Any Time, Any Place

Probst charms with the second in her Billionaire Builders series (after Everywhere and Every Way), the sweetly sexy tale of a sensitive man in a construction company and a gutsy and fiercely independent bar owner with a big secret. After Raven Hawthorne’s beloved father is killed in a car crash with Diane Pierce, a married woman, at his side, Raven swears to exact revenge on Diane’s sons, whom she blames for spreading the rumor that her father seduced an unwilling Diane away from her family. Dalton Pierce was forced to return to his Connecticut home town by the terms of his father’s will, which required him and his brothers to take over the family construction business. When he meets Raven, who’s in her element as the owner and chief mixologist of local hangout My Place, he realizes she may be the one woman who can interest him in romantic commitment. Both Raven and Dalton carry deep wounds from the past, inflicted after her father and his mother ran off together. When Dalton finds out the secret Raven’s hiding, it could spell doom for their relationship. Probst creates a realistic, incredibly relatable couple whose mistakes might be anyone’s, surrounding them with a stellar cast of characters, including a setup of the relationship that will likely feature in the sequel to this well-plotted, endearing story. (Jan.)