Blog Tour Review: All Mixed Up (Common Threads #8) by Heidi Hutchinson

All Mixed Up, an all-new swoony second chance romance from Heidi Hutchinson, is available now in Kindle Unlimited!

I received this book for free from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

All Mixed Up by Heidi Hutchinson
Series: Common Threads #8
Published by Smartypants Romance on October 12, 2023
Genres: Adult Contemporary Romance
Pages: 396
Source: the publisher
Format: E-galley
My Rating:
Goodreads

Blurb:

Nikki has a lot going on at the moment.

She’s the best sound engineer and mixer at XY Records, she’s working on a super-secret project with a pop megastar, and holding the busier-than-usual studio together.

The last thing she wants or needs is her ex-fiancé to start working in the studio over the summer. She’s over it—him. Obviously. Being ghosted has that effect. But working near someone she used to love has made her life that much more complicated.

Andre has it all figured out. Two and half years ago he had no idea what he was doing when he walked away from the love of his life. But time has given him perspective, and he’s grown up. Which is why the paleontology professor is working part-time at his ex’s recording studio. Because he wants to make amends. And maybe win her back.

Will Nikki give him the chance he thinks he’s ready for? Or will it be her turn to walk away from him?

‘All Mixed Up’ is a full-length contemporary romance and can be read as a standalone. Book #8 in the Common Threads series, Seduction in the City World, Penny Reid Book Universe.

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Excerpt

He had a chance.

An opportunity.

Just a small one, but it was there, and he wasn’t going to run away from it.

Not this time.

Never again.

He turned the car into the parking lot, excitement buzzing in his veins.

Every decision in his life had brought him to this moment and he felt good about it.

He was finally ready to embrace life and stop being afraid to be happy.

It was going to be good from here on out—great even.

He hit the brakes as a flash of color and limbs hit his windshield with a loud thud. The car came to a hard stop and the colors rolled off the hood of the car and hit the ground.

“Oh God.” He slammed the car into park and undid his seat belt.

How had that happened?

“Please don’t be a person. Please don’t be a person.” His stomach turned and his hands shook as he shoved the door open.

The hot, sticky July heat engulfed him immediately as he ran around the front of his car.

It was a person.

He dropped to his knees, hands trembling.

He’d hit a person!

With his car!

“Are you okay?” he asked, not sure where to put his hands.

It was a woman in a bright dress. The fabric tangled around her legs, both of her shoes had come off, her arms were tucked under her body at an odd angle.

And the hair…her hair was blonde.

And she was utterly still.

He reached for her, knowing it was Nicole and still hoping it wasn’t.

Footsteps came racing toward him, but he didn’t glance up.

“Call an ambulance,” he said to whoever had joined them and he felt her neck for a pulse.

A flutter under his fingertips let him know she was alive.

Of course, she was alive. The car had barely been moving. It couldn’t possibly be that bad.

Please don’t be that bad.

He pressed his face to the ground to get level with hers and brushed her hair out of her eyes. She was unconscious. Or at least, she appeared to be unconscious. He didn’t want to move her, but he also wanted to be sure she could breathe.

He looked up to see that they were surrounded by some people he knew and some he didn’t.

A dark-haired man in a light blue Henley was on the phone with emergency services.

Sabine joined him on the ground.

Sabine?

He did a double take on his younger sister. Why was she there?

“What happened?” she asked.

“She got hit by a car.”

Sabine’s head jerked around as she looked from André to his car and back again.

Nicole made a noise and they both looked down to her before Sabine could state the obvious.

“Ow,” Nicole whimpered. She tried to move and cried out.

“Don’t move. Where does it hurt?” André placed a hand gently between her shoulder blades and lifted it again.

Nicole ignored his instruction to not move and rolled onto her back. She cradled her right elbow with her left hand, face contorted in pain. Water started leaking from her eyes.

“I’m okay,” she lied through her tears.

André skimmed his fingers along her hairline, brushing away flecks of dirt and gravel. He scanned the scrapes and marks on her face and arms and legs. His stomach twisted with guilt and fear.

“Please stop moving,” he whispered.

If he’d injured her to a point—

No.

He couldn’t go there. She was fine.

Her blue eyes flashed as they raked over his face. Like she was just now realizing who he was.

“What…?” she started to ask and struggled to sit up.

He sucked in a breath and held his hands out, palms facing her. “Stay there.”

She narrowed her eyes at him and all those fantasies that he’d had about seeing her again crumbled into dust like the guy from Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade who chose the grail that wasn’t so holy.

Sirens grew closer and relief began to prickle in the back of his mind. “It’s okay,” he said, trying to reassure her (and himself). “The paramedics are almost here.”

He couldn’t stop looking at her.

It had been years since he’d seen her, and somehow, she was even more beautiful than he remembered.

My Review

Another fun story and I really enjoyed being back in this world. It actually even made me really want to go re-do my own story of a paleontologist in Chicago so that it fits into the SmartyPants world, and now I could maybe use Andre as a connection as well! But anyway, I loved Andre’s background, and I love how the story begins a bit of a car wreck. It was the perfect way for one of them to crash back into the other’s life.

Andre was a sweetie, really only wanting to do what he could to make Nikki happy, and even if she didn’t let him back into her life romantically, he’d be happy just being however he could be a part of her life. I liked how the characters even as they might have run from problems, were able to not make a HUGE drama scene that often becomes unrealistic in the stubbornness characters might exhibit. They had those human reactions, but were still able to figure things out as they could move on from feelings.

The author has a note at the beginning about how she normally does closed-door romance, but this one she said needed the open door to make the story feel right. It’s not anything over the top, so I think it won’t be too much for those used to her usual style. But I agree that it definitely worked for the story to be that way.

About the Author

Heidi Hutchinson creates funny, clever, slow burn romance for readers looking for a guaranteed happily ever after.

She hopes the stories she writes inspire her readers to take their hearts on one more adventure.

She lives in the Black Hills with her alarmingly handsome husband, their fearless child, and a rather large and spoiled dog. 

She is fueled by her unwavering and perfectly normal devotion to Dave Grohl and coffee. 

And a whole lotta love. 

Find Heidi online

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/heidirhutchinson

Website: https://www.heidih.net/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/heidi_hutchinson/

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