Barefoot In Lace

In Barefoot In Lace (The Barefoot Bay Brides Trilogy #2) by Roxanne St. Claire, you will go from Mimosa Key to France and back on a captivating journey of love, acceptance and family.

Gussie is a destination wedding planner in Barefoot Bay along with her two friends.  She is strong and independent, but has her own heart ache and sorrows.  She has, in own unique way, moved on and is happy with her life right now.  A chance encounter in a convenience store with famous photographer T.J. "Tom" DeMille will soon have her going places she's never dreamed of...physically and emotionally.

Tom finds himself in Mimosa Key, guardian to his niece Alex after his sister's sudden death.  A niece he doesn't really know, and he is struggling.  That chance meeting with Gussie soon not only has him taking wedding photos, but has Gussie helping him with his niece.  The attraction they feel for each other is definitely mutual, but Tom has never been a settler.  His motto is "Alone Always".  Even now with his niece it's difficult for him to even imagine living in one place.  Not at all what Gussie is looking for, but sometimes the heart just knows what is right.

When his work unexpectedly takes the three of them on an adventure, the attraction between Gussie and Tom only intensifies.  Tom has lost so much he's scared to love again, even if Gussie is cracking the walls surrounding his heart.  Gussie wasn't looking for love or family, but it found her - if only Tom could take the chance.  

Barefoot In Lace is a powerful, enchanting story!  I loved Gussie, she is so good for Tom, even if he can't fully recognize it.  She's very open with him, and this is so refreshing in a love story.  Tom is more closed about unresolved issues in his life, but Gussie is patient and doesn't push him.  And she doesn't pull away from him when she knows he's keeping things deep inside.  He is very open about who he is and his life style, and doesn't have the need to apologize for it.  I love mature characters who don't feel the need to play games with each other in a relationship.  They have great chemistry that shines through and kept me hoping that Tom would take the risk of love again.  I really like how Roxanne takes this relationship and makes it realistic with the ups and downs and uncertainty.

There are a lot of secondary characters who only add more to Barefoot In Lace, and Alex is a strong secondary character with struggles of her own that will pull you in and make you want to reach out to her.

Roxanne's descriptions are amazing and vivid, so that I could feel the sand between my toes and be on the streets of France.

Barefoot In Lace is filled with emotions, and Roxanne expertly drew me in with her well paced writing.  Barefoot In Lace took me on the best journey with characters and feelings I won't be able to forget.

I'd highly recommend Barefoot In Lace to any romance reader it can be read as a stand alone, but I recommend Barefoot In White also).  You will lose a little piece of your heart to Gussie, Tom and Alex!

5/5 stars!

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