This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
Genres: Contemporary Romance
Released on July 19, 2014
Pages: 142
Source: NetGalley
I was taken with the premise of this one and had never read the author which is an irresistible combo. The eye catching color palette and couple on the cover didn’t hurt either. The story managed to go deep quickly and read almost like a women’s fiction more so than a contemporary romance, but either way it was a fast, satisfying read.
Forty year old, Tara Jordan has fulfilled her dream of being a successful published author only to have her personal life fall apart as a result. Her bestselling book is a self-help into keeping a marriage alive and vibrant. Her husband never did pay attention to her writing or read her books, but just after he gets around to reading this one, he leaves her high and dry after cleaning out their joint bank accounts with no word of where or if its for good. Tara’s life is falling apart at the same time as her publisher needs her on a talk show circuit and book tour.
Jake Randall finally gets his break in the publishing industry, but holding the hand of entitled prima dona celebrities writing books is souring him on it fast. Then he is given yet another charge to hand hold through her moment of fame right when he was planning a much needed vacation. Only, it doesn’t take long for him to realize that he had Tara all wrong and not only that, it is now him that struggles with keeping on the right side of the professional line with his behavior. She is a decade older than him and her emotions are in a fragile state, but he wants nothing more than to be with Tara. Will she give their attraction a chance or will she go back to a husband of fifteen years if he shows up?
This story offers tender, heartbreaking scenes, humorous moments, a little passion and romance set against the world of a breakout bestselling author and the publishing industry. It also has some Low Country coastal scenes too. It moved along rather quickly since it had a shorter page count for a novel, but the pacing was fine. The romance came on fast after the initial attraction and I could have liked more from it, but it wasn’t a disappointment. Tara and Jake just clicked and it worked for me because they were in one of those situations where they were isolated in a sense since he traveled with her on book tour and to do the TV stuff so it allowed for friendship and romance to develop faster. They were pretty passionate and some of it was a result of Tara’s circumstances, but it never felt like she was using Jake. He is his own man and Tara appreciates his finer qualities and how it is so very different being with Jake. I loved the build up to the big moment of will she or won’t she when the inevitable happened and her husband reappeared and the little twists that made things even more interesting. I knew it was coming and yet the big moments didn’t disappoint. The epilogue was a nice touch.
All in all, it was a good choice for a fast, yet fulfilling read that I happily recommend to lovers of just slightly spicy Contemporary Romance.
My thanks to Net Galley for the opportunity to read this one in exchange for an honest review.
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it’s nice to fins something new and like it after you read it.
Exactly, Mary! I never know what I’m going to get and that’s half the fun.
Novellas and short stories are all I’ve been reading lately, want to keep it light this week. it’s great that this was satisfying given the short length, I read a few that were just pfffttt….
Yeah, it’s tough to tell a whole story with a short page count. Sometimes I think the author puts just one too many plot points in and gets in trouble trying to make it all work with too little page count.
This one had depth, but the author kept it from getting too complicated. I was waiting for the age difference card to be more significant, but she left that one alone in favor of the already existing suspense of the ex-husband showing up.