A Woman To Blame — Susan Connell

A WOMAN TO BLAME - finalist for the Moonlight and Magnolia's "Maggie" Award.

All Rick Parrish wants is his bar back!

Pappy's Crab Shack is the go-to place for the marina owner & fishing boat captain to kick back, have a cold beer, some conch fritters and, for a little while, leave some unfortunate memories behind. Watching those gaudy-awful sunsets from his favorite chair isn't bad either. So the last thing he wants is his Florida Keys hangout turned into a fancy-ass French restaurant.

Rick returns from vacation to find Pappy is in the hospital and has given granddaughter Bryn (a design consultant) carte blanche to "improve" Pappy's Crab Shack. A furious Rick and a determined Bryn go head to head over the changes. Rick insists nobody on Malabar Key is interested in a gourmet restaurant while Bryn insists it's just the thing to improve business on the key.

Bryn senses Rick has a secret in his past compelling him to fight the changes but she grits her teeth and waits for him to explain. Just what does tiny August Moon Key have to do with Rick and his former wife? Meanwhile Bryn and Rick are shanghaied to co-chair a fund raiser for a new ambulance, but the unwanted sexual attraction they have for each other is complicating everything.

Well into the renovations Bryn comes to realize her upscale restaurant is not a good fit for the laid back life style on Malabar Key. She bravely confesses this to Rick. He is awed by the redhead's humble admission. They can no longer put off the inevitable and begin an intimate and very passionate relationship. Still Bryn wants to know what happened to Rick five years ago out on August Moon Key.

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