Top Ten Couples and Giveaway: Inferno of Love (Hometown Heroes #2) by Allie Boniface

Description:

What happens when your soul mate returns after twelve long years – and has no idea who you are?

Aubrey Anderson is a pediatric occupational therapist who’s spent the last twelve years rebuilding her life after a car accident killed her boyfriend and crushed her legs. A series of strokes on the way to the hospital left her with no memory of either the accident or the weeks leading up to it, so when she starts having nightmares she can’t explain, she decides to return to the scene to see if she can piece together her past.

Finn Cavallo is Lindsey Point's resident playboy, owner of a popular bar, and hero of the Cove Fire, when he pulled seven people from a burning building twelve years earlier. But his flirtatious personality hides the heart of a man who lost his soul mate the night of the fire. When Aubrey walks into his bar with no memory of who he is or what they had, he’s stunned – and it takes everything he has not to tell her about the summer they spent falling in love.

It's only a matter of time before bar conversation turns to passion on the beach and more. But when a series of events raises suspicion that Finn himself might have started the Cove Fire, Aubrey is forced to do whatever she can to discover the truth about both their pasts, including going back to the spot where it all began...

Welcome to Lindsey Point, Connecticut: suspicious of outsiders, loyal to tradition, and absolutely devoted to its local legends.

Enter Sophie Smithwaite, travel show host, in town to film an episode about Lindsey Point’s haunted lighthouse. But digging into the story of a tragic murder-suicide and love gone wrong reveals startling connections to Sophie’s own past. When a gorgeous local handyman fills in behind the camera, Sophie’s life gets complicated by more than just her family history.

Part-time paramedic, handyman, seasonal Santa... Lucas Oakes does it all--except get attached. He’s still reeling from the death of his best friend ten years ago and the more recent infidelity of his ex-fiancee. Yet despite Sophie’s big-city nosiness and her insistence on chasing long-dead ghosts, he’s drawn to her.

But mixing with an outsider means questioning people and traditions Lucas has always defended. When a series of attacks seem to be connected to Sophie’s investigation, both Sophie and Lucas must decide if they are willing to risk everything to uncover the town’s secrets...and their own.

Top 10 Favorite Book Couples

Ah, romance. We love reading about those couples who want to be together, who struggle to be together against all odds, don't we? In honor of Little Black Notebook hosting me today, here are my top 10 love story couples. Some of these books (okay, almost all of them) I've read more than once:

10. Anton & Patty – Summer of my German Soldier 

I remember reading this book as a middle schooler and falling in love with both the story of the young Jewish girl who hides the Nazi soldier and with Anton himself. This was a star-crossed match from the start, and one that would probably end in heartache, but what could be more tempting than a boy you absolutely, positively, could not have – and who was the sweetest, kindest boy you'd ever met as a 14-year old girl? Sigh. It still makes my heart ache. 

9. Almanzo & Laura – The Little House Series

Who could resist the rugged farm boy who courts the young schoolteacher? I have vivid memories of savoring the passages where Almanzo rides his horse and sleigh across the frozen prairie to bring Laura home for the weekend from her one-room schoolhouse to Ma and Pa and her sisters. What's more romantic than being tucked in among the furs, riding behind a majestic horse next to a boy you have a crush on?

8. Noah & Allie – The Notebook

Boy not only falls passionately in love with the girl from the other side of the tracks, he courts her, convinces her to marry him, and then years later reads her their love story night after night when she falls ill with Alzheimer's and can't remember it on her own. That, my friends, is true love. 

7. Mr. Darcy & Elizabeth – Pride and Prejudice 

One of the original romance novel couples! I love Elizabeth because she's strong and feisty, and I love Mr. Darcy not only because he's her perfect match, but because he's dark and mysterious enough that when he does the right thing and saves the day at the end, we're not only surprised, but we swoon.

6. Rhett & Scarlett – Gone With the Wind 

Fire meets fire! Scarlett is the ultimate frustration for a romance reader, because she refuses to see what Rhett does (and we do) – that these two black sheep are perfect for each other. Of course, fire does burn hot and fast, so the only problem I have with this story is that we don't truly know if they'll make it in the long run. Actually, a better couple from this book is probably Ashley and Melanie. The moment in the movie when she sees him returning from war and runs down the road to meet him is classic. 

5. Oliver & Jenny – Love Story 

Spoiler Alert: If you haven't read this one, get your tissues ready. How can you not fall in love with a couple that's young and madly in love – only to find out that she has terminal cancer and will die just as their lives together are beginning? One of my favorite bittersweet, love-lost lines in a book comes not from this one, but from Oliver's Story, the sequel to Love Story: “Sometimes I ask myself what would I be if Jenny were alive. And then I answer : I would also be alive." 

4. Robert & Francesca – The Bridges of Madison County 

I know, I know, this one's an unconventional pick, because these two lovers commit adultery. In fact, they only spend one weekend together, and she remains married to her husband for the rest of his life. But I remember when this book came out, and the sweeping farmland setting, combined with the idea of two soul mates meeting for only a handful of days, tore at the heartstrings. What happens when you meet your true partner years after you've settled into a solid, if uninspired, marriage? Like I said, unconventional, but I still love the passion between these two characters.

3. Eddie & Ash – The Promise of Paradise 

Perhaps a less well-known choice, these two are the hero and heroine of my very first book, and Eddie remains one of my (and readers') favorite characters. He's tough, he's strong, he's sensitive on the inside, and he has a wounded heart that only Harvard-educated, blue blooded Ash can mend. These two have little in common until they realize they are exactly what the other person needs. 

2. Augustus & Hazel – The Fault in our Stars 

If you haven't read this Young Adult novel by John Green, you're missing out on a beautiful, heart-wrenching story. These two are teens with cancer, but this isn't a death-by-horrible-disease book. Rather, it's a beautiful story about first love within the mess and reality of life, and it portrays teens as having way more wisdom than adults, even when it comes to affairs of the heart. Gorgeous. Go read it.

1. Finn & Aubrey – Inferno of Love

Gotta pick my own lovers for Number One! Twelve long years pass between the summer Finn and Aubrey meet as teens and fall in love – and the summer they reunite, after a car accident has stolen her memories. She remembers nothing. He remembers everything. I loved watching them fall in love and put together the pieces, one at a time, all over again. I hope you do too!

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About the author:

Allie Boniface was born and raised in a tiny community in upstate New York, which probably explains her fascination with the magic of small town life. She currently teaches high school English in the lower Hudson Valley, where she lives with her husband and two furry felines. 

She is the author of six contemporary romance novels; Inferno of Love is the second in her Hometown Heroes series. Allie loves chatting with other authors and readers and can be found around the Web (visit her on Facebook or Twitter, and stop by her blog to check out the latest news). She loves attending writers' conferences, giving workshops, swapping stories, and generally talking about romance. Allie loves stories set in small towns and is a firm believer in the power of love and the emotions that connect us all!

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