She wants the truth on record. He wants to save the town’s best story. Neither expected their arguments to get this personal.

Nola Charette returned to Brinewick to record the town’s history before the state decides the old station isn’t worth saving. As a podcast producer with a sharp eye for buried truths, she knows the official version of Brinewick’s past leaves out the people who actually kept the trains running—including her own grandfather.

Silas Rook has one job: build a clean, convincing heritage case that will help protect the station. As a preservation attorney from one of Brinewick’s most respectable families, he knows exactly how fragile public funding can be. He doesn’t need Nola digging through ledgers, challenging old plaques, and turning the town’s favorite legend into a full-scale emotional excavation.

Unfortunately, Nola is brilliant, relentless, and impossible to ignore. Silas is controlled, infuriating, and far more decent than she wants him to be.

Trapped together in dusty records rooms, diner interviews, and public listening sessions, Nola and Silas discover that history is not the only thing getting harder to contain. But when the truth threatens his family’s reputation and her family’s erasure, desire is not enough. One of them has to risk the story they have been protecting.

Titles in the Brinewick Station After Dark series include:  Last Train to You ~ Delayed by Desire ~ Platform Rules ~ Hot Under the Station Lights ~ Stranded with the Local ~ Home on the 5:42 ~

This story may contain language, violence, and/or sexual situations intended for an adult 18+ audience.

Title:  Delayed by Desire
Series:  Brinewick Station After Dark #3
Author:  Judith Harrison
Published:  September 8, 2026
My Rating:  4.5 stars

Delayed by Desire is the third title in the Brinewick Station After Dark series.  In the continuing battle to protect and preserve the old station, Nola and Silas will sometimes reluctantly join forces.  Unfortunately, they also fight on opposing sides at times.  Nola wants the record set straight: some of the people who originally kept the trains and this station running (including her grandfather) have, over time, been erased from the official record.  She’s prepared to dig out secrets that some founding families might not want to see the light of day.  Silas knows how to protect the station, and Nola’s digging and attempts to change history don’t help one bit.  They are about to find out that the truth doesn’t always wear one face, that many sides of something can be absolutely true… even when the facts left out don’t fit the narrative told for years.

I enjoyed Delayed by Desire.  I love old things, I enjoy learning about their history, and I’ve learned over the years that all legends have a basis in fact… but, often, the legend is preserved because it “sounds” better than the truth ever will.  In many ways, that is what both Nola and Silas are facing.  A version of the truth can exist without wiping out someone’s existence just for the sake of the legend.  Add their growing emotional connection to the mix, and you get a delightful, intense romance.  Their story is well-written, engaging, and emotional as they navigate the truth while holding on to their personal future together.  I’m enjoying the small-town connections and the train station that means so much to the residents.  If that sounds like your kind of Contemporary Romance, then you’d enjoy Nola and Silas’ romance.

*I received an e-ARC of this novel from the author or the author’s team via Booksprout, and I sincerely thank them for their trust. I chose to leave a review with my personal opinion of this book.*

This title is available on Amazon