The Wild Rose Press Amazon The Wild Rose Press Category:  Romance Publisher: The Wild Rose press ISBN-10:  1601541635 Pages: 268 Copyright: Jan.6, 2008 Angelina Jordan has lived up to her late mother’s wish that she never settle for an ordinary life and it’s left her feeling—unsettled. When the grandmother who raised her breaks a hip, she returns to the tiny northern Ontario town she couldn’t wait to escape and is surprised to discover it feels like home for the first time in years. She is also amazed to discover she still shares an incredible connection with Billy, her high school sweetheart. It’s just too bad he’s the same carefree and utterly lacking in ambition man she left behind. How can she be so attracted to who he is, when she finds what he is distasteful? Excerpt “Do you remember that red string bikini you used to have? There was so much more of you than there was material. I loved that bathing suit,” he chuckled. “Billy, it's getting cold in here, and I'm not wearing anything.” He continued to chuckle. “Now, if I were a decent city gentleman, I suppose I would decorously turn my back.” She immediately noticed he'd adopted a hillbilly twang to his deep tones. “But being the country bumpkin that I am, your admission of nudity only makes me want to pull up a chair and make sure I'm front and center when you rise up outta' that water all wet and glistening in the moonlight.” “You're behaving like a teenaged pervert!” She was beyond embarrassed at being caught skinny-dipping, and peeved by his unreasonable attitude. “Come on, Angel, isn't it bad enough you lost all your hair and your butt in that city of yours? Don't tell me you lost your sense of humor as well?” “You're making me uncomfortable,” she admitted softly. “Just go up to the house and wait for me there. Please, Bill.” Oh, Bill is it? Billy felt an unexpected stab of sadness. Angel had never called him simply Bill. It sounded wrong in her husky tones, which he could distinctly remember whispering please, oh please, Billy in a very different way. How far apart they had grown, he and this girl he had known forever and loved for as long.

Long And Short Reviews
Lainey Bancroft's "Settling Back" is an engaging contemporary romance featuring powerful chemistry between the main characters. Bancroft gives us some delectabley annoying characters, as well.

Angelina Jordan is beginning to question her choices in life, in men and in her career path, and her commitment to both. Her friendship with Michelle allows her the opportunity to compare her approach to a relationship, to that of her friend's. When she runs into a a friend who married her high school sweetheart, she gains a different perspective. As a full-time magazine photographer, she has seen much of the seemier side of life. At the start, she is just beginning to wonder if she has, herself, made the best of choices.

In the midst of self-doubt, a voice from the past reminds her of a whole different way of life. A life she left, a life in fact, she could not even imagine, a few years before. However, the same opportunities might not still exist... and the current life is not all that willing to just let go, either.

Although our main character is introspective, the plot moves forward rapidly. Angelina is poised between two worlds, and rides the storm of the inevitable culture clash. Jazzy dialogue, much of it is between the two very different, yet very attracted main characters, really carries this story. Bancroft has careful attention to detail, but never gets bogged down in descriptions. In 'Settling back' a very complex main character reviews life, considers relationships between other couples, and wonders at her own choices. This is a journey any of us might share: 4 books