Genre: Contemporary Romance

Ciao For Now by Kate Bromley | Book Review

Posted June 8, 2023 by Jana in Adult Fiction, Book Review / 1 Comment

Ciao for Now by Kate Bromley
Published by Graydon House on June 6, 2023
Genres: Contemporary Romance, Romance, Romantic Comedy
Pages: 320
Format: eARC
Source: Publisher (Netgalley)
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When an American interning at a fashion house in Rome butts heads with her professor's surly son, sparks fly!

With her thirties rapidly approaching and a mountain of student debt looming over her, Violet Luciano’s dream of finishing design school and working in fashion has cost her everything. So when she lands an internship at an up-and-coming fashion brand in Rome, she brings her A game to Italy. With nothing left to lose, Violet plans to win the competition among the interns for the ultimate prize—a job at a New York label.

But when a coffee run goes wrong and Violet accidentally destroys a stranger’s laptop, all of the apology Americanos in the world won’t help her. Because it turns out that the man from the café is Matteo, her professor’s eternally grumpy son, who thinks she’s a clumsy American…and maybe a stalker. Their animosity (and undeniable chemistry) grows as together they’re forced to face a summer of chic parties, adventures through Rome and sharing a home…with the person they can’t stand the most.

The more time she spends with him, the more distracted she finds herself. With her chance to win the competition slipping out of her grasp, Violet has to decide whether to say ciao to Matteo—or ciao to her dreams.

I loooooove books set in Italy, so when I saw the title of Ciao for Now my eyebrows immediately shot up and I was interested. I loved the idea of a fashion intern falling for her boss’s grumpy son, and I also really liked the idea of an almost-30-year-old college student. Most college romances involve characters in their early twenties (or maybe 18/19), so I was excited to meet Violet. Ciao for Now also has multiple tropes that I love: grumpy/sunshine, forced proximity, and a mild enemies to lovers (just how I like it). While there were a few things that prevented this book from being a brand new favorite of mine, I did enjoy many parts of it and ultimately enjoyed my reading experience. I had so much fun walking the streets of Rome and riding the waves in Capri.

1. Right off the bat, I knew I was going to simply adore Violet’s best friend, Marco. He is a shining, shimmering sunbeam and I could not get enough of him. He’s one of the three interns in this design competition, and I would have been happy if there was no romance at all and the story just focused on him and his friendship with Violet. His snark and humor and personality shot off the page and into my heart, and he was definitely the most dynamic and interesting person in this book. I need a best friend named Marco.

2. Marco and Violet arrive in Rome together and almost immediately Matt enters the scene with one of the cutest and most embarrassing meet-cutes I’ve read. I seriously had so much second-hand embarrassment for Violet, who stumbles and ultimately destroys Matt’s laptop in a cafe. They sit and chat for a while, and the banter was off the charts. My grin was as huge as Marco’s as I read the interactions between Violet and Matt. It was so electric and exciting. Shortly after this unfortunate (yet delightful) encounter, we discover that Matt is the son of Violet’s boss and they will be living in the same house for the entirety of Violet’s one-month stay in Italy. Neither one of them is very happy about it.

3. After the initial meet-cute, though, Violet’s and Matt’s chemistry fizzled and I never got fully back on board with the two of them. What started out as exciting and sexy kind of spiraled down into… well, not much of anything. They really just don’t like each other and I never understood why. Did they not like each other just so the book could be marketed as the ever popular enemies-to-lovers trope? I mean yes, Violet accidentally destroyed his laptop and he lost a lot of his work (he’s a writer for a popular sexy space TV show) but he never gets mad at her for it. He’s actually way nicer than anyone would expect. Because he was so nice, Violet has no reason to hate him. She caused all the problems and he was nice about it. lol. I actually had no idea this was supposed to be enemies-to-lovers. I thought they left the cafe happy to have met, and I assumed they would be happy to run into each other again. This mutual hatred came out of nowhere for me.

4. While Violet and Matt do have some great moments together and some really fun banter, I didn’t feel like the romance was strong enough. These two also seem much younger than the 29 (Violet) and 32 (Matt), neither one of them acted mature enough to convince me they were the ages they were supposed to be. Violet in particular grated on my nerves. Yes, she’s going through a growing phase in her life but she just came off as selfish and immature. We learn about Matt’s past, which I think was supposed to add depth to his character and explain why he’s so surly, but I didn’t buy it. I think their lack of maturity made the inevitable third-act break-up much more dramatic than it needed to be.

5. BUT. I loved the friendships in this book, and that’s what propelled my reading forward. I’ve already mentioned Marco, but there’s also Holly, the third intern. I really liked her, and she gets a cute little side romance that I found myself wishing was the main romance because she is so likeable and the guy is pretty swoony. Violet also becomes close friends with Mina, an employee at the design firm. Mina introduces her to a group of other women who work in fashion, and they have the coolest support system and friendship. Then there’s the woman who own the fabric shop down the street, who has so much wisdom and gives great advice. And Violet’s boss was amazing! She’s like the opposite of Miranda Priestly, with her brightly colored flowing dresses, her bubbly enthusiasm, and her propensity to rain showers of compliments and affection down on everyone around her. Ciao for Now has the strongest cast of secondary characters ever–possibly the strongest cast I’ve ever read about.

6. Italy delivered for me. I loved when the characters were sightseeing, and found it to be so much more entertaining than all the fashion talk. Violet, Marco, and Holly take the city by storm for an assignment and visit so many touristy spots in Rome that I’ve been to, so I could picture everything in my mind so perfectly. Violet and Matt go on a weekend trip to Capri and stay in what sounds like the most magical oceanfront hotel in existence. I loved the descriptions of all the scenery and the things they did. The characters spend time walking the streets and sitting on the balcony working in the evenings. I loved these parts of the story the most.

So all in all, I enjoyed Ciao for Now! I really think my only problem with it was that I didn’t like the two main characters, so the romance didn’t work for me. Sometimes I skimmed their long discussions because I didn’t care about them. But I loved the secondary characters so much that I felt so many happy feelings while reading. Kate Bromley did such a great job with the cast of characters and their friendships and banter and love for one another, and she did such an amazing job writing about Italy that I didn’t even care that the main characters and their journey to find love didn’t work for me. And honestly, I don’t think I’ve ever been able to say that before. So I’m surprised and happy to say I would recommend this to anyone who is looking for a kind of Devil Wears Prada-esque fashion story set in Italy, with a slew of characters to fall in love with.

My Phony Valentine by Courtney Walsh | Book Review

Posted March 9, 2023 by Jana in Adult Fiction, Book Review / 2 Comments

My Phony Valentine by Courtney Walsh
Series: Holidays With Hart #1
Published by Sweethaven Press on February 8, 2023
Genres: Contemporary Romance, Romance, Romantic Comedy
Pages: 373
Format: eBook
Source: Kindle Unlimited
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A chance meeting. A hunky hockey player. A fake romance.
Hardly an ordinary day in the life of Poppy Hart.

My days usually consist of agonizing over my failing restaurant, worrying about my mountain of debt and nursing my broken heart.

Everything changes when I bump into a man in the coffee shop and claim him as my new boyfriend. To my absolute horror, he turns out to be hockey’s most renowned bad boy, Dallas Burke. To my absolute delight, he goes along with my story.

When his no-nonsense manager and meddling grandmother jump in the picture, they see a win-win solution for my failing restaurant and Dallas’s less-than-stellar reputation.

A full-fledged fake romance complete with contract negotiations, pretend dates and phony PDA.

But as I get to know the real Dallas Burke, who is not the man the press says he is, it becomes clear that if this isn’t real. . . someone better tell it to my heart.

My Phony Valentine is my first book by Courtney Walsh, but it definitely will not be my last! I absolutely loved this story! If you’re in the mood for a sweet, romantic, fauxmance between a chef and a bad boy hockey player looking to spruce up his image, look no further! Poppy and Dallas are just the two love birds you need. They have the cutest, cringiest meet-cute ever in a coffee shop, where Poppy grabs onto the first guy she sees and claims him as her boyfriend when the local mean girl decides to rewind all the way back to high school. Dallas plays along, and pretty soon they strike up a deal to fake a romance. Poppy could use a little publicity for her ailing restaurant, and Dallas could use some good news associated with his name for once. It’s the perfect plan, and the small town of Loveland is just the place to get the rumors flying. Throw in a meddling grandmother and a loveable, yet pushy publicist and pretty soon Poppy and Dallas are gracing the front pages of magazines and online gossip columns, and catching some real feelings along the way.

I really loved reading about Poppy and Dallas! They’re both very sweet, wholesome cinnamon rolls who have some trauma in their pasts that give them depth and a reason to root for their happiness. I loved the small town vibes and Poppy’s cute restaurant. I loved Dallas’s Gram, who Poppy cooks for as she recovers from hip replacement surgery. She is spunky and caring. I loved going to hockey games and meeting Dallas’s teammates and their wives. What I loved most of all, though, is the conversations Dallas and Poppy have in the kitchen while she cooks and he watches (and then insists on cleaning up after). I enjoyed their time watching movies and accidentally falling asleep on the couch together. This is a closed-door romance, and I am finding myself loving these more and more as I continually find such lovely ones. There are some pretty amazing, toe-curling kissing scenes, which gave me all the swoons without the steam. And sometimes that’s exactly what I want! There’s also no strong language, another win for me.

All in all, My Phony Valentine was a delight! I loved Poppy’s sisters, and I have a feeling they will each be getting a book in this series in the future. Although. I really hope some of Dallas’s teammates get books as well. I loved them. If you loved The Cheat Sheet, you’ll love this too! Can’t wait for more Courtney Walsh!

Snug in Iceland by Victoria Walker | Book Review

Posted February 23, 2023 by Jana in Adult Fiction, Book Review / 7 Comments

Snug in Iceland by Victoria Walker
Series: Icelandic Romance #1
Published by Ever After Books on October 1, 2021
Genres: Contemporary Romance, Romance
Pages: 234
Format: eBook
Source: Kindle Unlimited
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Rachel Richards is stuck in a rut. Her boyfriend Adam barely notices her most of the time and her life in London isn’t as exciting as it should be. When the company she works for, Snug, asks her to oversee the opening of a new store in Iceland, she jumps at the chance for a change of scenery. Exploring Reykjavik with the help of Icelandic tour guide Jonas, Rachel discovers that life is out there waiting to be lived. As she falls in love with Iceland, she begins to see what is important to her and wonders whether the life she left behind is what she wants after all…

Look at that cover. Iceland! Romance! Snug in Iceland had all the makings of a story made for me. Well… buckle up, friends, because I have things to say. And it’s going to be a big mash of words because my head is all over the place. There’s no organization to this review, and I might repeat myself. There also might be some spoilers. A book that does this to me is not worth it, trust me.

Things I Liked:

The cover.
The setting. In theory (more on this later).

Things I Didn’t Like:

The heroine, Rachel. I couldn’t stand her. She’s a major, major doormat. Her boyfriend walks all over her and she absolutely lets him. She has no spine whatsoever. She’s boring, and she’s extremely bland. There’s absolutely no substance to her.
I have no clue what Jonas is like. He seems nice, but there’s nothing to him. He’s a fuzzy blur against a snowy background. That’s it for me.
The romance between Rachel and Jonas was never developed to a satisfying place. Rachel should have broken up with her boyfriend, Adam, way earlier, because I just kept getting annoyed at the double standard. She suspects Adam of cheating on her while she’s been emotionally cheating on him and even kissed Jonas. But Adam is the only one who is doing something wrong, even though she’s stringing him along while trying to decide if she should dump him. Furthermore, I highly doubt she would have even dumped him if a better option hadn’t come along for her to switch over to, and that made me lose whatever respect I had for her (if any). It’s ok to be alone if you’re unhappy with your partner. You’ll be ok not in a relationship. The back and forth of “oh, but Adam but also Jonas but oh no, Adam and I have been together for so long, but wow Jonas is so hot” got very old.
I can probably now write on my resume that I am qualified to open a retail store on my own. There was page after page after page of what was essentially a how-to manual for working retail and managing a new store opening. I was amazingly bored with it all. Why the floors must be restored instead of replaced, how to stock a stock room, how to interview creators, how much stock to order, how to set up shelving, the scientific reasons for why a cash register should be placed here instead of there, which throw pillows should be seen through the window from the outside, money and expenditures, bottom lines, why companies are acquired by other companies, and on and on. There was more time spent on work related conversations and explanations that on anything any reader would actually want to read about, such as romance, scenery, feelings, and character development. And oh my gosh, it took forever for us to learn how to unlock the tricky front door of this store. Why do I need to know the intricacies of unlocking a door?!
I thought the title “Snug in Iceland” sounded so cute and cozy! I was looking for a snuggly read with cuddling by the fire and snowy landscapes. Imagine my disappointment when I discovered that “Snug” is the name of this retail store and there’s nothing snuggly about it. It’s like naming a book “Home Goods in Canada”.
This book takes place in Iceland. I should feel like I’m in Iceland! There was so much that could have been done with this stunning setting. The heroine rides long distances in a car, with no descriptions of what she’s seeing. She goes sightseeing, but no visuals are provided about what anything looks like. When Rachel finally sees the Northern Lights, we get a sentence or two about the green ribbon across the sky. That was IT, after the entire book built up hope that she would see them before she left. There was absolutely no creative writing whatsoever.
There were no descriptions of anything. I have no idea what Rachel or Jonas look like except that they’re hot. A knitted hat got more description than anything else.
SO basically, there was no depth.
The writing is just not good at all. The actual sentences and word choices were not good. The dialogue was flat, cliched, and emotionless. We’ve established that the descriptions were non-existent. There was also no character development, no sense of who anyone was or what their personalities were like, and the plot was extremely empty. The same things keep happening and he same things keep being said.
Other reviewers have indicated that the author seems to have done no research on Iceland apart from going there on vacation. I can’t speak to the validity of that, but I did feel that more could have been done to capture the culture and beauty of Iceland. I felt like I was reading a book set in London, and London is fine. Bu London is not Iceland.
The ending is very rushed and unsatisfying. Obstacles that had been there, preventing Jonas and Rachel from being together, simply melt away as soon as a little thought is put into their situation. It was a simple, basic, very frustrating ending. But at the same time, I was so glad it was over.

Well, there you have it. There’s a lot more I can say, but I’m tired of thinking about this book. I would not recommend Snug in Iceland, and I’m interested in finding another book set in Iceland that will do for me what I wish this one had. Any recommendations for me?

How to Kiss Your Grumpy Boss by Jenny Proctor | Book Review

Posted February 2, 2023 by Jana in Adult Fiction, Book Review / 3 Comments

How to Kiss Your Grumpy Boss by Jenny Proctor
Series: Hawthorne Brothers #2
Also in this series: How to Kiss You Best Friend
Genres: Contemporary Romance, Romance
Pages: 337
Format: eBook
Source: Kindle Unlimited
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Perry Hawthorne is my boss. Only my boss. And I do NOT have a crush.

When one of THE Hawthorne brothers—known by their chiseled jawlines and their family-run farm and event center—hires me to be his virtual assistant, I do everything I can to keep him firmly in the work zone.

His grumpy demeanor helps.

His smoking hot profile picture does not.

But even if I do have a crush (a very tiny one), I can’t catch real feelings for a million different reasons.

Besides the whole business part of our relationship, I’m a single mom. I have to think about what’s best for my son, Jack. And my grumpy, divorced, humorless boss isn’t exactly giving me “ready to be a stepdad” vibes.

When Perry upgrades me from virtual to in-person assistant, I wonder if I’ve gotten him all wrong. He’s actually pretty great with Jack. And with me? Let’s just say the chemistry crackling between us might vaporize all my reasons for keeping my distance.

Trouble is, after his messy divorce, I’m not sure Perry’s ready to bet on a new relationship. But it isn’t just my heart that’s on the line. It’s Jack’s, too. And after everything we went through before my husband died, I’m not sure that’s a gamble I’m ready to take, no matter how desperate Jack is for a daddy.

How to Kiss Your Best Friend is a sweet romantic comedy with all the sizzling kisses you want in a closed-door romance but no explicit scenes.

Ok. Have you ever REALLY wanted to love a book and it just didn’t happen? I cannot tell you how much I wanted to love How to Kiss Your Grumpy Boss. After reading and not loving the first book in this series, How to Kiss Your Best Friend, a couple weeks ago enough groundwork had been laid that I really hoped that this second book would be better for me because there’s just something about these Hawthorne brothers and their family farm. Well, it was actually worse instead. As always, my main points are bolded.

1. Just like with How to Kiss Your Best Friend, I loved the setting. And we get to see even more of it in How to Kiss Your Grumpy Boss, which means I love it even more! It’s now Fall in Silver Creek, and the Stonebrooke Farm is gearing up for their annual festival. There’s changing leaves, fall decorations, beautiful apple orchards, lots of apple eating, cuddly baby goats, and a troublesome pig. I loved the descriptions of the farm. I felt cozy reading them.

2. But now we get to the hard part. Just like I didn’t like Kate in How to Kiss Your Best Friend, I didn’t like Lila in this book. Again, Lila is so shallow. In the beginning, all readers hear about is how hot/sexy/brother of a hot, sexy celebrity Perry is. She likes his height, his beard, his face, his flannel, his voice, etc. He’s talking about how sweet she is, how smart she is, how her help has done wonders for his business, and yes, the fact that she’s also hot. But at least he mentions more than her looks. Lila takes forever to care about anything but his looks, and has a crush on him as soon as she finds out she’s his virtual assistant. Who cares about his personality, he looks hot in a picture online so clearly it’s time to start figuring out if she’s mourned her dead husband for long enough. I just wanted more substance from her. More depth. I’d like to know she cares more about who he is than what he looks like, but for a very long time that doesn’t seem to be the case. Lila acts like a silly schoolgirl, mooning over and picking apart every interaction she has with him. I also didn’t really like Lila’s son, Jack. He’s precocious and says some cute things, but his personality was a bit too cheesy for me overall.

3. Perry was a pretty flat character, which I wasn’t expecting because of the glimpses of his backstoryI sawi n the first book. He’s supposed to be a grump, but he’s not. lol. I was looking for a super grumpy, hard to like kind of guy who takes time to soften as he learns to trust again. His grump-factor is about equal to “I got 6 hours of sleep instead of 8”. He was grouchy sometimes, but he didn’t have the grump persona so he just came off as occasionally rude. Lila’s curves cure the grumpies for him very quickly, and then he’s a teddy bear. There wasn’t much else to him.

4. Usually with grumpy/sunshine combos in romance, there’s a slow burn that’s so deliciously satisfying. I love watching a grump warm up, but the romance in this goes from 0 to 100 in a heartbeat (much like Kate’s feelings over Brody in the first book). I didn’t even believe this romance. Perry went through a horribly bitter divorce and Lila was in an emotionally abusive marriage that she was days away from ending before her husband was killed in a military training exercise. Lila also has a child. These two people have obstacles and things to work through, but everything becomes so easy for them so quickly. There’s no angst, only instalove. Perry is trying to figure out how to be Jack’s dad after two brief interactions with him. You don’t go from “hey, look at this cute little boy glad he’s not mine” to “hey, I’m this little boy’s instant daddy look how much I love him” in such a short amount of time. Oh, and there’s an ultimatum given very prematurely by one of these characters that rubbed me the wrong way. These two get way ahead of themselves, and I kept rolling my eyes at how unrealistic it was. I’m all for the super cheesy Hallmark, rainbows and sunshine romance but this was too much even for me.

5. Similarly to how I felt with the first book, there’s a lot of repetition in this one. I skimmed a lot during the second half, just to get through it and I feel like I didn’t miss anything. Perry is hot. Lila is hot. Both of them run through exhausting monologues about the same relationship concerns over and over again. And, like the first book, they each have a running list of “what if” questions going through their minds all the time (and we have to read them all the time). And then they hash and re-hash these concerns and questions in their own minds, with each other, and with everyone they know. Multiple times. How is every main character in this series so tied up in knots all the time? It’s exhausting. I understand the reluctance and the worry that comes with a new relationship like this, but their actions do not mesh with their extreme anxiety so why did I have to keep reading the same things about it?

6. Perry and Lila have to do a little bit of a fake dating thing for his overnight high school reunion trip, and I liked parts of that. They have some pillow talk conversations that I enjoyed reading. During those couple chapters I thought maybe the book was turning around for me and that I was getting some real depth. But again, everything happened so fast. It went from fake to real in the blink of an eye. So fast that it didn’t even feel romantic. Oh, and there’s a scene during this part of the story with Perry’s ex-wife, who was so mean that I was actually real life mad about it. And the fact that this issue was “resolved” only because Perry had to go to his ex, a grown woman, and force her to apologize for what she said annoyed me. An apology under duress is not sincere at all, and everyone involved seemed satisfied with it. This isn’t elementary school.

7. I liked the apple puns at first and thought they were a cute flirtation device, but then they got old once the same ones started being reused.

8. I still love the rest of the Hawthorne family. I mean, besides the nauseatingly obvious hints from mama Hawthorne that she wants Perry and Lila to get together (because the family instaloves her too), I still like these people! And seriously, she about as subtle as a freight train. How can I be so torn?? Lennox’s book is next, followed by Flint’s (I’m assuming). And I still really like both these guys. Part of me doesn’t want to continue the series because I feel like plot devices and character traits keep being reused, but a part of me does want to continue because the guys are so great. I just wish these books got better heroines who weren’t so one-dimensional and shallow.

All in all, this book was a disappointment for me. I do think I’ll be continuing with the series, though, since it’s part of Kindle Unlimited. If I had to pay for them individually in order to continue reading, I wouldn’t. I do love those Hawthorne brothers, and there’s a part of me that wants to see how things go for them.

How to Kiss Your Best Friend by Jenny Proctor | Book Review

Posted January 19, 2023 by Jana in Adult Fiction, Book Review / 3 Comments

How to Kiss You Best Friend by Jenny Proctor
Series: Hawthorne Brothers #1
Also in this series: How to Kiss Your Grumpy Boss
Published by Four Petal Press on May 24, 2022
Genres: Contemporary Romance, Romance
Pages: 285
Format: eBook
Source: Kindle Unlimited
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He’s a hot high school chemistry teacher living in a small town. She’s a globetrotting journalist running from her past. They used to be best friends. Then one kiss changes everything.

*******

Kate Fletcher is my kryptonite.

She’s also my best friend. Former best friend?

I’m not sure what you call it when we grew up attached at the hip and then she left Silver Creek (and me) to travel the world.

The important thing is: Kate is back. (Temporarily.)

And I’m still in love with her. (Permanently.)

But something is different now. The attraction doesn’t seem one-sided. I don’t think I’m imagining the heat in Kate’s eyes or the chemistry crackling between us.

But will that be enough to keep Kate here, when, for as long as I can remember, all she’s wanted to do is leave?

I’m determined to give her a reason to stay. Family. Connection. Roots. And me. I’ll have to start with sparks and fire, but if I take this step, there’s no turning back to simple friendship. And if she doesn’t feel the same way, I might lose her again—this time for good.

How to Kiss Your Best Friend is a sweet romantic comedy with all the crackling chemistry and sizzling kisses you want in a closed-door romance but no explicit scenes.

I have been really loving the closed-door romances lately, and I’ve also seen great things about Jenny Proctor! I thought I’d give her books a try, starting out with this first book in her new series, The Hawthorne Brothers. I love series that focus on different members of the same family, so I immediately gravitated towards this one. I was surprised by this book, but do have a few complaints! As always, my main points are bolded.

1. First and foremost, I love the setting. We start out hiking the Appalachian Trail and then end up in Silver Creek for the remainder of the book. Silver Creek is the cutest small town, and I want to go there. DoorDash has one driver and three options for food in this town. I love it. The homes, situated on at least an acre of land each, all sound so cute and cozy. There’s a lake that butts up against the back of Kate’s grandmother’s house, and a creek (obviously). Readers spend time in the various creeks and rivers with Brody while he kayaks or teaches other to kayak. We also get to visit the Hawthorne family farm, which doubles as an event center and Brody’s brother is in the process of opening up his own restaurant on the property, too. The farmhouse sounds gorgeous, there’s an apple orchard, strawberry fields, and baby goats. Yes, you heard me. Baby. Goats. Who need to be cuddled and fed.

2. Kate. Kate, Kate, Kate. Well, I didn’t like her much. She frustrated me to no end! Her lack of communication with various people in her life has really messed everything up for her. She’s also pretty shallow. She had no feelings for Brody whatsoever until she saw his “glow-up”. He’s sprouted muscles since she last saw him, and Kate will never let you forget it. More time was spent describing his sexy muscles and toned physique than was spent on describing their kisses. lol. Once she saw those muscles, the feelings began to flow. She goes from 0 to 100 in the blink of an eye. Majorly insta-love, which seems strange because he’s been there for nearly two decades.

I think my biggest problem with Kate, though, is that she’s a runner. She runs away from everything. She left Silver Creek ages ago to get away from the life she thought she would end up living if she stayed there. In the process, she broke Brody’s heart into pieces and has spent, really, the bulk of their 19-year friendship continuing to break his heart over and over again. Her grandma was practically her favorite person in the world, and she refused to go home to help her or even attend her funeral because Silver Creek is evil. She doesn’t want to stay in one place for too long because that’s bad. And she doesn’t change her way of thinking or adjust her mindset until someone tells her why she should. She doesn’t grow or change on her own, she’s just given the answer (that she could have gotten years ago if she had better communication skills) on a silver platter and that’s that. She makes a 180. But still, her favorite thing about Brody is his muscles. He makes her feel safe. He feels right. He has muscles. She’s just not deep. In the end I did like her more, but I’m keeping my eyes on her.

3. Brody, on the other hand, is a dream. He has been in love with Kate since the day he met her (I have no idea why), and he will do (and has done) anything for her. While she’s been off galavanting, not giving him a second thought, he’s been following her career, reading everything she writes (and saving copies of all of it), keeping tabs on her social media, and rarely dating. When she breezes through, he drops everything to be there for her and spends just enough time with her for him to be heartbroken when she leaves again. He’s a nerdy science teacher with a heart of gold, fighting to the death for his school kayak program. His students love him. His family loves him. He has the sweetest dog. He’s loyal to a fault, thinks deeply, is empathetic and loving, cares about people, and is just so sweet.

4. The romance was very sweet at the end, and I got all my butterflies and swoons, but getting there was a journey of repetition. Brody and Kate spend so much time in their thoughts, agonizing over how to deal with their feelings. I’ve never been in their position, but I can understand the fear of coming clean to your best friend that you’re in love with them. It could change everything if that love is unrequited, and then you lose your love and your friend. But oh my gosh, these two. Their inner monologues go on and on and repeat page after page, hashing out their concerns and their fears and their feelings. They just kept saying the same things to themselves and their friends/family throughout the entire book. I got so emotionally drained. lol. Just tell each other how you feel! Say it! And I know, that’s hard. This was actually a pretty realistic portrayal of the anxiety that occurs between friends who want more, but I am exhausted!

5. I loved that the heat and sizzle was there, while keeping intimacy behind closed doors. There were some good kisses and major tension.

6. I really like the Hawthorne family, and I love how protective and supportive they are of Brody. He has a moment with his brothers that made me so eager to read each of their books because they’re all such great guys. I love his sister, Olivia, and am excited to go find the book that has her love story.

7. I loved all the kayaking tidbits!

8. The writing was great! I loved the descriptions of the scenery and the kayaking. Transitions between chapters were so fluid that I couldn’t find a stopping point. The kisses were written so, so well that I had to fan myself. I could have done with less repetition. Brody’s muscles and their inner monologues got old for me.

All in all, this was great for me! I struggled with Kate, but I really enjoyed the rest of this book. I loved the Hawthorne family, their farm, and Silver Creek. Brody is a new book boyfriend, and I have a feeling each of his brothers will turn into one for me as well. I’ve already downloaded the next book, and will be starting it very soon!