Cole by Cat Johnson
Red, Hot and Blue, Book 5
Samhain Publishing
Contemporary
ISBN: 978-1-60928-641-5
Reviewed by Jo

Cole Ryan left Pigeon Hollow with dreams in his eyes, a big league contract and a curve ball pitch that all but guaranteed his success. But it turned out he left a piece of his heart behind him, one night that could have been the beginning of a future, until she dumped him. Now Cole is back home, no longer a big leaguer with a great arm, but a man looking for a new future in the ashes of his past career.

Lizzie Barton always loved Cole, her big brother’s best friend. The night she had with him was all she could have hoped for, that is until she discovered it had left very large consequences. Scared, Lizzie made decisions that would affect her life forever. The first was to break up with Cole and the second was to take each day as it came. Now Lizzie is looking at her worse nightmare, Cole is back and there is no way he won’t see her secret.

Cole is shocked at what he discovers when he sees Lizzie again. His life has just been turned upside down and shook like crazy. Lizzie and Cole now need to come to terms about their one night together, the consequences and what the future might hold for all of them. If that isn’t hard enough, they have to do all of this while keeping out the glare of camera lights. The only thing either of them knows is that the budding love from the past seems to have only grown stronger while they have been apart.

One night together leads to heartbreak and a great love but now years later will that love be enough to give them a future together? Lizzie and Cole have to find the answers to all of this in Cole. How many times has a warm summer night and teenage passion lead to choices you later regret? I could see how that night could have lead both Lizzie and Cole to become uneasy acquaintances, but as I read along what I discovered is that their passion was always meant to be. I can’t imagine what Lizzie must have gone through but I didn’t agree with her keeping that type of secret from Cole. On the other hand, I thought both Cole and Lizzie handled it well when the truth came out. I loved watching as the passion they had before blossomed into a deep love now. Cole shows the love that can happen from a teenage passion gone wrong. Sometimes what might be seen as a mistake can be changed into a loving future.