Some Kind of Wonderful by Beth Ciotta Series: Cupcake Lovers #3.5
Published by St Martin's Press on October 22, 2013
Genres: Contemporary Romance, Holiday - Christmas, Romance
Pages: 83
Format: eARC
Source: Publisher (Netgalley)
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Growing up in Sugar Creek, Maya Templeton and Zachary Cole were best friends. After high school, each went out into the world in search of adventure. Maya moved to Florida to explore her passion for baking and pastry-making, eventually establishing her own business: Cupcakes & Dreamscapes. Zach joined the military and became a Marine Scout Sniper. Now, after years apart, they’re both going home for the holidays. They don’t seem to have much in common anymore. In fact, Zach seems to have the hots for Maya’s business partner. But when the two get stranded together during a blizzard, they are forced to reexamine their connection. Are Maya and Zach better off “just friends”—just as they were when they were young? Or could it be that true love was there all along?
I had high hopes for Some Kind of Wonderful. I always love stories where two childhood best friends come together and discover there’s a lot more than friendship hiding there. I just wish I had been given the opportunity to get to know these two characters better. Both of them fell flat for me. I never learned much about Zach’s time in the military and I did not hear much about Maya’s pastry shop. I felt like a lot of time was spent on the confusion they felt regarding their feelings for each other. Now, I realized partway through that this is book 3.5 in a series. It could be I would have known the characters better, at least Maya anyway.
The pacing was very fast. Conflicts got resolved too quickly, the romance happened too quickly, and things just seemed very unrealistic. I’ve come to expect this from novellas, but I guess I was hoping this one would be different. I do love when characters are forced together by some exterior force. In this case, a ghost blizzard snuck up on them and left them stranded in a secluded cabin. This gave them the opportunity to talk. Their conversations were not incredibly noteworthy, though. And I really did not like ghost aspect. It kind of cheapened and cheese-ified the story for me. Honestly, I would probably pass on this one if I could do things over. I’ve read better Christmas romances.
I am not typically a fan of novellas. I always find them much too short. Unfortunately, Regency romance, which I adore, almost always comes in novella form.
Brianna recently posted…spotlight: skipping stones
Hmmm… I was looking for a nice wee Christmas romance but doesn’t sound like this one is the one for me!
Jan recently posted…2013 End of the Year Book Survey
I hate when I discover once I am reading a book that it is in the middle of a series. I wish books would plaster a number on the front, so we know!
Pamela D recently posted…#ReadingCram Spinal Poetry Challenge
Sorry it was disappointing. A lot of holiday themed romance seems too inconvenient and unrealistic to me too.
Erin recently posted…MagneticBookmarks.com
Thanks for commiserating with the lack of blogging time, Jana. I finally came back from my blogging break and can now respond back.
Everything occurring too fast and not getting to know the characters well enough are two reasons why I don’t read novellas in general. The premise of this one had potential though so it’s too bad that it somehow ended up having a ghost in it. That’s a bit unexpected.
A Canadian Girl recently posted…Review: The Naturals by Jennifer Lynn Barnes
Good review. Interesting story where childhood romances resurface. ;)
A ghostly blizzard? How did they came about? Too bad this book sounds so predictable but holiday romance is always aiming for the cheesy, I guess.
Natasha @Primrose Musings recently posted…Waiting on Wednesday #55: The Almost Girl