Boozy Bookgasms - The Baker and the Billionaire

Episode Date: April 10, 2025

Legacy by Laura Pavlov Who doesn't love a guy who adds tracking devices to your Chucks to keep you safe?  A baker with a past, a business man full of guilt, and a whole lot of family drama today. Lots for the cousins to unpack in this quick read. Signature Cocktail: Vodka Spritzer  Ingredients: 2oz vodka (flavored or straight), flavor enhancer drops (optional) Lemon-lime soda, frozen berries, ice In a 12 oz or larger glass add ice or frozen berries. Pour vodka over the ice and if needed add 1-4 flavor enhancer drops then stir. Slowly pour lemon-lime drink in. Gently stir your drink and enjoy. 

If you haven't already, find us on Fooks. F-Fa-Fa-Fa-Fa-Fa-Fa-Fa-Fux. Buckle-out Clitricher fans. We're in for some boozy bookgasms today. Join three cousins, creating a titillating headspace where steamy romance novels collide with strong cocktails. So, sit back, sip slow, and enjoy the ride. Hello, Clituritur fans.

Welcome back to Boosy Bookgazms. I'm Jen. I'm Lynn. I'm Kim. And today we are discussing Legacy by Laura Pavlov. But before we lick the frosting off this cupcake, then we drink it tonight. Okay, okay.

So, after reading this book, I wanted to give you guys a drink that embrace the sweetness of our baker, the intensity of our businessman, and that would 100% pair with ramen noodles. Very difficult. Let me just do you. So my cocktail choice of the night is a spritzer. Now, I know typically these are done with white or red wine, but I chose vodka for my spritzer.

Now we're talking. I know. I know. Shocker for everyone. It should pair nicely, get rid of that salt off those noodles. We've got some vodka. I picked cranberry flavored from Deep Eddy's as a nod to our MFC's Pink Chucks. Love that.

Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Uh-huh. And some Sprite pour over ice, tall glass. It's delicious. Very refreshing. Very classic. Like this classic romance.

Oh, was it classic? It totally was, like, classic. Billionaire, like, struggling businesswoman. Oh, you guys know I love a good billionaire. We're actually going to start with our main male character, which we don't often do. We're starting with Ford Montgomery. It doesn't scream billionaire. Billioner trust fund, baby. I don't know. I can't help you. This is part of a three book series. These are

interconnected standalone books about the three Montgomery brothers. Ford is the oldest brother and he's the most buttoned up. He runs this multi-billion dollar media company. He's a workaholic and he just needs a ray of sunshine to crack that tough exterior. If only we can find the right girl. This book is set in San Francisco and their building is in the heart of the business district. And we open with the brothers discussing how they're going to fill an open storefront in their building. And I love this idea. They always open this storefront to a small business owner that's up and coming. And they kind of run sort of an American Idol type contest to find it. It was so funny, though. It was the two brothers. And Ford's pissed about it. He's like, why are you wasting time with these like,

people who can't pay the rent and the two brothers are totally excited about it. They are loving every minute of it. And the contestants are hilarious. I mean, some of the people like that they brought in, I'm like, what? Are you like stacking the deck? Like, no way to this people would win. Yeah. That's why I thought it was like American Idol because, you know, those first few episodes, you're just looking at the idiots. But my favorite was the Wright brothers who wanted to use the space as a meditation studio. And they didn't have any money, so they were going to barter and trade. So you could trade meditation for rent.

And I think Ford was basically like, you're going to have to, I'm going to have to meditate 24 hours a day. And I still won't break even. Like, why would we do this? He was a business guy, for sure. And their last interview is our female man character. And her name is Harley DeLuca. And Ford at this point is fed up. He's head off of a full day of these idiots, right?

And he's really rude to her. and he's already decided, I'm going to have to do this whole thing myself. He's a bit of a control freak, a bit of an alpha, if you will. He's making fun of her name, and she stands up to him. She cubs back. And she says, you know, glass houses, because he's Ford and she's Harley. They're both vehicles. Where?

Yeah. They make it pretty clear. We have to say, too, that, like, the place that is leaving that space was a coffee shop. So Ford's also pretty pissed that that's his morning coffee, too, out the door. He's a routine guy. Yeah. Yeah. So she's looking to open a bakery and brings in her delicious product as well as a very impressive business plan.

And Ford's a total dick about it. But the brothers outvote him and Harley gets the job. She manages the construction beautifully, staying on time and in budget, all while navigating Ford's micromanaging and opinions. He's there a lot during the first. whole construction phase. But when the store opens, he insists on having his cup of coffee at 6 a.m. Sharp. And she does it. He's impressed by how good the coffee is. And then eventually she just tells him to get his own damn coffee. She basically just made drip coffee. Regular coffee. For him. And then, you know, was giving it to him. And then, yeah, she did finally say, like,

serve yourself. I've got a bakery to run. This is how they get to know each other. He is, he starts his day with her and getting this coffee and they have this snarky back and forth. He thinks she's hot. Thank you. She thinks he's hot. But these two are not each other's types by any stretch. And Harley has kind of a boho chic style. She wears a lot of chucks and flowy floral dresses and skirts.

And he teases her about that a little bit. And Harley's best friend is Molly. That's her right hand. And Molly's taking a gap year before law school to help Harley's start this store. Ford's two brothers warm to the girls quickly. They're in there all the time, almost daily. So we've got Harrison, who's like the sensitive middle child. And then we've got Jack, who's the player. Jack is in there all the time. He likes baking and decorating, and he's always asking them for advice on his love life. He's kind of adopted then as friends. Yeah. Both brothers

have. We just lived here. He just lived there. It was cute. But Jack was really adorable. Like, conscript him to help frost the muffins or whatever. Yeah, I'd be like, can I help with the cupcakes? But he eats half of it, you know. Jack gets himself into a lot of hot water in the office because he dips his pin in the company. He dates the interns. Anybody with the mailroom girl, like, and he's not real smart about it. So Harley lives in this dumpy efficiency apartment over a dry cleaner.

And even though it's not like the ritziest place, it's all hers. She's 23 years old. She has her own place in San Francisco. a vehicle and now owns her own business. So she's very proud of the things she's accomplished. One night, Ford sees her walking home at night towards this bad area of town and he asks if she wants a ride home. And they snark back and forth and she just turns on her heel and it's like, I can take care of myself. But he makes his driver follow her from a distance to make sure that she gets home safe. He's already got this protective thing with her. And a little backstory on Harley is that she was born to an

addict mother, who was a horrible human. Uncontested. Yeah. She ultimately ended up being raised by her grandparents when she got old enough for her mom's boyfriends and pimps to start getting the wrong idea about her. She got out of there just in time. And the last time she saw her mother, her pimp, beat the shit out of Harley, and they stole all her graduation money. So it's been about a year. Her grandmother recently died and she's, and her grandfather kind of working through that grief. He's not had the easiest life, but she's a survivor. So the brothers are running some news articles to promote the bakery, and it brings forth some undesirables from her past.

The first being an ex-boyfriend who shows up at the bakery, he was possessive. He was very stalker-esque. He had some real possession issues. But he slept with a friend of hers. So he's a douche also. But he shows up and he corners her and sort of kisses her against her will. And Ford shows up, shoves him against the wall. And the boyfriend says, who the hell is this?

And she says, Ford fucking Montgomery, the fourth. She makes fun of his name earlier in the... Put in front of the ex-boyfriend. She's like, there's four of them. So Ford throws him out and tells the guards, He's not allowed back. They bicker after he leaves. Eventually, it ends in a flower fight, and he's in his, like, $3,000 suit, and she's throwing flour on him, and he's throwing it back, and it was kind of cute. Ford takes a helicopter to Napa to visit his mom, and this is where we're learning a little bit more about him. His family owns a large winery in Napa, which is where his mom lives, and his brothers spend a lot of their time running that business.

That's where they are most of the time. His dad died in a car accident five years ago. and Ford has a lot of guilt about this because they had an argument earlier that day, the day that he died, and he blames himself for his dad being upset while driving. Ford's dad's best friend is someone they call Hanky. I hate that name. That was weird. He always wore a handkerchief in his jacket. They nicknamed him Hanky and then now everybody calls him.

But like you're an adult now. It sounds creepy now to be Hanky. Well, I always think of like Hanky the Christmas poo for himself. I just saying Hanky Panky. I mean, but once somebody has a nickname, it's hard to get rid of. It's not going away. Hanky's around quite a bit throughout the story. He's Ford's godfather, and the families grew up together, so all the kids are really close.

Ford's good friend is Hanky's daughter, Chanel, and she's just this very beautiful chic put together. She's old money. She just screams well. And she's a partner in a law firm, so she's quite successful. Harvard Law. She also is successful in her own right. That's true. Harley sees them together one night and assumes she's on his roster, basically. But the anniversary of his dad's death is coming up and the three brothers all handle it very differently. But Ford chooses to handle it by going to a dive bar in a part of town where his brothers will never find him and get shit-faced. Because he feels so guilty, he handles it alone. The brothers take the mom out to dinner and they invite him. He's like, no, no, I'm busy. And I guess every. year, he finds a random dive bar to get just trashed in, and that's how he copes with this hard day. Yeah. So the dive bar in the shitty part of town that he found happens to be in Harley's neighborhood.

Convenience. Wednesday? So he's getting kicked out right as she's walking home from work. He's sliding down against the wall, and he sees her and he says, Baker Lady, the Baker Lady, always likes to throw me shady. He's a poet. It's so sweet. It's so sweet. Then he proceeds to puke on her shoes, which are her favorite chucks, and she's annoyed. They're brand new. As she should be. Oh, they're new tux. Yeah. They were brand new. Pink. Pink brand new tucks. Yeah. And he threw up on himself, on her. Like, it was messy. It was messy. Yeah. It wasn't good. And she takes him back to her place to sleep it off. On the way there, though, he,

He tells her he killed his dad. So she doesn't know what the hell he's talking about. And it's a little. Unnerving. He's a murderer. But she does let him sleep. And she's got a very short couch. I'm picturing like a love seat.

Yeah, like a two-seater. This guy's very tall. They're always tall. And his legs are hanging off the side. He wakes up on the couch. And the first thing he asks is, did we have sex less? She's mad. She was really.

upset. You should remember it. He was wasted. He wasn't going to remember anything. No. No way. She's obviously offended by this. They bick her back and forth and she asked, hey, what happened to your dad? Like last night, you told me you murdered your dad.

And he explains everything to her. And this is where they decide, look, let's be friends. I'm here to give you a listening ear. We're never going to get together. We're not each other's type. I mean, imagine two people that aren't each other's type ever getting good. So weird. Not going to happen.

And they've already been, like, connecting. So there's coffee there every morning in the flower fight. They're very much like orbiting each other. It's like when Harry met Sally. Like, oh, I don't know about this. I don't know if I can have a woman friend, but we'll see what happens. So he takes her to meet his mom in Napa because she is wanting to do some business with the bakery. Well, yeah, because Jack the Frog,

costing guy has been like raving about her to his mom. And so the mom's like, well, I want some of these bakery stuff at my restaurant at the finery. I felt bad for Ford because he cannot escape her. No. Because the brothers are like obsessed. He goes, he goes to Napa and oops, Jack just brought me all these sweets. I want to do business with her. And, you know, he goes up and his secretary's eating donuts or whatever. So he cannot escape. They're all going to be obese by the end of the And the amount of butter cookies that were consumed or at least baked in his book. Enormous. She's always showing up with a box of like.

Baked good. Until she came along, he didn't eat refined sugar. Oh, that's losing. No good. He told her like, I don't eat refined sugar. And she's like, well, that sucks for you. Loose it up, buddy. Yeah.

Until now. So she makes him go out for noodles. But all his friends, of course. And it's funny because he's super privileged. And their signature drink at this noodle place is a spritzer, a wine spritzer. Well, his family owns a wine. So this, he drinks the spritzer and it's like swell. But he's never had ramen before.

He never had ramen. And he was confused by the menu. And he's just, he's looking down his nose on this place. And she's like, this is my favorite place. I know what the hell you're talking about. And then the spritzer's horrible. He takes one sip and just puts it to the side. Like hiding it under a napkin.

Like she won't notice. I'm not going to drink this horrible drink. But he does like the rum. He does. He does. He's convert. I mean, how do you not? Yes, because that's like the only meal they eat throughout the entire rest of the

floor. Totally. He keeps going back. Yes. But she ultimately tells him about her mom and her history. And she's kind of saying, look, I'm a little worried. She's going to come out of the woodwork. Now that I've got this business and I've been in the paper.

and so he has a private eye do some investigating and finds out that the mom is living with a drug dealing pimp and they have been sniffing around looking for Harley. He puts a security detail on her, which comes in handy when her mom shows up at the bakery. She doesn't know that she has a security detail for a while. No, he does not tell her. But the security basically kicks the mom out of the bakery and says she's not welcome back, but she's confused when it happens. Like, why are you throwing out a customer?

Who the hell are you? Yeah. And then it dawns on her. Okay, this is Ford. He did this. I didn't ask him to do it. And she has this thing where it's like she's not grateful about his protection. She's like, I could take care of myself.

Do you think she's not grateful or do you think she's just so I have to take care of myself because anyone I've ever trusted in my life other than my grandparents have been shit? Like my boyfriend was shit. I think she partly appreciates it, but mostly she's very. used to taking care of herself and she doesn't really understand his motives or why he's doing this. They're not dating. Like, why are you so invested? And he tries to use the business thing as an excuse. Right. But I think they're both so guarded, right? Like, he doesn't let anybody in because he has all this massive guilt. She doesn't let anybody in because she has been burned so many times in her past.

Right. So they're both like, I'm doing this for you, but it's actually for me. She's also embarrassed. Sure. I mean, her mom's trash. I think that's part of it too. But later on after that whole thing happens with her mom at the bakery, she leaves her house of the baseball bat. And the security detail that she doesn't realize is following her, follows her to her grandfather's house. So basically the mom called her from the grandfather's house and kind of lured her over there. And the mom and the pimp said they're going to hurt the grandfather. They call Ford and say, your girl's leaving her house with the baseball bat. And he's like, get over there now.

I'm on my way. So he shows up like a shining arm. in at the same time. And so the security guys got the pimp against the house with like basically in a neck hold or something. Harley says to the pimp, the last time I saw you, you were beating the shit out of me and stealing my money. And Ford punches him in the face because it pisses him off so bad and breaks his nose. I agree. Well, yeah, he deserved that.

I'm here for that. The best part, this part, this is an awe moment because she tells him, what are you doing here? I can take care of myself like we talked about. He says, I have no doubt that you can, but I'm just here to tell you you don't need to. Oh. He takes her home and they kiss. They kiss a couple of times. And each time she freaks out because she's a player.

This guy's got a roster and he's not a relationship guy. And she doesn't want to be another tick on the bedpost. She's like, if you're not into relationships, I'm not interested. And I know you're not and you know you're not and let's not do this. She's only been with that one guy who cheated on her and then stalked her. So that's the only relationship she's been in. So now here's this guy that she's starting to have feels for. She's like, oh, you're not into what I'm into.

So let's not be into it at all. And at first he's kind of like, all right, you're right. But then he starts saying things in his head like he needs her in ways he never needed anyone. And, you know, he can't do relationships, blah, blah. He's every guy I dated in my 20s, basically. But I appreciate that she held her ground on this one. Like, good for you. Like, you knew what you wanted.

You knew he wasn't going to give it to you. And you didn't give him anything. He goes out with one of his dial-a dates named Blair. And she's, you know, she's your typical trust fund. She's exactly what you would think with the name Blair. Blair. Blair. Yeah.

No offense to any. listeners named Blair, but yeah, for sure. Sorry, Blair. Let's cut that out. We love you, Blair. I just think of Blair from Gossip Girl. Like, when I hear the name Blair, I think of that. It sounds very wealthy. It does. He goes out with Blair. He can't seal the deal. He cannot sleep with her because he can't stop thinking about Harley. And he ends the day early, Blair gets annoyed. Harley, in the meantime, is trying to... I mean, if I were Blair, I'd be annoyed, too. Like, he's always come in clutch. And then he just drops your point of this whole thing. It was the point of the date.

It's not even a date, is it? It's like... Well, they think they eat. I don't know. Dinner to get us the sex. But substance. The date is for sex. Like, they know that's what they're getting out of this thing.

Totally. Meanwhile, Harley, she's going on a double date with Molly. She's trying to keep her mind off of Ford. Molly has a boyfriend and has been trying to get Harley out. I know he's got this friend and he's super hot and he had stopped by the bakery and he was flirting with her. and the brother saw and the brother's told. Told Ford like, oh, she was flirting with this guy.

Ford didn't like it, but what's he going to do? Stirring the pot. Oh, yeah. While she's on the date, Ford's security team tells him that the pimp followed Harley and her friends into the club on the double date. So he's like, er, I got to get there. I got to rescue. It's his club. It's his club that he owns.

So he peels in, marches in, picks her up off the day. dance floor, throws her over his shoulder. Love it. And she's like, what the hell is going on? And she's like kicking and screaming. And she's saying to the security guard, are you seeing this? I'm being kidnapped. And they're like, good night, Mr. Montgomery.

Have a nice evening. Oh, poor Harley. She's like, I was on a date. What the hell? But she didn't like the guy. And she did like Ford. Like, she saw him, right? Before he just threw over his shoulder.

I think she saw him coming. I don't think it was like a... She didn't have a lot of time of process. Of course here while she's dancing. No, it was like a deer in the headlights. I see him coming and there's nothing I can do about it moment. He explains to her the reason I took you out of the club is because the pimp was in there and she forgives him. And then he starts to kiss her again in the car and she's like, what are you doing?

We've talked about this. And she tries to get off his lap. She's straddling him. Somehow she ends up on top of him. She might have just fallen onto his lap. In the car. Like trying to put your seatbelt on and then you're straddling the guy next to you. The funnier part is like in the middle of them fighting,

she sees he stopped at the noodle place and picked up some ramen. She's like, hey, I knew. She's like, wait a minute. So he kisses her. she tries to stop it again and he tells her he's not good at this but all he knows is he wants her and only her and he won't be with anyone else so he has resigned to the fact that this is someone he wants to try monogamy with it's a relationship he's ready and he admits like you know I'm sorry this night happened the way it did but I'm really glad I had a reason to come and get you

out of there because I didn't like seeing you with another guy sometimes it just takes some petty jealousy to realize you a month that happens quite a bit in these books I think yes It didn't happen to real life as often. Also, I feel like really shitty for the guys still on the day. I know. Where'd my date go? Yeah, poor fella. Went to the bar.

I came back. She was gone. I had two drinks. There was no one there. But of course, Molly's loving this because Molly has, the friend has been seeing them flirting, essentially, for however long. And just basically lying to themselves about what's happening. Yeah. Yeah, everybody know.

The brothers too. Yeah. Everybody saw this coming. So they go back to his place. And of course, he's in this penthouse mansion in San Francisco. And it is stunning views and all the things. He tells her she's his. He wants her there all the time.

And he's saying, like, I just don't ever want you to leave. Like, now that I've decided to do this, I'm all in. She's the first girl that's ever slept over at his house. And he says all the things. Of course. all the things that make your heart melt. And, I mean, like, he's falling for her and it's very cute. I will say, this author, Laura Pavlov, writes really good love words.

There's no sex in this book. So spice is shm medium at best. Yeah. There's barely in a set. I feel like she ran through it very quickly just so that there was. Yeah. And so we did that and then we were done. Oh, yeah.

He got out of condom. We had sex. We snuggled after. I mean, there was one part. where it was literally three sentences. I think they might have had two sex scenes right in the middle. And yeah, and then nothing. But even the two sex scenes were just like so fast. It was almost like she was uncomfortable writing the sex. The love story was beautiful and the buildup and the friendship and all of that was so nice. And then you get to the sex and you're like, da-da-da-da-da-da-done. Okay, I did it. Check the box. Move on. And it was so fun. I had an orgasm. But you don't hear about the climbing to the orgasm. ago. It's like after I was done, it was the first

orgasm I ever had when I had sex. And you're like, oh, it's a kind of clinical. I was disappointed. Yeah, I was disappointed because there were so many opportunities for the sex to then happen and you would be really into it. And then, yeah, it was just, it was got a lot. It could have been super hot sex between the baker and the, and the billionaire. Yeah. And at one point, like, have you ever had sex

in a bakery? They should have had sex with the flour and the things and like, yeah, but no. These moments could have been Went to something, yeah. And I feel like she should have just, like, ghost-wipped that piece of a day. If you're that uncomfortable, somebody could have jumped in and just whipped up some hot scenes for you. I went in thinking this was going to be a shmody romance novel and the formula was there. Yeah.

No. Missing one ingredient. Yeah. More hallmarky. Like, you know, there was enough sex for you to know that they liked each other, but not enough to be smutty. Yeah. It's like fade to comming. commercial kind of said.

Yeah. That's what it felt. Walmart gives us $5 every time we say home. Woo! I wish. Affiliate link in the comments below. Homemark, homework.

Oh, it's really hard to say fast. He's saying it all the time. So they go to Napa. He has brunch once a month with his family. Of course, they helicopter there. But his mom and brothers are there. And here we get a little juicy drama. This was kind of fun.

So Harrison, the middle sensitive brother. has brought a girl from the office named Zoe. It's sort of like a date. But she's known the family forever. She's worked at the company for a long time and they know her well. But Jack has already dipped his pen in that company, ink. And he's freaking out when they walk in because he's like, oh, shit, I have to tell Harrison. Like, I've been with this girl and this is awkward.

Well, he's worried that Harrison really likes her. And so, yeah, so Ford and Harley show up and he's like, what do I do? do I do. Yeah, he's like totally panicking. So the mom's name is Monica and she's lovely. She's so lovely. And so Monica says to Zoe like, what have you been up to? And she says, well, after your youngest son took me to bed and then called me by the wrong name the following morning, even though we've known each other our entire lives, I've been pretty busy. So it's awkward. Oh, little. Everybody's eyes are bugging out and then she storms out of there. It's like, sorry Harrison, but I needed my moment.

He just had to get his. He's just mouth agape. Like, what just happened to me? He's like, it's all coming together why she insisted to come to brunch. I get it now. She was so persistent. Couldn't figure it out. And Monica, of course, is looking at her son like, what the fuck are you doing?

You fucked her. I did not raise you like this. She pats his cheek and says, you need to do better, Jackie. So cute. Which I could see myself doing it to one of my sons in particular. So the next few weeks, Harley and Ford are falling in love. They're saying the words and they're spending every minute together. They're official in the society pages.

And this is moving along just very beautifully. Ford still has security watching Harley and the grandfather and is getting regular updates. And Ford's ex-hookup shows up at the office. Her name's Blair, remember. She's in a trench coat. So we all know what hot girls showing up at the office in a trench coat means. He tells her like, hey, Blair, sorry, I should have called you, but this whole thing's over. I have a girlfriend now.

And she opens the trench coat and she's wearing this lacy red, skanky bra and underwear set. Just as Harley opens the door. I would just like to say that if it was hardly wearing the laundry set, it wouldn't be skanky. But because Slayer did it. I think it was probably like La Pruella. I mean, it's very expensive. But she was skanky doing that. Sort of.

But she thought it was a hookah. I don't know. I feel bad for Blair. It was skanky because it was after the fact, after he said, I'm in a relationship, go away. He's almost to the door. And then she's like, flasher moment. Yeah. Here's what you're missing.

But what I appreciate about Laura Pavlov in this book is sometimes these like second or third act breakups feel like a formula. Like, oh, it's time for the breakup. And then you're going to be sad about it. And then we're going to fix it. And she didn't do that. Like, it was just a moment where it's testing your trust. And you tested Harley's trust because she walks in right as this is happening. And then she runs out, of course. And then he runs after her and it's raining. And so here we have, like, just a rom-com, like, movie moment in the rain. You know, she says, I'm sorry, I doubted you. He explains himself. And she's like, I'm sorry I ran out of there. I trust you. I love you.

They make up. It's very adorable. But I was like, thank you for not making us endure a second neck breakup, because that would have been really annoying. After that happens, Harley's in the middle of a busy day, and she steps away to meet with a wedding cake client. And this is her first wedding cake client since she's open the store. They sit at a table together and the client leans in and says, Harley, I need you to remain very calm. The way you react will make her break if your grandfather lives or dies. She shows Harley a picture of the grandfather and he's with her mom and the pimp tied to a chair and has a big gash on his head and he's bleeding. And Harley is obviously terrified. She feels like she has no choice but to do what these people want. They've timed everything around the security

team shift change. So they know exactly when they can leave and cause a distraction and sneak her out of there. They did the same thing with the grandfather. Molly knows she's housing this meeting, so she also has to get past Molly. Did this not feel a little weird that they were able to get past the security at the grandfather's house? They're able to get past the security who's standing right in front of the bakery. And I mean, how much is he paying these guys? Well, and it's not like the pimp was like cracking the bank on IQ. Right. Do I think it can be done? Yes. Do I think it can be done by these idiots? No. They were really stupid. Yeah. No. The whole time. She gets in the car with these goons. The driver is this big burly guy who throws her phone out the window and they go to some abandoned track house in the middle of nowhere and Gramps is tied up in the middle of the room with dried tears, which that just made me so sad. And blood on his face and it's just awful. And obviously they want her money. And the pimp keeps punching Harley and. kicking her. I mean, she barely does anything, and he's, like, beating the shit out of her every

chance he can. He asked her for her bank card, and the wedding cake girl is like, oh, you didn't tell me to get her purse. See, genius. So then the cramp gets mad. The goon that was driving is like, well, why don't you just transfer the money? But he's also being kind of creepy. Like, she notices he's kind of close by, but he's kind of goon it. She's, like, really uncertain about this guy. She gets like a, he's, you know, because he says, like, stop beating the shit out of her. She's not going to be able to transfer the money. So he's almost in a way, like, protecting her. Protecting her.

The pimp points a gun at her head and the burly, that's when the burly guy stands next to her and says, if you shoot her, you're not going to get any money. So don't be an idiot. And her mom's there, too. Her mom is like sitting back going, hurry up, get the money. Let's go. And cackling and laughing. Her mom is garbage. So gross.

A little trash. Yeah. So meanwhile, Ford and Molly figure out that Harley's missing. And luckily, Ford had put tracking devices in all of Harley's chucks. It's not weird. So there. He gifted her a new pair of shoes when he threw up on the old ones and then put tracking devices. It's not stalker.

It's not any advice of its security team. Yeah. So, you know, thank goodness because they threw her a phone out the window. They are able to find her pretty quickly. They're about 30 minutes. Pretty fast. Yeah. There's also an inordinate amount of police there when they show up. So everybody's kind of barging in to this house. It's like a SWAT team.

Simultaneously, yeah. Yes. And it turns out the big burly driver guy was an undercover fed. They're trying to bust them for trafficking, well, women and also drugs. And then the exchange of the money was really important. That's why it was kind of shitty that they let him beat up Grandpa and then also her. Really bad. I mean, they had to go to the ER. They're taken to the hospital. But this was really sweet. Like Ford's whole family shows up to check on her and her grandpa. Like the mom's there and the two brothers and they're all so worried. And this is a found family trope, which I kind of love this. Yes. Yeah. It's very sweet. And then Ford has this house set up with beds and nursing staff so they can go there and recover after they get out of the hospital. Ford's right by her side the whole time. He works from home. You know, this is very unusual for him, but she's his priority. At some point, he asks about her dad. And she basically admits that she met him one time while he was at like a business dinner because her mom was trying to extort more money from.

Yeah, all she knew was he was a rich prick who didn't want anything to do with her. That's all she knew. And she went to meet him. At her mom's request, even though it wasn't for her mom, it was more for her to say, for her. I got a full ride scholarship. I did good despite you and her. She wants to like prove to this dad she was still successful kind of in spite of him. Yeah. But then also she does kind of want him to say, oh, but I love you now. I'm so sorry. Which is so normal. Of course. She wanted your parent to love you and like be proud of you.

Of course. He did not. He was not nice. No, he was so rude to her. He basically just said like, I don't want you to cause a scene. How much do you want? got out of his checkbook. Get out of here. So she's gone through the whole family thing with Ford. Her mom's a total trash. The dad doesn't want to have anything to do with her. You know, now she really is that like found family. They have a big charity event coming up at the winery.

And he has a clothing designer bring in some dresses. And she kind of gives in because she's like, I'm busy. Cinderella. Yeah. I've been healing. Like, I'm going to let you do this for me. And it's kind of cute because Molly's like, oh, my gosh, can I come help pick you out a dress and do your hair and do your makeup. And she's like, I was hoping you

would. So Harley walks into the benefit looking hot. She sees Chanel, who's there with a date. And she looks around the room and she lays eyes on Hanky and freaks out. Hanky is Harley's biological father. Did anybody else see this coming? Because I saw this coming so many chapters ago. I did not see it coming until like halfway through, but I knew there was something off with Hanky. Hanky, I did too because he was hanging around a lot. And I couldn't figure it out. Now I finally started connecting the dots a few chapters before this unfolded. Yeah. So I wasn't surprised. So her mom drugged Hanky one night when he was out with the boys after a big fight with his wife. And basically she gets him to impregnate her. And I don't know if that was what she was. What she

want it, but that's what happened. He gets her pregnant. I think she was. I think that was the plan. I think she was hoping to extort him for money. Forever. And she did. She spends the next 18 years extorting money from him. Of course, none of which went to Harley. And right after Harley graduates high school, like you said, the mom has this moment of desperation, probably got cut off when Harley turned 18 and tells her, this is who your dad is and asks her to go get some money from him. She doesn't give a shit about her mom, She does, like you said, she wants to meet her dad. She wants to tell him, I persevered in spite of you not being there for me. And she kind of wants him to be proud of her.

So this is also the night of the car accident with Ford's dad. And this whole time, Hanky's been telling Ford, your dad was driving and he was upset because the two of you got in a fight that day. So Hanky spun the story that he had had a couple of drinks so the dad said I would drive. And so they walk into this party. Harley sees Hanky, realizes that's her dad, freaks out. Ford's worried about her. Takes her onto the hallway and she basically says, Ford, that's my dad. And also he was the one that was driving the car.

Saw the whole thing. I was in the alley. The night that I confronted Hankie. He was with your dad in the restaurant and Hankey and him got in the car together, but Hanky was driving. Hanky is for five years perpetuated the slide that he was in the passenger seat. And what they were really fighting about was the fact that he was a deadbeat dad and he wasn't taking care of his own daughter. And Ford's dad was so disappointed in him and just frustrated with him. And that was what the real argument it was about.

It wasn't about Ford. And he was telling him, we're going home right now. you can tell your family this girl exists. You need to take responsibility for this young lady. Ford's dad was literally fighting for a girl he did not know, but knew it was the right thing to do. Right thing to do. And she saw it take place in the alleyway just before they got in the car. Yeah. So she basically kind of outs Hanky. One, that's my dudby dad. And two, he's been lying to you for five years. Then the brothers come out. The mom comes out. Ford tells them. Ford puts her in a car. He tells them first. And he believes her, though. But she doesn't know that.

No, he puts her in a car and then goes back in. Yes, this is our act three separation. I don't know if I'd call this a breakup. She thought it was a breakup. She couldn't get a hold of him. He didn't call. He didn't come over. So he didn't think it was a breakup, but she certainly. He tried a couple times. That was like three days. But he confronts Hanky. Yeah, the brothers come up with the mom.

and he tells them everything. And the mom gets the bodyguard or somebody to go get Hanky. He comes there. He accuses Hanky and he doesn't say anything. And the mom's like, you not say anything? Just cleared it up for us. Get out. You're not welcome here.

Goodbye. And he was like the godfather, the best friend. He helped pick the family up after the... They raised their families together. Yeah. But it was obviously all for some extra guilt because... Yeah. And whether he did it on purpose...

It was an accident or whatever. Like he's been perpetuating this lie for five years. And letting Ford stew and this day. Right. Just like unnecessary guilt. They kick him out and then Ford and the two brothers stay at their childhood home with their mom to kind of try and cope. They drink a lot of alcohol. I was going to say I actually love this part because I could see them all sitting around and then they pass the whiskey to the mom and she's like, gulp, gulp.

Yeah, out of the bottle. Straight out of the bottle. I mean, it feels And at 9 o'clock the next morning. They're still processing it. It's like, give me the whiskey. Yeah. That's why he disappeared.

He was drunk for two days straight. Well, it's about like how our family would handle. It's probably why we appreciated it so much. But then the next morning, Chanel, the daughter of Hanky, like Ford's really good friend, shows up. She is. And Chanel, if you'll remember, is a lawyer.

And she kind of says, look, I'm kind of here as dad's lawyer, but she looks just devastating. I mean, she looks rough. She is suffering. She's in shock. She's disappointed, all the things. But she basically brings out his medical records from that night because he was in a car accident. He did go to the hospital. They did run blood tests. His blood alcohol level was not above the legal limit. So this was not a murder. This was not him drunk driving and getting in an accident because of of that. What she's trying to do is prevent some sort of lawsuit between the families because the dad, it really was an accident according to them. That's what they're saying. And the family

feels fine with that. They don't want to go through a big lawsuit either. They're like, look, I never want to see that guy's face again. I don't think I'll ever forgive him, but we're not going to sue him. Yeah, or try to put him in jail. I mean, because I think they were like, if he was drunk, we would probably pursue some sort of action, whatever that action was. But because of that, they're going to kind of let it go and kind of let him sue in his own misery. Yeah. Well, and they love the mom and they love Chanel. And they love Barron.

Yeah, brother. But Barron is another very rich name. Right. Yeah, totally. They love the family because, like you said, they've just been intertwined for years, their whole lives. So they don't want the publicity. They don't want the stress of it. They just want him to go away.

And however they deal with it, they know that it had nothing to do with the rest of his family. Right. So they're going to try and stay friends. And the mom does say that to Chanel. Like, you are still very much a part of this family and, you know, you guys have to process this in your own way. But now what you know is that Chanel and Harley are siblings. So now Harley has. And Baron.

And Baron. And now she has two siblings that she never. knew she had, which is you kind of start to figure out. She has a family. She has a real family. Yeah. Yeah. I think it's once a week they go to breakfast or lunch or something. And Chanel really wants this sisterly connection with Harley and she's reaching for it. And Harley is open heart. Yeah. She wants it too. It's they're almost very quickly sisters. And then she gets to know Barron slowly as well. So I mean, again, the found family is coming in. And that happened pretty fast, like the fact that they kind of all got over it for her.

Like, they go shopping. Janelle liked her in the beginning, too, when she had met her, she liked the bakery. She had gone back to the bakery several times. So I think she had a connection to begin with. And now I was like, oh, but we're also, we share the same father. Cool. Let's be, you know, let's be tighter. Not great, but it's cool.

But it's also cool because Harley does say to Chanel, listen, this is your dad. and as much as he fucked me over, he was your dad and he was good to you, and I don't expect you to own him. And that was obviously something. It was very mature. Yes. But, but Harley leaves this thing, Ford doesn't call her or does and she misses it, whatever, like they don't talk for days. And basically Harley's like, it's too hard, like he's dumped me. Like, she thinks he's dumped her. It's quick, though. I mean, they figure it out. They get back together. And then she starts developing these relationships with their siblings and she and Ford get back on track. They're watching Netflix. They're laughing. They're spending a lot of time together. They're not having hot sex. Not having sex.

Well, they are, but it's like three sentences. So he says he feels complete. And Harley says she feels complete. Like all these things are coming together in her life. And it's very, very sweet. She moves in with Ford and she cancels the lease on her little apartment above the dry cleaner. And then we have the epilogue. She's never had a birthday party. He throws her the surprise birthday party in Napa. He flies Gramps out. He flies...

Molly. Everybody's there. Molly's there. Molly's boyfriend is very sweet. And she's so surprised. And Grandpa's just so happy. She's happy. All kinds of good feels.

And so at the very end, he has this enormous library in his penthouse. and he has cleared shelves for her romance books. So I love, they're almost always romance book girlies too. I'm telling you. Yeah. And he puts, but his are fancy. He puts little placards on the shelf saying what the genre of the books are. And he really goes out of his way to make it just right for her.

And then she sees a little velvet box on the bookshelf. And it is an engagement ring. Ford tells her he promises to love her. her until he takes his last breath and says, marry me, baby. And she says, yes. Yes. The end. A little corny at the end.

I felt like, and I don't know how you guys felt, but I felt like the whole birthday party shenanigan thing was just unnecessary. Why not just give her the box, give her the library. When she first moved in in the beginning, you didn't need the birthday party, spend more time writing the sex. Yeah, I guess it's because it shows the full circle that she has all of these people around. The Fountain is like Barron's there and like the sisters there and yeah, this found family. I thought the book was cute. It was a really quick read and I got into it and I really was kind of invested in the characters.

I thought the character development was good. They had decent backstories. Obviously, you know, sort of their past brought them together. All the tropes around that. I was expecting more sex and there were so many opportunities. for it to happen that just like didn't and it fell flat. And then I did see the hanky thing coming, not immediately, but, you know, once we got into the book, I did see it coming. But I thought it was handled. I thought that part was handled pretty well. It was fast to like get through it, but it would handle pretty well. But I'd say overall, I'd give this book like a three and a half. I would land at, I think I said three and a half too, because I love the character development. And we said this before. It's almost like a sneeze that you don't finish because you're like, oh, all the ingredients are here for this, like, perfect romance novel,

and it's missing the spice. Yeah. And so because that's not there, it just feels like, oh, I didn't get everything I needed. Yeah. So I was reading it. It was a three. It was a three. And then at the end, like, I just love the, the whole found family thing got me.

I, you know, I cry at books. And I just did make me cry. Oh, a little too jerker. Yeah, I was like, oh, this is so sweet, and he loves her so much, and she just never had love and now she has so much. It was sweet, it was sweet, but it was cheesy and corny. Insert, eye roll. And I will say that, like, we want the spice, but not everybody wants the spice. True.

So for us, the way we're looking at it, we're like, oh, where'd all the spice go? But I'm sure there are people who would rate this four or five because they aren't looking for, like, that much spice. They're just looking for the romance. So it didn't hit the mark for me. But it was still a really good book. I would still recommend it to people. Like, I liked it. I'd say it's a three for me.

Yeah. I liked the beginning. I liked the banter. I liked the whole, like you said, the character development. It was good. But like I saw Hanky's storyline coming a mile away. I started to like lose interest as we started to get to the end. And then, like you said, there wasn't enough spice to keep me moving.

And there wasn't any buildup. Salad three for me. Yeah, it did feel flat, I think. Yeah. Fled flat. I agree. I agree. And then spice for me was like a one.

Oh, same. Yeah, I was like, can you give it a zero? I mean, there was sex in the book. Was there? I mean. There was sex. There were condoms. There was at least two.

Yeah, condoms were mentioned. There were orgasms. But it was like, the condom and the orgasm, we're talking three sentences. And I'm not joking. was that fast. Yeah. And there was no foreplay. He put on a condom and just went to tell.

Wham-bam. It was like, hey, you got to warm a girl up, you know. Especially someone who that's what he does. You know, especially someone who that's his MO is to just put out. Yeah, you would think. I don't know. Yeah. Maybe a one on a really good tilt scale.

0.5 for Kim. 0.5. At best. Yeah. Great writing. minus the sex scenes. Like I said, though, there's definitely, I'm sure, a population out there, nobody we want to be friends with, but there's a population out there who doesn't want to read the sex stuff.

It's harsh. We'll be friends with everyone, but we're just not going to trade books with them. That's correct. Yeah. Not our books. But it is, it was a sweet little... It was a sweet story. Yes.

It was cute. And there was a little drama. You do see some character development with the brothers. And so you can kind of see their... her setting up their novels too. If there had been more spice, I would have read all three of these. Yeah. Super fun as always to recap with you ladies. If you haven't already, find us on Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok. And also be sure to send in a book suggestion. We are choosing one listener to join us for our final podcast of the season. And if we choose your book, you can join us.

and be part of the Bozy BookGasms show. Until then, happy reading. And have a good night. Bye. Thanks for tuning in. We hope today's episode was the climax of your day, leaving you breathless and wanting more. Until next time, remember to indulge in the pleasures of life and to keep the passion alive. You can find more tantalizing episodes at Boosybookgasms.com. Enjoy the ride. And we'll see you soon.