seriously romantic: good gracie by inés saint

years ago gracie piper learned a hard lesson about trust and men and the cost of justice. and since then she'd tried to stay out of the spotlight and do everything possible to put her past behind her. in good gracie, she's back where it all started and her past is doing everything possible to make sure it isn't forgotten.

not that she could ever forget josh goodwin, or his role as her savior during that awful time. he was the first person she told who believed her and who then went about making things right. and she still couldn't shake the feeling that all he'd ever gotten from her was some nasty rumors about their relationship that had destroyed his relationships with his parents and his fiancée.

except she's totally wrong about how josh sees her. he remembers her, of course, but it's with real fondness. her case was the one to show him his true calling as a prosecutor. and now he's about to throw his hat in the ring and run for district attorney.

of course, gracie's return and the fact that she's working in his office building makes it likely that people are going to be talking about the long-ago case. and gracie isn't thrilled with the idea of rehashing her case in public, but as her family urges her to face her past, maybe she needs to find a way to accept everything that happened in order to move forward with it. and the flutters her heart gets every time she's around josh encourage her to push herself.

josh is also getting those heart flutters, except this is dreadful timing. the last thing he needs in his life at the moment. but as interest in gracie's case and the rumors about their relationship continue to crop up, it becomes impossible to stay away from her.

poor josh and gracie have all this drama surrounding them, but their relationship is understated. because of her past gracie is an innocent and she's terrified of opening herself up to someone fully because the last time she trusted someone she was horribly betrayed. she knows that josh won't hurt her. but she doesn't know how he feels about her. and she's not going to tell him first. at least not with words. she keeps trying to show him.

and josh gets it. but he's scared of opening up too. he thinks that the only reason gracie wants to be with him is because he's safe. and he is safe. but gracie feels more than that for him. and she can't read his mind. she thinks he's just being a good friend.

but friends don't have the chemistry that they do. and they eventually figure it out. luckily unraveling the mystery of who keeps trying to hurt them by dredging up their past.

**good gracie will publish on april 11, 2017. i received an advance reader copy courtesy of netgalley/kensington books (lyrical shine) in exchange for my honest review.