because I need to start scheduling the repairs.” That wasn’t all she was planning on doing. She was hiding something. It was right there in the way she wouldn’t look him in the eyes. And why had she talked about her mom staying with Pam Sheppard and not herself? It was time to start herding Nell in the proper direction. He crowded her. It wasn’t hard in the small bedroom. The minute she realized how close he was, she backed up, ceding the space until her back hit the door. “Henry?” “How do you intend to pay for those repairs?” This cabin would require extensive repairs. Everything would have to be replaced. The door alone would cost hundreds of dollars, not to mention fixing the windows. He would bet a lot that Nell didn’t have that money. Her face flushed the closer he got. Yes, she was aware of him, finally. That was what he wanted. “I don’t know that’s your business.” “So it’s my business to take care of this for you, but not to know how you’ll take care of yourself? Is that how you work when you help someone out? You do one piece of the job and send them on their way?” He was playing on her sympathetic soul. And her body. He leaned in. She smelled sweet, like milk and honey. Damn, but he could eat her up. And there was no way to miss the way her nipples peaked under her sweater because she wasn’t wearing a bra. Her voice was slightly breathless. “I think it’s nice that you want to help, but I don’t need it. I can fix everything.” He loomed over her, well aware that he was using his height to intimidate her. “How, Nell? Do you have a job you haven’t told me about?” “I have a computer I can pawn,” she said quietly. He’d wondered what she’d intended to do, and still his freaking cold-as-fuck heart softened a fraction. All she’d talked about on the way over here was her writing. “I thought you wrote books.” Her back was against the wall. She had nowhere to go, and that was just what he wanted. Her eyes had dilated. They roamed from his face to his neck to his chest, taking him in even as she spoke. “I do, but I have to admit, I don’t think I’m very good at it. I keep getting rejected, so I might as well get rid of the computer. Do you have to stand so close?” There wasn’t a trace of irritation in that question. It had been asked with a delicious breathiness that let him know she was interested. “If you didn’t want me to stand so close, you should have gotten a bigger bedroom,” he said, well aware his voice had gone low. He stared down at her, unwilling to let her off the hook for a second. Now that he was close to her, he was damn sure he couldn’t let her go. Oh, eventually he would. He would go back to his life and she would move on with hers, but for a week or so, he was going to be in her bed. He was going to be in her body. And he was going to solve a few of her problems. “You can’t pawn your computer. How will you keep up with your protests? How will you know what to protest in the first place?” It didn’t make any sense, but he couldn’t stand the thought of her walking into some crummy shop and giving up her computer for half of what it was worth. “I’ll figure it out,” she replied, her eyes round. And selling the thing wouldn’t do any good. It would be a drop in the bucket of what she would need. “It won’t work, Nell.” He backed her against the wall. “Let someone help you. I can loan you the money.” It wouldn’t be a loan, but she didn’t have to know that until he was long gone and she couldn’t find him. “That’s not a good idea.” Her head tilted up. “None of this is a good idea.” But her lips, those fuck-me, take-me lips, were trembling. Her hands were moving to his waist like she couldn’t help herself, and he didn’t even want to try to help himself. Everything about his life was plotted and planned and decided on for the best of whatever fucking mission he happened to be on. He didn’t want to think. He wanted her. That was all that mattered. “It’s the best idea I’ve had in a long time.”

About Lexi Blake

New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Lexi Blake lives in North Texas with her husband, three kids, and the laziest rescue dog in the world. She began writing at a young age, concentrating on plays and journalism. It wasn’t until she started writing romance that she found success. She likes to find humor in the strangest places. Lexi believes in happy endings no matter how odd the couple, threesome or foursome may seem.