Talulah's Back in Town (Coyote Canyon, #1) by Brenda Novak
Series: Coyote Canyon #1
Published by MIRA on August 22, 2023
Genres: Contemporary
Pages: 400
Goodreads

FINAL DECISION: The book was okay, but I didn’t end up feeling the connection between these characters as strongly as I wanted. The story worked, but Talulah felt like a mess.

THE STORY: Talulah Barclay has returned to her hometown of Coyote Canyon fourteen years after being a runaway bride. She now has a successful restaurant and a budding relationship with her partner. The death of her great-aunt brings Talulah back to a place where it seems like everyone has an opinion of her actions. Unfortunately, Talulah’s runaway tendencies did not end with leaving her teenage sweetheart at the altar — she’s done it three times in total. Talulah doesn’t like confrontations and hates disappointing people. This leads to her relationships getting messy, and she ends up running away in panic. Brant, her ex-fiancé’s best friend, greets Talulah soon after she returns to town, and there is a definite attraction between them even though it makes everything even more complicated.

OPINION: I admit that parts of this book I really didn’t like. One thing is that Talulah is dating and sleeping with someone else and yet has sex with Brant. My morality did not like that, and thus I lost a lot of respect for her as a character. Other reader’s mileage may vary.

Except for that, I really liked how the relationship between Talulah and Brant develops. Everyone in Coyote Canyon seems to be against their relationship, and yet the attraction (first) and then the emotional/intellectual relationship (second) begins to develop. Talulah is a people pleaser who keeps trying to put others above her interests. I really liked that Brant pushes back and won’t allow Talulah to sacrifice herself for him.

By the end of the book, however, I wanted more of their relationship. Perhaps there was too much going on in this book and Brant and Talulah ended up getting lost in the drama.

WORTH MENTIONING: There are a lot of characters being introduced in this book for the series — perhaps too many characters at once.

CONNECTED BOOKS: TALULAH’S BACK IN TOWN is the first book in the Coyote Canyon series.

STAR RATING: I give this book 3 stars.