Second in the Graciella series (previous entries reviewed here), Seducing the Dragonfly is the story of the second Brockman brother, Turner. Like Cruz, he's been away for years, and only came back after the death of his father because his boss basically forced him to take a break. His plan is to make amends with his brothers and mother, handle the paperwork, and get the hell back to Berlin and his life there.
And then Lily Moreno walks back into his life, still hurt by his rejection of her when she was a teenager, and pissed off that he's showing up only to leave again.
Turner is completely bowled over by Lily though, and determined to break down her walls. I love the absolute certainty the Brockman brothers have when it comes to their women; they know exactly who they want, and they know that it will be worth it. They know they want forever, they just have to prove it.
But this isn't just a story about romance—it's also about Lily working through the anticipatory grief of her father's Alzheimers, and Turner rebuilding family relationships and learning to forgive himself. They have such a strong arc of growth, both individually and together, that I couldn't help but fall in love with them. Seriously, I want Lily to be my best friend, she's absolutely incredible and positively hilarious, and I relate so hard to her sweet tooth.
As always, the town of Graciella is almost its own character. Sara breathes such life into it; it's truly impressive. I love her focus on the architecture in Seducing the Dragonfly, as compared to the land in Handling the Rancher; it fits so well with Lily and Turner's respective lives and careers. She also weaves in the mystery of what TD Brockman did with various properties so well, making it an integral plot point that continually kept me guessing.
Final verdict: This tender, second-chance romance is a beautiful story of growth amidst challenges that absolutely blew me away. 🍯🍯🍯🍯🍯/5 honeypots.
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