2. 5 stars ~ The Haven ~
597068
Sadie Lapp left home to be with her sister Julia and her brother-in-law but felt the pull to return home to her father and sister after only a few months. On her way home she finds something at the bus station that will change not only her life but her family's forever. Upon her arrival she learns that the rare birds her deceased brother loved so much have garnered attention from across the country so the Lapp farm is crawling with strangers trying to catch a glimpse of the falcons. Sadie's unsure of what to make of the handsome Englischer Will Stoltz, birdwatcher and caretaker or the sudden change in her old friend Gideon Smucker. As the summer goes on she struggles with family, community and friendship and must learn to come out of her shell or continue to be trampled on.

Okay so here it comes, I highly respect this author and love all her previous works but this book just wasn't for me. The story in and of itself wasn't bad but I did not like two of the three main characters and found myself almost wanting to skip over their parts of the story. Will Stoltz was lazy and whiny and Gideon Smucker was trying so hard to get Sadie's attention that it bordered on painful to read. Will did get a little better as the story went on but still not enough to impress me. I didn't really like or sympathize with either of these men. As a romance reader I feel you're supposed to like at least one of the heroines potential love interests.

I still loved Sadie's little sister, Mary Kate (aka M.K.) who was precocious as ever and her ornery Uncle Hank in this book. Hopefully The Lesson will bring these characters back, give us some answers about Sadie's love life and hopefully the men of that story I will like! As I said before I loved the first book in this series, The Keeper, (my review HERE) and I loved Suzanne Woods Fisher's previous series, Lancaster County Secrets. The characters in those books were so full of soul and the emotion fairly oozed off the pages. I'm looking forward to seeing how this series ends and hopefully get some closure!

~ My Rating 2.5 out of 5 stars ~

*I received a complimentary copy of this book for review from the publisher. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission's 16 CFR, Part 255.*
2336190
Trust (The Alex Conner Chronicles) by Parker Sinclair, unfortunately, missed its mark in my Trust.  I can honestly only give the book three stars.  To be fair, I attempted to write a review after I read it through once and realized maybe I did not give it a fair chance; so I read it a second time which lead me to pick it apart even more.

The main character, Alex (Alexis, Lex) Conner is not a strong character.  Her character and the plot made me think of a mix between Elsa from Frozen (just get over your fear and you can control everything) and Bella Swan from Twilight.
90% of the book seemed like one long backstory; which I totally get in trying to develop a character, but it needed to happen quicker so that more action (or the point trying to be made) could have occurred; not just the last 8% of the book.  I felt like this was a filler book, and maybe any sequels will be able to expand more on the story itself.

The sub-characters seemed more intriguing to me, and I kind of wanted more from, and about, them; Sandra, Carmen, Nic, Justin, and Ryan could be phenomenal characters to work with, if given more of a chance.  I think Sandra could be in her own book; she was my favorite.

The story was very predictable; I even had the who and how (except for a Demon detail) which left me mysterious-less.  Maybe this was not the authors intent, but it was what I felt was delivered.

I am not ruling out that the author may have just had a miss-step with this book, and future books in this series will be better and more exciting.  Even though it was not my favorite book, I have added the second book to my Kindle in hopes that the story grows into the flower from the seed that was planted.
1157748
This review is more like 2.5 stars. I couldn't decide between 2 or 3, but bumped it up because it was good enough to get through in a day.

I'll try to keep it mostly spoiler free, as my complaints have little to do with specific plot points.

I've been reading a lot of Cassandra Clare's work lately, and greatly anticipated City of Lost Souls. It was less on the grounds that she's some amazing writer, but more on the entertainment value of finding out what happens next. Call it a guilty pleasure, if you will. But there were so many problems with this book that I couldn't overlook this time, and it detracted from my overall experience.

Firstly, the descriptions are ridiculous. It was established in the very beginning that Jace is beautiful, angelic. We need not be reminded every time, yet we are. Even when characters are thinking about Jace, we have to hear how beautiful he is. It's also unnecessary to describe every article of clothing a character is wearing, as it takes focus away from what's happening. Same for the new locations. They're described in such detail that I found myself skipping over certain lines and missing nothing, because there was no need to focus on it. Overused descriptions are another problem. I cringed a little every time a form of the word "gold" was used in this book. Also "hearts slamming against chests," and "half-closed eyes." They simply bother me.

Focus is a good word that this book needs. Events are all over the place, and it's difficult to determine what's important. It didn't bother me at first, but I'm beginning to really dislike the constant POV jumps. They occur much too frequently, it's often ambiguous whose POV it is at first, and honestly it's a little insulting to my attention span. I feel like it's overused to build tension, when tension should occur normally within the span of a scene. I find few things more jarring than being in the middle of a tense moment, only to have to read about Jordan and Maia being all over each other again.

I'm starting to get the feeling that this book has far too many characters for the story it's trying to convey. It's probably too late at this point, but the series would benefit greatly in scaling back the number of POVs to perhaps just Clary, Simon, and possibly Jace. Other characters can still be there, don't get me wrong, but it's unnecessary to know what everyone is thinking about everything. There is intrigue in knowing only one side of the story.

Overall this wasn't a terrible book. It's just that a decent story was drowned in a lot of unnecessary things. Many fans will love it, I'm sure, but it simply had too many problems for me to enjoy it to its fullest. I still look forward to the conclusion, just perhaps not as much as I would have otherwise.
2884445
I picked up this book because I was really interested in the second story in the book, Sway. However, I only ended up finishing the first story (Exiled by Maya Banks).

EXILED (3 stars): Exiled is the reason this book is getting two stars, otherwise it would only get one.  Exiled by itself is about three stars for me. The story was ok, a bit far-fetched, but still ok.  My problems with it was the dynamics in the book didn't really make a lot of sense for me.  Xander is the exiled prince of a small country and with him are his 3 trusted friends/guards.  These friends, we are told over and over again, are extremely loyal to Xander.  What isn't clear is why.  I saw their loyalty, but I didn't see much about Xander that would garner such loyalty.  Xander plays the alpha to their wolf-pack, but he comes off as a selfish jerk. Everything was about him, what he wanted, and the way he wanted it.  I could see why Talia would develop feelings for some of the other men, but I had no idea what any of them saw in Xander.  I had this overall sense that Xander was not only Domming Talia, but all of them.

He shares Talia with them, but he retains this air of possession with her that gave me the sense that while sharing her with them she was ultimately his.  Did that mean the other men could pursue relationships of their own?  Was Talia free to fall in love with the other men?  Talia was confused about this in the book and so was I, right up to the very end. Talia and the other men truly serving at the pleasure of the prince.

SWAY (1 star): I didn't finish this story.  There wasn't any problem with the writing or story telling in my book over all.  I just didn't care for it. After the initial meet-cute of the two main characters, there next couple of scenes between the characters seemed a bit disjointed. There was also a lot of characters in this story introduced or reference that it became a bit confusing.  I haven't read anything by this author before, so I didn't care about, nor care to, meet all of the characters from previous books.  They didn't really add much to this story for me.  So, I did not get far in this book.  Maybe it was me, maybe I wasn't in the mood for a cast of characters. This story just did not hold my interest.
266244
I really wish Amazon would do the half star thing because although I didn't hate this book, I also didn't love it. So this is more like a 2.5 (okay) star read. The premise of the story was interesting. To be honest, I'm more a romance reader, but I love reading stories about relationships/families so thought I would give this a try.

The story centres around Nick who is married to Marcy. He decides to coach their young son's baseball team and meets, Tess, one of the mothers of the boys he coaches. There is instant attraction/infatuation that Nick struggles with and he finds himself at a crossroads of sorts. Told completely from Nick's POV, this is his story about his life and an inside look to the ups and downs of their marriage/family. I really enjoyed the way this was written. The story flowed well and was intriguing enough to keep my interest throughout the whole book. But there were some things that I'd struggled with, and mainly, that was to do with Nick.

I didn't like how he never told Marcy the whole truth of everything that happened and everything he'd been thinking/dreaming about. There were things that happened that he would tell half-truths to (or just not admit to at all), which made it really hard for me to be sympathetic towards him or to fully like him. It goes as far as him comparing to two women and finding Marcy lacking. And because of this, I feel that Marcy's decision in the end would have been different had she known the full story. It didn't help that Nick **************SPOILER***************had betrayed her while they were engaged*******************END SPOILER*****************and then to do this? She forgave him back then, and she forgave him again with Tess (multiple times with Tess, really). Makes me think that she will forgive him when he gets tempted (and follows through) again, which is kind of sad.

Despite all that, the story is good. Had it been a romance, this would have been an utter fail, but it's not, so normal romance rules don't apply here :) Because of that, I can appreciate the story for what it is, but I just wish that Marcy had known everything and that there had been more repercussions (or at least ones that Marcy didn't have to pay for!) and seen him really try to come back from that. Maybe if I felt Nick really wanted Marcy for more than just the familiar comfort she gave and was to him, I would have enjoyed it more.
618722
With a bit of a new spin on the YA paranormal romance angel, THE ETERNAL ONES (Eternal Ones #1) explores the idea of reincarnation. While I did enjoy this fresh look on the heavily saturated young and paranormal love genre, I wasn't instantly captivated.

Aside from the excess of filler, most of my issues were with Haven. She starts off being portrayed as this independent strong individual who is confidant in who she is and thumbs her nose at those who judge her, be it her uptight and controlling religious grandmother or the gossipy kids at school. But as the story progresses Haven seems to take on an entirely different self, one who second guesses every decision and is easily persuaded by a handsome face and a charming smile. All the second guessing was a bit distracting, not to mention frustrating and Haven came off way too wishy-washy for my taste in that of an interesting protagonist.

However I did eventually come around and start to get into the story more, just as the end drew near and fortunately will have another chance to be won over by Haven, Iain and Beau in the next installment as the Eternal Ones series continues.
386482
This is a sweet story. There are spooky shadow ghosts, creepy drugged-out 20-year-olds dabbling in black magic beyond their skills, some violence & some sex, but nothing is very graphic. I had the feeling throughout that everything would be okay--hence the sweet. Makayla, the protagonist, is very angsty over her ability to feel others emotions & sense ghosts/see past moments when stepping on land that holds memories...but this book is all framed as research Makayla is doing for a story, so as much as she gets pushed around by others' emotions, the bad guys & ghosts...we know that she wants to write a tidy story that has romance for her, and closure for her ghosts.

The reasons I gave this book 3 stars were that we are privy to an excessive amount of Makayla's thoughts and feelings, and she recaps all the major action in phone calls to her BFF Denise, but especially when there is dialogue, all narrative description seems to disappear. People speak in long paragraphs without breaks. It's a series of monologues where characters don't interrupt each other, and we don't know how the characters are talking, or what people are doing with their bodies while speaking or listening. It makes it hard, as a non-empath, to understand the emotions of a conversation.

There are loose ends as far as her ancestors, and her parents, but I hope for her boyfriend, Noah's, sake that this is a single novel. I guess the irony of being an empath & feeling everyone's emotions, is that Makayla has a terrible time actually expressing emotions to others...unless she is talking about someone to her friend Denise.

** I was given a free copy to read & review**
4438943
I bought this as a low-priced Kindle whim, and it provided a couple of days of escapist chick-lit fun, so I suppose I got my money's worth, but I can't really rate it higher than 3 stars, as there are just a whole host of plot problems that distracted me too much. Of course light chick-lit is generally based on completely unrealistic plot setups, so I shouldn't be surprised, but this one pushed it too far. It centers on Lexi, who is separated from her husband Andrew because he doesn't want children and she's decided she does. She goes to Vegas for a fun weekend with her BFF Nicki, and has a one-night stand with Leo. They both feel like they are each other's soulmates, but somehow, through a series of miscommunications, decide not to follow through on seeing each other - or even talking - and Lexi goes back to Andrew and Leo to his career and life. They meetup many years later and the sparks are still there, and they need to decide what to do about it (I don't want to give too much away, so that's the minimal no-spoiler plot summary.)

The male characters are not all that well-developed, so that is part of the problem with accepting the plot - it's hard to buy the idea that Lexi and Leo feel so deeply about each other based on only 24 hours together, and then it's hard to buy Lexi and Andrew's relationship at all. For most of the book Andrew (the husband) is portrayed as not too bad a guy (albeit a workaholic) but then in the end we discover he's deeply dishonest with a bad temper, and it feels a bit bipolar, and like the author is trying too hard to make sure we want Lexi to end up with Leo. All the tortured should-we or shouldn't-we between Leo and Lexi once they meet up again is hard to swallow - they barely know each other after all, so it's hard to buy them planning a future together. And the way they end up meeting again - Leo is the events planner at the hotel Nicki has chosen for her wedding in Vegas - requires a huge leap of acceptance. Lexi is also deeply dishonest herself, so as a protagonist this creates problems. A lot of the plot issues rely on missed communications and lost cell phones and things of that ilk as well, so that makes it harder to buy too. You just can't help thinking that in this day and age, Leo and Lexi would have found some way to be in contact, and all of this self-torture would have ended a lot sooner.

But the book had its moments, and I did read it all the way through, and even enjoyed parts, so kudos for that.
772638
2.5 stars! I really enjoyed the premise of this story, and there were so elements that I really enjoyed! Overall, I found it a bit predictable and forced. I liked the overall Christian theme/tone of the story, but something was missing for me in the connection/relationship of this couple. I felt so bad for Tuck, and hope that he gets his HEA! I think that the next book will focus on him, so I hope good things are coming his way.
2660191
Throb by Vi Keeland
3.5 Stars

This book had high hopes at the start but kinda fizzled out for me....

Cooper and Miles, two brothers have been left their fathers business....that just happens to be one of the top movie production companies around.  While Cooper has helped the company flourish....Miles has had one hai  r brained idea after another and is just a drain on Cooper and the companies wallet...until now and his latest project...a show similiar to what we know as the bachelor.  I didn't like Miles from the beginning and thought he was sleazy but his character never really went anywhere.

While Miles is running around trying to get this show off the ground which he has claimed is gonna be the next big thing, Cooper unexpectedly meets a woman name Kate who he is immediately attracted to - and vice versa.

Long story short,  Kate is a contestant on Miles show and she has a "no dating' clause in her contract.  Basically the rest of the story is Coop and Kate getting closer behind Miles back.  The reason Kate needs to win this show for the big money prize comes to light and when it looks like Kate just may win, does it mean she will have to walk away from Cooper?  Can she give up love?

It was a cute read for me...nothing crazy happened and it wasn't a long read....was left wanting more :-(
2367015
This is the third book in the Sunset Cove series.  The first two are The Inn at Oceans Edge and Mermaid Moon.

Kate is trying to find out what she wants to do with her life.  She feels tethered to the blueberry fields, but its not something shes passionate about.  When a handsome stranger offers to rent the cottage shes refurbishing, she also gets a nanny position.

Drake is determined to find out what happened to his brother.  Drake doesnt agree with the police who have ruled his brother killed his wife then killed himself.  Now that Drake has custody of his nieces, he takes them to where it all happened, hoping to discover the truth.

Theres danger around every corner and an abundance of villains.  I had the puzzle of the villain figured out, but that wasn't what bothered me the most.  The main low point for me was the sappy relationships.  No one seems to have a major argument or disagreement.  Theres more than one of these relationships: Kate and Drake, Claire and Luke  even Claire and Kate!  All the conflict comes from the mysterious villains.  The main highlight was the cameo from Gwen Marcey (from a series by Carrie Stuart Parks).

This is definitely not my favorite from Coble.  I felt the writing wasn't as good as Ive read in her other books.  I didn't feel that connection with the characters, and the sickeningly sweet relationships were a little too over-the-top.

Claire and Luke show up A LOT in this one, so I would recommend reading The Inn at Oceans Edge before reading this one.  Most of the time, you're okay reading Cobles books alone or out of order, but I think in this case, you're better off either reading this one alone or reading the other one first.  3.5 stars.

*I received a copy of this book from Thomas Nelson through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
4904424
Micah Taylor, owner/partner of a successful firm called RimSoft, receives an unexpected bequest from an uncle he barely knew:  a huge house in Cannon Beach, OR that appears to be tailored specifically to his personal taste.  The problem is that he hasn't been to Cannon Beach since a tragedy in his childhood.

As he determines to inspect it, then sell it, he feels drawn to come back to visit it again and again, eventually deciding to work from it's location as much as possible.  The problem is that rooms and hallways that weren't there before suddenly appear, with each room holding something different.  As he becomes more involved in his life at Cannon Beach, pieces of his old life start to slip away, and he will have to choose between these lives if he is to keep one or the other.

The premise here was good, but for me, the execution wasn't.  The progression of events was rather confusing, unrealistic, and simplistic.  The characters, including Micah, as well as the emotions that should have been imbued, were not fully drawn, and I felt as though I was reading through a rather murky surface sketch.  Many others, however, love it; just as many as don't, so I think it must have some appeal for a certain type of reader.  If you LOVED LOVED LOVED The Shack, then you will probably like this one (I liked most of The Shack, but I kind of skipped over the parts that made me go ho-hum).

QUOTE (from a galley; may be different in final copy):

Micah had gotten used to those around him smiling on the outside while the green monster of envy inside them snapped at his money and fame.

Book Rating:  2.5 out of 5 stars
4443647
3.5 stars. I had high hopes for this book since I prefer reading contemporary Christian romance; the concept sounded good and the cover draws you in. But this book disappointed me. There were a number of aspects the author did right: spunky identifiable heroine, brooding, wounded man, feisty senior citizens, the way the relationship between Kate and Matt was realistic and evolved slowly, the way she tried to draw him out of his shell...but there were too many things that bothered me. I thought it all over a few days before writing this, so please know this review is not "off the cuff." The writing was fine but with perhaps a few too many short, choppy and disjointed sentences (and questionable placement and use of too many adverbs). I'm thrilled Bethany House has put out a contemporary romance, but very surprised with some of the things in this book; it's to the point where it might turn off some of its regular readers (like me) in order to reach a more mass appeal. Poker playing for money (no matter how little or much), yoga, a Halloween observation, designer name-dropping and crass thoughts and expressions didn't endear me to the characters, realistic or not. More than that, the emphasis on raging hormones and Matt's hotness quotient was completely overkill. Every single woman--no matter how old or young, married or single--commented on how hot he was. That's not realistic. I admire Kate for wanting to help out two senior citizens on the road to love, but I didn't like how the woman insisted the man look a certain way (even to wearing a certain brand of shirt) before she'd go out with him. And perhaps most of all, why on earth did Kate accept a date with a leering guy who obviously had little or no faith and was so sleazy? If you guessed because he was fine looking, you've got the idea. I lost a good deal of respect for her at that point. Sure, it made Matt jealous. And sure he's rich and has a high-powered, ultra expensive car in the garage. Even in one of the requisite scenes at the end, it's mentioned how a guy friend of Kate's back home once had the "hots" for her. This book was simply too formulaic in many respects and with the old cat-and-mouse game (he loves me, he loves me not, I'm not worthy of him/her). I don't want a Harlequin romance, I want a Christian romance. Mention of faith was there, but I was offput by the other worldly factors, bottom line. I'll be more careful next time I see one of this author's books although I'm sure this will be a wildly popular hit. ADDENDUM: I do not appreciate being singled out (along with other reviewers with less than stellar ratings for this specific book) by a blogger who belittled my conservative Christian opinions expressed in this review. The reason for his ranting in the first place was to discuss the "controversy" caused by this book, but his ridicule was grossly unfair and unwarranted.
4535250
Brought to you by OBS reviewer Valerie

Abandon tries to recreate the tale of Persephone in the modern day. Meg Cabot attempts to craft this story with graveyards, the Island of Bones, a convict of an uncle, a diamond necklace and more. She doesnt meet my expectations. Sure, Abandon is definitely a solid read, but solid is just okay.

The main problem I had with this book is the detached feel Pierce tries to give off. I can definitely  tell Meg Cabot is shooting for the unfeeling character who happens to be nice at the same time. Pierce is a selfless person in Johns opinion. Me? I think Pierce is a confused girl who could not possibly exist as a real person.

As for John, Im so done with him. We all get John is a poor, depressed soul. We all understand that John is so taken with Pierce after about five minutes that he wants to marry her and dress her up. That does not make John crushworthy in my opinion. It just makes him a bit creepy.

Meg Cabots writing in the Princess Diaries is enviable and readable. Her writing style in Abandon falls short of my expectations for the writer of this series. Meg, I feel like your writing just gets a little worse with time. Can you please write like Mia and not like Pierce?

I usually love far-fetched novels, but in this case, it just doesnt work out.
601907
As many of the reviewers before me have said, I am a huge Sarah Dessen fan. Devouring her blog posts, rereading her books as much as possible, and of course purchasing them as soon as I possibly can. That being said, I also agree with the less than positive reviews that this book definitely left me wanting more. Aside from Emaline's cool old school name, she came across as sort of Bella-esque to me. Not a lot of real likeability about her that would make me think boys would be lining up to date her, and reclusive local artists deferring to her as someone they would want to work with. Picturing Luke in his shirtless glory made me think of The OC's Luke, and once that character was placed in my head he was stuck there. Not to say I liked him less than Theo, aside from the Tallyho incident, he seemed like a pretty stand up guy. Theo was just a caricature of an over achieving city boy that seemed to have a holier than thou attitude about everything outside of Colby, a pretty annoying personality trait if you ask me. I loved her relationship with her parents and (sometimes) her sisters, but other than that, I wasn't in love with Emaline. As for her friends, Daisy sounded fairly stereotypical and Morris was sort of the Shaggy to her Velma or something, he had occasional moments of clarity but nothing of epic best friend potential. I of course now own the book in hardcover, and will most likely revisit the pages down the road, but I don't expect to be wowed more the next time around than I was the first. Sorry, Sarah. :<(
3594164
I had such high hopes for this book, but unfortunately My Salvation ended up being just an okay read for me. The biggest hindrance to my enjoyment was that I never connected to either of the main characters. Right off the bat with the opening scene, Cali rubbed me the wrong way. Maybe if Ms. Dare had provided a bit more detail as to why Cali was quitting her job I would have been able to sympathize with the predicament she found herself in and connect with her. Without it  for me  the scene becomes quite stilted and Cali comes off a bit like shes spoiled. As it stands, the scene feels contrived simply to set the stage for her to go the lake and ultimately reunite with Owen.

Once Cali heads home after joining the ranks of the unemployed, she decides that a trip to the lake house is just what she needs. That she learns after she arrives that she will be treated to the occasional glimpse of her neighbor while hes shirtless is a major bonus. Even though the two haven't seen each other in ten years and only shared a single kiss the night before she left for college, Owen has always been in love with her and decides that now is the time to let her know how he feels. The speed with which they embark upon their relationship was a bit too quick for my taste. Even though its been a decade since they last saw each other, Owen is ready to make a life with Cali almost immediately. A LOT can happen over ten years and 18 year-old Cali and 28 year-old Cali are not the same, yet Owen doesnt care as long as he has her in his life. Add to this, romantic suspense elements that were so predictable that it was unbelievably frustrating when the characters didn't figure it out until the actual reveal. Seriously?!?! Needless to say my enjoyment of the book just went downhill and continued to do so the more I read.

Typically I don't comment on spelling, grammar, etc. in a review copy because I don't always know if the copy I received is the final version or not. However, the errors, overuse of commas, awkward phrasing, incorrect use of past and present tense, and incorrect word use (affect vs. effect) kept pulling me out the story while reading. I can only hope that the copy I received was not the final version and the majority of the issues will be corrected before the masses receive it. I hate that I didn't enjoy My Salvation more because it has a good premise, but the execution was lacking for me. This is one of those books that I recommend you download a sample of and decide for yourself; just because it didn't work for me doesnt mean you won't love it.

I received a complimentary copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.
Reviewed by Angela at Crystal's Many Reviewers!
1942747
2.5 Stars

Ive enjoyed each of the books in Coleen Kwans Real Men novels but One Real Man was a miss for me. I get that things that happen in our childhood and teen years can give us baggage but at some point you either have to get over it or gets some therapy because carrying that around for years and letting it affect you as an adult is just flat out not healthy. This sweet romance reunites two people with a shared history; one is now a hard working self made man and the other a society princess who has fallen off her throne but one thing that hasn't changed is the chemistry that flows between them.

I really wanted to love Owen Bellamy and there was a lot about him I admired and respected but despite the fact that hes made something of himself and worked hard and has the ability to be and do anything he wants he still holds tight to the fact that as a teen he was a pool boy and worked for a high society family and he resents it. OMG this man simply cant let go of how inadequate that made him feel or the fact that the familys teenage daughter led him on and hurt him quite publicly. Every time I thought we were moving past that in this book the subject would come up again and I quite seriously felt like I was being hit over the head with a book.

I thought I was going to hate the heroine Paige Kerrigan based on the first chapter or two but man she really surprised me and shes the reason I kept reading this book because there were many times I thought about putting it aside and not finishing it. Raised in high society and marrying a successful man Paige had everything in life until her husband divorced her, left her basically penniless and to top it off released a video of her dancing naked for him that went viral. Paige is at the lowest point in her life but when Owen offers her a job as a housekeeper in the house she grew up in she takes it and soon begins to discover a whole lot about herself and it was a thing of beauty to watch.

With their teenage history, with Owens baggage that he just cant let go of, and with Paige at a crossroads in her life these two have an uphill battle in figuring out their relationship. Honestly most of the book they aren't on the same page at the same time which was sad because it was evident how much they really cared for one another as well as the simmering lust between them.

Im just going to state flat out that I was disappointed in this story because the other books in this series have been so good, but that happens sometimes. Will I read this author again? Sure, one book that doesnt meet my expectations isn't going to ruin my feelings for her but Ill be honest in saying that if this had been the first book I read by her, Im not sure I would have read another one. That being said, I really did love watching the metamorphosis of the heroine in this story and I was grateful for the HEA that throughout most of the book I wasn't sure was going to happen.

Review copy provided for an honest review.