Welcome Home, Katie Gallagher (From Maine with Love, 1) Kindle Edition

This book! It made me want to kick back in Bar Harbor and force Katie Gallagher to be my BFF and guzzle down a vat of frozen margaritas together—with a big bendy straw. You’ll get that joke when you read this book. Which you will. Because it’s amazing! I loved it.Loved. It. Hard.I challenge anyone to read the opening and then not settle in to finish this book in one sitting. That’s what I did.“You don’t always know when you’re having a nervous breakdown. It’s usually later, after being confronted with photographic evidence in the form of a mug shot, that you realize you lost your shit in a truly spectacular way.”If this feisty, kick-ass yet sweetly sarcastic heroine isn’t enough to reel you in, just wait for Aiden Cavanaugh—Bar Harbor’s Chief of Police—to enter the picture. He’s fiercely loyal to those around him, and he has to rate up there with my favorite romantic heroes.This is a great second-chance story in several ways. Katie needs a fresh start after leaving a cheating and controlling husband. She figures this will happen when she goes back to the place that used to be her haven in the summers with her beloved grandmother. After her grandmother dies and leaves her the house in Bar Harbor, Katie goes back to lick her wounds and start anew.From the very beginning, we get the feeling that it won’t be an easy journey. But, as Katie says at the start, “Possible incarceration aside, it was good to be back.”That simple observation sets the tone for her comeback. From a rodent-infested house to a cheating, revenge-seeking ex bent on ruining Katie’s second chance, she has her work cut out for her. Aiden, who had an enormous adolescent crush on Katie many years before, has vowed to not fall under her spell again. He’s also got his work cut out for him. And I loved watching them fight against the impossible—falling in love.When Katie and Aiden are on the page together, the sparks fly in every way. They’re fun and spirited and sexy as hell. I couldn’t quit smiling while reading this book. It was told with humor and heart and fresh honesty. If I wasn’t smiling or laughing, I was brushing away a tear. It had it all.The secondary characters are freaking awesome and make me want to live in Bar Harbor where I can hang out with them all day. From Pops Cavanaugh (Aiden’s grandfather who quotes Dumbledore) to Bear (the giant, charismatic best friend to both Aiden and Katie), this story doesn’t lack for good feels or terrific characters. And let’s not forget about Chaucer, Katie’s Newfoundland, who pretty much steals the show. And doggy treats.Watching the main characters fall in love with each other was a joy, and I couldn’t put the book down. Their banter is witty, and their attraction is off-the-charts sexy and sweet.Aiden wrapped me around his little finger with this simple quote: “I didn’t want to think about how much money it was going to cost to keep her in cupcakes.”That did it for me. Who doesn’t love a man who knows his woman’s weakness for cupcakes?Watching Katie and Aiden get their second chance at love made my whole day. Seana Kelly will forever go on my Auto-Buy, Must Read Author List. She earned it with this book.

I loved this book so much!!! Katie is the type of girl I'd want to be best friends with in a skinny minute. Even though she was escaping from a bad situation with her cheating ex-husband, she was strong and kind and resourceful and kick-ass and hilarious. And Aiden was swoony in all the right ways. He was perfect for Katie because he let her be exactly who she was. I laughed out loud so many times while reading this book because the author has this way of writing witty banter that I found incredibly refreshing. The characters all felt so real. Now I can't rest until I get Bear's story. I loved Bear! And I need a dog exactly like Chaucer. NEED. I also need more books by Seana Kelly. We all do. This is the type of book that makes you miss your friends when you're done reading it, because you feel like you know the characters and are invested in their lives. LOVED it!!!

"You don't always know when you're having a nervous breakdwon. It's usually later, after being confronted with photographic evience in the form of a mug shot, that you realize you lost your shit in a truly spectacular way."So begins Welcome Home, Katie Gallagher, and that great voice continues through the rest of the book, making us fall in love with beleaguered Katie Gallagher as she deals with a soon-to-be-ex-husband (and ongoing jerk), no money, a hunky-but-truly-emotionally-confused cop, a town full of people who aren't sure they're on board with her being there, and perhaps the most adorable canine companion ever in the form of Chaucer, the Newfoundland..The house she inherited from her beloved grandmother is infested with every kind of varmint known to Maine. You'd think a big old dog would help with that, but Chaucer is more of an emotional support kind of dog.If you like small-town romance with a lot of heart and humor, this is a great read.

I am so excited to find Seana Kelly and hope to real a lot more of her!Our heroine, Katie, is leaving a bad marriage and crossing the country to take possession of the house her grandmother left her in Bar Harbor, pursuing at once both a fresh start and a return to a place with more pleasant memories.Some of those memories include Aiden, the boy-with-a-crush turned toughened cop who's down on love. Their run-ins are fraught with tension that is colored by both their history together as kids, and each of their experiences with love between then and now.And somehow the result is not just romance, but hilarity. This is Seana Kelly's real brilliance. I love witty dialogue and several writers are good at it. This was not just the dialogue. The entire stream of consciousness, particularly in Katie's POV, was full of dry, ironic humor that had me laughing out loud at moments and wishing I could be so quick with the verbal darts!I got all the feels in this book, because the characters tackle some emotional issues from their pasts. Can't wait to read more from Seana Kelly!

I loved this book from page one. It's funny and sometimes snarky, but with a great heart underneath, which makes me want to move to Katie's world and be surrounded by her people--and eat her food, too :) This author has gone straight onto my auto-buy list.

Loved the way the characters were developed throughout the story. The writing was very fresh, funny, entertaining and captivating. It made me laugh, get angry and cry.

I couldn't put this book down. The humor and heart in this book was balanced perfectly. It is a very quick read with no dull moments. The only thing I'm sad about is to see it end. I can't wait to read more from Seana Kelly.

I loved this book. Such a fun read!