3.5 stars
Bailey Moore was given the all clear from the cancer which dominated every aspect of her life since she was sixteen, and now has a sort of reverse bucket list. While she was sick, she didn’t really imagine much of a future for herself, but now there are just so many things she’d like to do. One of her first items is skiing in the Rocky Mountains, so she goes to the Cedar Ridge skiing resort, but mis-reads the map and ends up having to be rescued by ski patrol leader and co-owner of the resort, Hudson Kincaid. While she may need more lessons before she can properly enjoy elegantly sliding down the slopes, she’s more than capable of handling the next item on her list – making a mural.
Hudson Kincaid is pretty much all about taking care of his ailing mother, his siblings and the financially challenged Kincaid family skiing resort. He’s still feels like he drove his twin brother off after they had a big fight on their eighteenth birthday. His mother is fighting dementia, and will be crystal clear and lucid one moment, but most of the time still imagine him and his brother Jacob as young boys or teenagers. In one of her more lucid moments, she placed a call to Bailey and commissioned her to paint a big family mural for the Cedar Ridge resort. Hudson thinks it’s a terrible idea, and tries to convince Bailey to go home, but is voted down by the rest of his siblings, who all think the mural could be great for business.
Bailey likes that Hudson doesn’t treat her as fragile or breakable, even though it’s quite obvious from her peach fuzz hair that she’s recovering from long term illness. Because of her big list of adventures, she’s not really looking to stay too long in one place, and Hudson has far too many commitments already to settle down with anyone. Having a passionate, yet short-term fling while Bailey works on the mural isn’t going to hurt either of them, right?
Full review on my blog.