Sex in the Sticks: A Love Hurts Novel

Sawyer Bennett

May 2017 · Loveswept

About this ebook

USA TODAY BESTSELLER • Wake up and feel the wood! In the first of a series of irresistible standalone romances from Sawyer Bennett, a city girl rediscovers love and lust in the Alaskan wilderness.

Valentine French may be the sassiest dating columnist in New York City, but the abundance of metrosexuals in her adopted metropolis is seriously cramping her style. Where are the beefy all-American boys? Hoping to find some inspiration, Val heads to Alaska, where the men outnumber the women fifteen to one and wrestle grizzly bears for sport. Or so she can only imagine. Suddenly the most eligible bachelorette in a town full of horny lumberjacks, Val is writing her best columns ever. But if she doesn’t get her nose out of her laptop, she just might miss out on Mr. Right.

Logan Burke is the sheriff of the little podunk town that Val finds so charmingly backward. He’s not that different from the guys she’s using for her little experiment; it’s just that one date would never be enough for Logan. As he listens to Val complain about love over beers in the local tavern, he realizes that she can’t see the forest for the trees. Because if she would ever give up her Prada bags and fourteen-dollar martinis, Logan would give her the only luxury that matters: his heart.

The Arizona Vengeance series from New York Times bestselling author Sawyer Bennett can be read together or separately:
BISHOP
ERIK
LEGEND

And don’t miss her Carolina Cold Fury novels:
ALEX
GARRETT
ZACK
RYKER
HAWKE
MAX
ROMAN
LUCAS
VAN
REED
MAREK

The Love Hurts series features sexy standalone novels:
SEX IN THE STICKS
JILTED

And the Sugar Bowl series is one treat you’ll want to read in order:
SUGAR DADDY
SUGAR RUSH
SUGAR FREE
 
“One of the best voices in contemporary romance.”—New York Times bestselling author Lauren Layne

Praise for Sex in the Sticks

“Well, now the fuss around Sawyer Bennett’s books makes absolute sense. The woman is amazing. “—Collector of Book Boyfriends & Girlfriends

“From the vivacious and fun characters to the unique storyline to the wild and rugged Alaskan experiences, Sex in the Sticks was a sexy and fun romance that was impossible to put down.”—Guilty Pleasures Book Reviews

“I absolutely devoured Sex in the Sticks and I am already craving the second book in this amazing series of standalones!”—Shayna Renee’s Spicy Reads (five stars)

“After reading Sex in the Sticks by Sawyer Bennett, I’m ready to pack my bags and head to Alaska, the last frontier in America.”—Smut Book Junkie (five stars)

This standalone novel includes an excerpt from another Loveswept title.

Ratings and reviews

OK...after reading this book I am even more excited that I am actually going to Alaska in 2018! Valentine French comes from a family of money....a LOT of money. She had to get a college degree in order to get her trust fund, but since then she has never really worked...she has just run a dating blog, much to the chagrin of her upper crust parents...and let's just say that if Val can rile her parents by what she puts on her blog, all the better. The only person who understands her is her cousin Jeremy. Val is tired of all the metro sexual guys that she has gone on dates with in New York City. They all seem more into themselves than her. When she's complaining to Jeremy about these dates, he suggests she go some place totally different than NYC and try dating the guys there....it would certainly make for some great blogs! Jeremy suggests Alaska. He was there a year ago for a bachelor party and he can attest that the guys there are nothing like NYC guys. Val lets Jeremy set up her reservations and she heads to Alaska. OMG! Imagine a NYC socialite in rugged Alaska. The scene where Val gets off the boat in Alaska was laugh out loud funny. Right away Val is helped by the city's mayor, Logan Burke and she is instantly attracted. Too bad he doesn't seem to return the attraction, but he does end up driving her to where she is staying...and it's not a 5 star hotel like she expecting. I just loved watching Val try to navigate to the ways of Alaska. It was a hoot watching all these guys fall over backwards for Val....everyone but Logan. It was fun how Logan always seemed to "pop" up just when Val needed him. These two were explosive together. They had such a fun time hanging out together and it was great watching their feelings change. I just LOVED this book. It made me laugh and swoon. And I really enjoyed the path the Val and Logan had to take to get their happy ending! It was just perfect! Great start to a new series!

OK, I am not going to lie. When I first saw this title, for some unknown reason, before I read the blurb, my twisted mind thought “sticks” meant hockey sticks. Please, do not ask me why, I do not know, well maybe because Sawyer Bennett writes such phenomenal Cold Fury Hockey stories (which I totally love). Imagine my surprise, my delighted surprise, when the book takes place in the “sticks” of Alaska. A place that I can only dream of ever seeing, but is on my bucket list. This is the story of Valentine French and Logan Burke. Val or Valley, as her friends call her, is a blogger about dating in New York City. But, lately she has been having trouble writing her blog. The men are all the same. They all seem to be self-absorbed men, more worried about themselves than anything else. She needs a change of scenery. When her cousin suggests East Merritt, Alaska, the inspiration hits. Logan Burke is sheriff of East Merritt. He, like every other hot blooded male in East Merritt likes what he sees the first time he sets his eyes on Val. But, he also sees that this city slicker will be nothing but trouble. First, he must rescue her dog, Sassy when she runs off. Then, he must take her shopping for clothes fit for Alaskan weather. Then, he must rescue Val herself, when she gets lost in the forest. Nothing, but trouble. I LOVED watching these two, the city slicker and the small-town sheriff, fall in love. It seems in this case opposites did attract. But when Logan finds out about the blog and what she…. stop!!! No spoilers. I loved this sweet, yes, sweet, but definitely, a sizzling HOT story, with all of the ins and outs of small town living. And Logan really should have realized that the gossips, had their information wrong about…. Darn it, I said no spoilers. But, I will say Logan should have known better. I was gifted with a copy of the wonderful, emotional story for my honest opinion. I will say this about this book, if you like a wonderful, hot, sexy romantic story, you can’t go wrong with Sex in the Sticks. Thank you for reading my review.

***4 “We Fit” Stars*** I always make grabby hands when I see a new Sawyer Bennett book show up. It’s a bit crazy/obsessive, but hey, the woman’s got skills when it comes to sucking me into the story from the start and needing to see how things work out with the MC’s and Sex in the Sticks was no exception. It hooked me from the prologue, was a great balance of sweet, smexy and heart with a good dose of drama tossed into the mix and a slew of interesting characters that inhabited the small town in Alaska. Ahhh Valentine. I honestly liked Valentine. Despite her upbringing she is quite down to earth, in her own way and I liked how she adapted to being in small town USA with grace. She is sweet, sassy and is quite witty, but she also has tunnel vision when it comes to certain things and it made her appear almost bratty in a sense. I got where she was coming from and could give her credit for sticking to her guns, but...Thankfully she grows throughout the book and finds that her agenda may not be as fulfilling as she once thought. Chief Logan Burke. I swear this man is too good to be true and if I could convince myself to go to the BFE to find me one of him, I would, but for now he will just have to remain on book boyfriend list. But he is simply a good man with just the right amount of bad boy when the situation calls for it, just the right amount. He takes his position of chief seriously and yet isn’t a stick in the mud about things and just has that laid back vibe that makes you want to hang out with the man, and that he’s smexy as all get out doesn’t hurt. Considering the reason Valentine is even in BFE Alaska, it wasn’t much of a stretch to figure out the problems that would cause once it came to light. So while I waited for that bomb to drop, I really enjoyed watching how Valentine and Logan’s relationship evolved. While there was mutual attraction, it wasn’t insta-love at all, it was two people drawn to each other time and time again by circumstance and finding that they liked being in each others orbit. They both dipped a toe into the TSTL realm once, but admitted it after the fact. The chemistry between them was there from the start and I swear once the smexy started between them I swear I thought my Kindle was going to melt. When the bomb dropped I was #TeamLogan, but was rooting for them to work through the muck and get back together and enjoyed how that all came about. If you’re looking for a fun, quick read that is more sweet and insanely smexy with a low dose of angst, but just enough to keep things interesting and have a soft spot for small towns with charismatic characters then you should definitely give Sex in the Sticks a go! ~ Copy provided by the publisher via NetGalley ~

About the author

Since the release of her debut contemporary romance novel, Off Sides, in January 2013, Sawyer Bennett has released multiple books, many of which have appeared on the New York Times, USA Today, and Wall Street Journal bestseller lists.
 
A reformed trial lawyer from North Carolina, Sawyer uses real-life experience to create relatable, sexy stories that appeal to a wide array of readers. From new adult to contemporary romance, she writes something for just about everyone.
 
Sawyer likes her Bloody Marys strong, her martinis dirty, and her heroes a combination of the two. When not bringing fictional romance to life, Sawyer is a chauffeur, stylist, chef, maid, and personal assistant to a very active daughter, as well as a full-time servant to her adorably naughty dogs. She believes in the good of others and that a bad day can be cured with a great workout, cake, or even better, both.
 
Sawyer also writes general and women’s fiction under the pen name S. Bennett and sweet romance under the name Juliette Poe.