He thought she was the one…until she walked away. Now she’s back and he wants her more than ever.
As a former Marine, Xander Kingston’s writing keeps him sane. Bonus? His thrillers made him one of Hollywood’s most desired screenwriters—and also introduced him to a fledgling starlet who broke his heart. With his close-knit family in New York, Xander returned home and found peace. Until Sasha Keaton shows up at his Hamptons retreat. Now an A-Lister, she’s as beautiful as he remembers. And just as dangerous to his heart.
Sasha learned from watching her mother to never sacrifice her dreams for anyone—only to discover how empty life could be without the man she loved. Now cast in Xander’s latest movie, she needs his insight to play the part, but secretly hopes for a second chance.
Xander has built emotional walls to keep Sasha at a distance, but their physical attraction can’t be denied. When a stalker’s threats intensify, Xander moves Sasha into his house to keep her safe. Before long she’s back in his bed and making inroads in his life.
But when the danger passes and the movie wraps, Sasha and Xander face a familiar choice—put career first or give love a fighting chance.
| Title: | Just One Chance |
| Author: | Carly Phillips |
| Series: | The Kingston Family (Book 3) |
| Pages: | 212 |
| Genre(s): | Contemporary |
| Trope(s): | Second Chance Romance Celebrity Romance |
| Point of View: | Third Person, Past Tense, Dual Viewpoints (H&h) |
| Location: | New York, US |
| HEA: | ✔️ |
| Release Date: | 12th October, 2021 |
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Fun and engaging romance
I always enjoy a Carly Phillips romance. She always writes an engrossing story with a sexy, swoonworthy romance and an engaging cast of characters that you can’t help but fall in love with. Most of the time, as is the case with this book, we also get to see a family that’s really goal-worthy. That family is the Kingstons – and this is the 3rd book in their series. Previous characters do appear in this book and previous storylines are mentioned, but this book stands alone and comes complete with its own HEA.
Sasha is a Hollywood actress at the top of her career and a hot commodity. She’s fairly young (24) but very down to earth and I liked her immensely. From the way she handled her relationship with Xander the first time they were together, I expected to dislike her, or find her quite harsh, yet I completely understood her motivations then and how she had changed in the years since then. It’s nice to see a character that’s likeable, but also one that grows over time.
Similarly, Xander definitely grows over the space of the novel…and he’s also quick to apologise when wrong which is always a good thing in a hero. Apart from that, he’s a gruff, sometimes grumpy, super hot, former marine who admits that he was broken by his breakup with Sasha. His relationship with his dog, Bella, made him all the more book boyfriend perfect.
“Xander and Sasha have an instant chemistry and the sex scenes in the story are HOT…”
Xander and Sasha have an instant chemistry and the sex scenes in the story are HOT but still move the story – and the relationship and intimacy between our characters – along. The story was very absorbing and interesting – it was never a chore to pick up and read just one more chapter. It’s also a nice length at 212 pages that you can read fairly quickly.
This isn’t a complicated romance with Xander and Sasha reconnecting almost as soon as they meet up again. They then continue, with the understanding that their time together this time has a time limit. So the difficulty in the relationship doesn’t happen until their self-imposed time limit arrives. But don’t think that this makes the book dull – oh no. Alongside the relationship we also get the danger of a stalker that’s targeting Sasha, which adds an element of minor suspense to our story. It’s not overly scary, though, which is always a good thing for me the super wuss!
This story also teased the next book in the series where Dash Kingston meets his match – and I am there for it. Not only did we get a happy and satisfying ending and epilogue, but we get an exciting tidbit for Just One Spark. This was a fun and likeable story with great characters and the added extra of some minor tension. I enjoyed it immensely and won’t hesitate to give it 5 stars.
*I received this book in exchange for my honest review*
Carly Phillips gives her readers Alphalicious heroes to swoon for and romance to set your heart on fire, and she loves everything about writing romance. She married her college sweetheart and lives in Purchase, NY along with her three crazy dogs: two wheaten terriers and a mutant Havanese, who are featured on her Facebook and Instagram. She has raised two incredible daughters who put up with having a mom as a romance author. Carly is the author of over fifty romances, and is a NY Times, Wall Street Journal, and USA Today Bestseller. She loves social media and interacting with her readers. Want to keep up with Carly? Sign up for her newsletter and receive TWO FREE books at www.carlyphillips.com.
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The Kingston Family Series:
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Review: Just One Spark by Carly Phillips - Jo Reads Romance
19 January 2022 at 8:12 pm[…] especially since we got a quick tease of Dash and Cassidy in the previous book in this series, Just One Chance. With that said, fear not, this book stands completely alone although the cameo game is strong from […]