Book Nook: Easy Does It

 Escape to Galveston Island with the Cohen sisters in the summer of 1968.

Easy Does It [978-1400324866; $14.99; HarperCollins Christian Publishing; April 2022] by Brooke St. James is the first of nine full-length novels and one Christmas-themed novella (book 2.5) in her popular, multi-generational romance series, the Bank Street Stories.

Easy Does It introduces readers to Tess Cohen, a 23-year-old aspiring artist with dreams of painting beach scenes. She longed to leave the small town of Starks, Louisiana, and head for California to make a go of it as an artist. Instead, she compromised with her parents and decided to spend the summer of 1968 on Galveston Island with her younger sister, Abigail.

Once the extended summer vacation ends, Abigail would return to college in the fall and Tess would finally settle down for good in Starks. But then a chance encounter with ‘Easy’ Billy Castro changed everything.

Billy had a troubled past and was orphaned at the age of 16. No stranger to conflict, he’d been using his natural talent for fighting to scrape together a living collecting debts for a local gambling organization. When boxing legend Marvin Jones finds out Billy has roughed up one of his fighters, he presents him with an opportunity to turn his life around.

Thankfully, Tess also sees his potential, and the love that grows between them that summer will only serve as a catalyst for his drive to become a world champion boxer.

Brooke St. James unfolds this timeless story at a leisurely Texas pace, and Galveston Island serves as the perfect beach background in a love story that pulls out all the stops. Known for her real characters, Brooke writes clean romance novels free of angst, drama and cliff-hangers–and always offers a happy ending.