NOTE: I won an ARC of this book from the publisher.
I was super excited to win this book and get a chance to read and review it. I really enjoyed it and it was a fun, feel good, but with enough angst to balance it all out. I will add that this book made me cry several times, hence the angst I mentioned. So be prepared with a few tissues! But I think that's because of the way I connected with the main characters and their feelings of not belonging and not feeling like they were enough for the people in their lives. The author did an excellent job of having those emotions come through the pages and it just struck a chord with me, I guess.
I also want to say that I really loved the heroine. She's trying to be so strong, and yet you can see that she's hurting and starting to crack. Who wouldn't with what she's been through? She uses her shield to defend against more hurt and I totally got that. One of my fave parts is when she's goes off on her her ex-fiance and let's him have it. That guy was the WORST! Seriously, I hated him from the instant he's on the page. What an insensitive, freaking jerk! But even as she went off, it wasn't just anger. She was hurt and in pain, for obvious and justified reasons, and the author did well showing that.
One thing I did wish for? More grovel. I mean, it was fine, but Emmitt was a jerk. Like I wanted to punch him in the freaking throat. And there was grovel but...idk. i could've used more. So while it worked okay for me personally I think he could've (and should've) groveled more. There is not much better than an intense amount of groveling (other than a heaping helping of angst), in my opinion! :D
Looking forward to more in this series. Thanks again to the publisher for the ARC. I rarely win anything so it was a great surprise, especially during lockdown. This book was a nice spot of HEA that I definitely needed!
I was super excited to win this book and get a chance to read and review it. I really enjoyed it and it was a fun, feel good, but with enough angst to balance it all out. I will add that this book made me cry several times, hence the angst I mentioned. So be prepared with a few tissues! But I think that's because of the way I connected with the main characters and their feelings of not belonging and not feeling like they were enough for the people in their lives. The author did an excellent job of having those emotions come through the pages and it just struck a chord with me, I guess.
I also want to say that I really loved the heroine. She's trying to be so strong, and yet you can see that she's hurting and starting to crack. Who wouldn't with what she's been through? She uses her shield to defend against more hurt and I totally got that. One of my fave parts is when she's goes off on her her ex-fiance and let's him have it. That guy was the WORST! Seriously, I hated him from the instant he's on the page. What an insensitive, freaking jerk! But even as she went off, it wasn't just anger. She was hurt and in pain, for obvious and justified reasons, and the author did well showing that.
One thing I did wish for? More grovel. I mean, it was fine, but Emmitt was a jerk. Like I wanted to punch him in the freaking throat. And there was grovel but...idk. i could've used more. So while it worked okay for me personally I think he could've (and should've) groveled more. There is not much better than an intense amount of groveling (other than a heaping helping of angst), in my opinion! :D
Looking forward to more in this series. Thanks again to the publisher for the ARC. I rarely win anything so it was a great surprise, especially during lockdown. This book was a nice spot of HEA that I definitely needed!