By Jill Shalvis
Release Date - June 2, 2020
Ebook Available from WV Reads!
2
Stars - This splashy summer tale didn't quite meet my expectations.
Shalvis staples of a beautiful setting, adorable dog, and kind, caring
heroes and heroines are here as always. But the challenge of presenting
two couples and roughly four points of view left something to be
desired.
Personally,
I didn't think of this as a romance so the lack of excitement didn't
bother me. But, I needed a little something to get excited about if you
will. Brynn seems to be our main main character. She supposedly hasn't
been in this town consistently in years. However, Kinsey is her frenemy
going strong for about 15 years straight? Kinsey is hard to like, even
being sympathetic to her. I understand her bleak outlook and hard shell
with others given her condition, but she didn't have to be so harsh
sometimes. Eli and Deck are their respective pseudo-suitors. Eli's a
lighthearted guy everyone can depend on. Deck doesn't get as much page
time but he's the alpha male with a heart of gold. There were many other
people and details outside of these four, and I felt I never bonded
with any of them.
Brynn's
the daughter of two moms. I'm all for authors embracing any unique
family dynamics but I was tired of hearing about her moms. Shalvis
seemed to work the word "moms" in all she could for the first 50 pages.
They also seemed to have had more pages of character detail than some of
the younger crowd. That said, the story is purely heartfelt drama with a
dose of comedy. It's really hard to write a good drama with comedy so I
applaud Shalvis in this respect. Her stories always have a fun,
beautiful, and quirky small town location that would please fans of
Debbie Macomber, Ann B. Ross, or cozy mysteries with that vibe. And
there are some sparks here and there, mostly between Kinsey and Deck. I
think the female leads just weren't showing the maturity level I would
expect from supposedly world-weary women close to thirty. The
inconsistencies with Brynn's perspective and some dropped subjects in
her head rubbed me the wrong way. And Kinsey was just difficult to like,
not living her best life while she has it. The plot twist, likable
guys, and fun setting couldn't get me past not enjoying the leading
ladies' personalities. I think I'll still prefer Shalvis' Lucky Harbor
and Heartbreaker Bay series.
(ns)
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