Sidecar Crush

Bootleg Springs, Book 2

By: Claire Kingsley, Lucy Score

Narrated by: Stephen Dexter, Natalie Duke

Length: 9 hrs and 35 mins

Publisher's Summary

"I tried to think of something - anything - to calm my raging hard-on. One wrong move and Leah Mae would rub up against it and that was liable to kill me dead on the spot.”

Model turned disgraced reality TV starlet, Leah Mae Larkin, crash lands in her hometown of Bootleg Springs to lay low while a scandal threatens her career. She can’t shake the feeling that her agent - and supposed fiancé - manipulated her into the role of made-for-TV homewrecker. Connecting with her roots is just what she needs, and Bootleg Springs is home to her father, moonshine, and her childhood best friend, Jameson Bodine.

Only there’s nothing childlike about Jameson - a man who turns scrap metal into art and isn’t afraid to throw down on a rowdy Friday night with his brothers and hellcat sister. He might not say much, but still waters run deep. Seeing the ring on his crush’s finger? He doesn’t like it, but he can’t wish it away. No more than he can wish away the trouble his family is in, with evidence pointing to his late father in the cold case disappearance of Callie Kendall. 

Jameson and Leah Mae are just two friends reliving their summers together, blowing off steam, and having fun for the first time in a long time. But Leah Mae is realizing what’s really important in her life, and it isn’t what she thought. 

And sometimes steam turns into sparks - hot as molten steel - and friends aren’t just friends.

©2018 Claire Kingsley (P)2020 Claire Kingsley

I'm here for Bootleg Springs!

Sometimes you find a town that you just want to live in. You're ready to pack your bags, sell your current home, and move to the new town you've just fallen in love with. You know that your life will be better and amazing and that it's just the right place for you. You know that nothing will get you, nothing will bring you down, that you will have met your people.

That's Bootleg Springs for me. I'm ready to sell my home and pack my belongings and move to Bootleg. I'm ready to make my children Bootleggers, even if they are transplants. I know they'll love the town, the people, and the Bootleg justice.

I say all of that, to bring you to the book.

Jameson and Leah Mae.

Jameson Bodine is the silent, broody type. He's artsy (my favorite) and quiet and he's thoughtful. He had a best friend growing up. A best friend who got to see the real him, the unfiltered him. He fell in love with his best friend before he knew what love was.

Leah Mae Larkin wanted more for her life. Not more than Bootleg Springs, just more. Fame, fortune, something more. But she never forgot her roots. When her mother moved her out of Bootleg, she came back every summer. Every summer until Callie Kendall, that is. But what she didn't realize when she left, when she stopped returning, she left a piece of herself in Bootleg.

When Leah Mae returns to Bootleg, the real party begins. This is when Jameson comes out of his shell, this is when Leah Mae finds the missing piece, and this is when you get some good ol' fashioned Bootleg justice.

You're going to LOVE seeing the Bodine group together again. You're going to love hanging out in Bootleg Springs. You're going to laugh out loud. And you'll never want to leave.

Jameson and Leah Mae

I thoroughly enjoyed listening this story of Jameson and Leah Mae coming alive. The narrators have done a wonderful job with this series. I can’t wait for the next book!

Awesome series

This is at least my third time reading/listening to this book. I love it that much. The two narrators do an excellent job. It can be difficult doing accents, especially a southern one.
This was the second installment of the series. This town is so funny it will keep you coming back for more. The worst thing is there are only going to be six in the series. This is Jameson’s story and it was so sweet how he fell for Leah Mae all those years ago. They appear to be opposites, but really aren’t that different after all. A great friends to lovers trope. Almost a second chance since they reconnected after years apart. If you are into Rom-Coms then try this series. It has a mystery interwoven in the series also so it can read almost as a romantic suspense. I think you will find a couple authors you will love.

Loved it!

Loved Leah Mae and Jameson’s love story. Two people who were at one point best friends. Losing touch over the years and finally reconnecting. I loved every moment that Jameson cherished Leah for who she is and not what the world saw her as. The audio was absolutely PERFECT! The narrators really brought the story to life!

Love Bootleg Springs

I Read this book years ago but loved bootleg springs so I was excited about listening to it. I love the story line and the little town and the characters. The female narrator wasn't bad but her voice was like listening to a bedtime story. I kept waiting for her to become a little more upbeat, the way I pictured Leah Mae to be. I adore Jameson he has such a protective, loyal sweet heart. Great book like all of Claire Kingsley's books.

Jameson and Leah Mae...need I say more!!!

It has been a while since I read this book and using audio as my way of re-reading made me remember why I love this book (and the rest in the series). Stephen Dexter was absolute perfection throughout the entire book....especially at the food fight scene. I have never heard anything read by Natalie Duke before but I must say, she is very talented. Both of them are great at reading the opposite sex parts and Natalie covering all the various female characters....giving each one their own voice was fantastic.

Leah Mae Larkin hasn't lived in Bootleg Springs since she was 16 years old when her mother forbid her from going back and visiting her father and not long after that she became a model and was traveling the world. Fast forward 12 years and she has returned to the place she grew up in. She has grown over the last 12 years and is just coming off of a stint on a reality show and is about to face some personal and professional road bumps.

Jameson Bodine is a bit of a loner....he likes to be left alone and working on his art. He is in the middle of a potential family scandal and has rarely been seen around Bootleg Springs and wouldn't you know the one day he ventures into town he runs into his childhood crush, Leah Mae. He is so happy to see her and can't think of anything but her. Fate would have it that he will finally get his chance with her and he takes it.

As Jameson and Leah grow closer together they realize they have always had feelings for each other. They both have to adjust to the way each others' lives were previously but they are able to make it work. Of course the town of Bootleg welcomes Leah back with open arms and these two get their HEA!

Bootleg Brought to Life!

The second book is even better than the first and that first kiss scene read aloud, HOT!

I am so glad Stephen and Natalie did the series and how slightly different they do each character.

Jameson is a the quiet artsy type that really keeps to himself, Leah Mae is in the spotlight as childhood friends they were very close but didn't act on any feelings. Once the disappearance happens Leah goes off with her mom and Jameson doesn't see Leah again until they are adults. Leah comes to Bootleg to help her daddy and kinda stay off the grid due to the reality show she is on and how they are portraying her.

You can read or listen to this as a standalone but id go back to the first book of the series.

Even better in audio

I loved this novel when I read it and I absolutely love it as an audio book. Jameson and Leah Mae's story. The narrators did an excellent job capturing the Bodines' and Jameson's personality and Leah Mae's confusion in her interactions with her 'movie-star' lifestyle and her life in Bootleg Springs. And Bootleg Justice is so much a thing.

Buying a one way ticket to Bootleg Springs

My favorite thing about hearing this series for the first time are the narrators. When Stephen Dexter came through my headphones with that country twang - My. Heart. Melted. And I fell in love with Jameson Bodine all over again.
Phenomenal work by him and Natalie Duke as well. This was a great book to read and it was even better to hear the characters come to life!!

Amazing Love Story

one of the best books I have ever read narrators you're awesome. both narrators together told a great story I have listen to books with Steven Dexter before one of my favorites

loving the audio book

5*
Jameson & Leah Mae were best friends until her mum decided to divorce her dad and move away.
The town can't believe she's returned for a visit to see her dad after his illness, everyone is pleased to see her.
Her fiance Kelvin isn't so happy about the visit and the changes in Leah Mae.
I loved how Jameson knew Elle Mae and recognised her light had gone from her eyes his determination to relight it was amazing. I loved how Elle Mae became herself again.
Amazing authors and absolutely brilliant series.
Loved the narrator's.