Returning to Eden (Acts of Valor #1) by Rebecca Hartt

I really wanted to like Returning to Eden. The premise was good, but I unfortunately found the execution of it missing something. Several somethings…

Jonah Mills was a Navy SEAL, presumably killed during a mission. But after a year of torturous captivity in Venezuela he’s able to escape and make it home to his former teammates, and wife and 14 year old step-daughter.

Eden Mills has mixed feelings about Jonah’s return, and is even more conflicted when she learns he doesn’t remember anything about their relationship – not their brief courtship, not their year-long marriage. But she’s determined to stick with him, at least for a year, to help him through his initial time of healing and recovery from his ordeal.

There’s a lot of readjustment for the small family, and it’s all made more complicated by the apparent lingering effects of Jonah’s post traumatic stress. Except all the paranoid thoughts running through his head turn out to not be paranoia, and the more his mind heals the more those close to him are in danger.

There were a couple things I liked about this book. First off, Jonah is not your typical hero. Turns out, he wasn’t a good husband or step-father. And because of that, Eden’s life when Jonah was away on missions was more peaceful. A year after his disappearance and apparent death, she is enjoying her independent life when Jonah comes back. This situation is in contrast to just about ALL other books with this basic plot, where the hero was the love of the heroine’s life and she is distraught for years after his death. So I was pleased to see an author create a hero who was incredibly flawed, and a heroine who questioned whether or not she was better off without her husband – and felt guilty and conflicted about those feelings. I like when characters are flawed and we get to see their growth.

However…there was just too much telling and not enough showing for me to feel invested in, and have a connection with, Jonah and Eden’s love story. We see (or hear) nothing about the beginning of their relationship, we see nothing about how it fell apart. Just a sentence or two here and there that things were not good once they got married. So even though I was told Eden was conflicted about Jonah’s return, I never did feel it. And once Jonah was back, I wanted to see him fall back in love with the woman he married, and watch the same for Eden. But there was more time given to the suspense part of the story, which left me feeling ambivalent about Jonah and Eden. By the end of the book, I knew there was some growth, I just didn’t feel like I got to see it happen.

Then we have the religious aspect to this book. Rebecca Hartt is apparently the pen name of a woman who used to write romantic suspense under another name, but since becoming a Christian is wanting to add a faith element to her stories. That’s all well and good, but again here I felt we got more telling and no showing, and the faith of the characters seemed tossed in and not really a part of who they were. I usually stay away from “inspirational romance” because a lot of times it seems the author’s main goal is to proselytize instead of giving the reader a good plot. That wasn’t really the case here – there was actually a good plot, full of twists, turns, and intrigue – but the religious aspects in this story weren’t exactly seamless, either. It’s a difficult aspect to weave into a story, and I’d be curious to see if it becomes more natural to the author in future books.

Something else that bugged me is that the synopsis is wrong. Jonah is only gone a year, not three. And maybe it’s just me, but I was expecting more about their relationship. I know it’s marketed as Christian Military Romantic Suspense, but you can sometimes get a sense of whether it’s going to lean more towards the romance or the suspense. Personally, I like to see equal parts of both, and not heavy on one or the other. I felt the romance took a back seat to the suspense, and I really wanted more of Jonah and Eden and them finding happiness together again.  The book is called Returning to Eden, so I thought the book would be more focused on him trying to win his wife back, which is not what I felt the focus of the story was – it was more on him healing so he could get his memory back to catch the bad guys.

I find myself wavering over whether or not I want to continue with this series. On the one hand, I want to see the bad guys get caught. But on the other, I’m not sure I enjoyed the writing enough to keep going. When you throw in some stilted, awkward dialogue, along with characters using words people don’t use these days (like a woman who has been unable to get pregnant telling a date she is barren, which seems so old fashioned and out of place in a contemporary novel), in addition to the issues I mentioned above, I’m not sure my interest is piqued enough. When I thought this was a new author, I was willing to be forgiving about the telling vs showing issues, but learning she’s written other books – and has apparently won awards under the other name – gives me great pause, and has me considering that Rebecca Hartt may not be my cup of tea.

So, I don’t know. Maybe I’ll keep reading this series, maybe I won’t. It will probably depend on my mood when I come across the next book.

* thank you to NetGalley and INscribe Digital/Rise UP Publications for providing an ARC in exchange for an honest review

Hard Asset (Cobra Elite #2) by Pamela Clare

4.5 Stars!!! SO. FREAKING. GOOD!!!

Of all the romance sub-genres, military suspense is my FAVORITE. But it’s also the diciest, because I don’t want mostly romance with pseudo-action thrown in, and I don’t want all suspense with random sex thrown in. I want equal parts of BOTH. And apparently (because this is only my second book by this author), Pamela Clare is capable of creating a story with perfect amounts of BOTH!

This Cobra Elite series is about the men and women who work for Cobra International Security – an elite group of former top military operatives from around the world. In Hard Asset, Connor O’Neal heads up the Cobra team sent to Bangladesh to protect Shanti Lahiri, a lawyer from the International Criminal Court who is gathering evidence against a cruel, evil Myanmar general. When Shanti obtains damning proof of the general’s atrocities, her life – and Connor’s – is put in grave danger and they find themselves on the run 150 miles into enemy territory.

I won’t give anymore synopsis than that because I don’t want to give anything away. I will tell you this: I am SO not a morning person, and I woke up early (after being up late reading!) so I could finish this book before starting my day. That’s how intrigued I was by this story, how much I wanted to see how Connor and Shanti would make it out of the mess they were in. I loved the characters, I loved the action, I loved the writing. The only thing I thought was a little goofy was how much they thought about sex when they were literally on the run for their lives. But the rest of the story was so freakin’ good I didn’t even care!

While the suspense part of this book was great, so is the romance part. Connor and Shanti have this palpable chemistry from the moment they lay eyes on each other, one that Connor tries to fight since she’s his “asset” to protect. But I loved how Shanti wasn’t afraid to encourage him to act on their attraction. Another thing I have really appreciated about Ms. Clare’s writing in this series is that her heroes have the typical “hang ups” when it comes to relationships (first, they are tortured by their past military experiences, and second, being part of Cobra makes relationships difficult). She’s not writing anything new with that. But instead of continually having the hero have internal thoughts harping over and over about why he can’t be with the woman he loves, it’s only mentioned an appropriate amount of times. It’s refreshing to read a book where the author sticks to writing things that move the story along, instead of just continually repeating what the characters are thinking.

I can’t wait for more from this series. But the good thing about being so late to this author’s party is that she has LOTS of other books for me to read (and listen to!) while I’m waiting for her next release. So, if you’ll excuse me, I need to go make myself a list of Ms. Clare’s backlist. I’m gonna need to read them ALL.

* thank you to NetGalley and Leap Day Productions for providing an ARC in exchange for an honest review

Say It Again (First Wives #5) by Catherine Bybee

4.5 Stars!

The odd thing about this book is that first of all, I didn’t even know it was coming (I legit thought book four was the end of the First Wives series), and secondly, I initially wasn’t all that interested in a story about this heroine. Nonetheless, I was still thrilled to get my hands on this book because I will read anything Catherine Bybee writes. And this book did NOT disappoint. It was an epic end to a great series, and may even be my favorite of the series!

Sasha is not a first wife, but she’s been on the periphery of all of the first wives’s stories. Since the beginning, she’s been this mysterious character and I’m sure I’m not the only one who was still wondering – even at the end of book one – whether she was one of the “good guys” or not. In book two, we learn who Sasha is and why she’s in the lives of the first wives, but she still flits in and out, coming to the rescue whenever needed. Say It Again is Sasha’s story, from childhood until now, and it was fantastic.

At the beginning of Say It Again, Sasha is finding herself at loose ends. With her main target to protect now permanently safe, she essentially doesn’t know what to do with her life. So she makes a visit back to the military-esque boarding school she attended growing up. Once there, she’s approached by the brother of a former classmate. Apparently the woman had been murdered, and AJ was convinced it had something to do with her time at the school. Sasha is skeptical at first, but when she finds out the sister’s roommates are also dead, she does some investigating and comes to believe the brother may be right.

What follows is about 300 pages that had me thoroughly engaged, holding my breath, and tapping the right side of my Kindle as fast as I could read. The writing contained plenty of the clever, witty dialogue I expect from a Catherine Bybee book, but – as with this whole series – less of the romance you normally get. It also had a whole lot of sit-on-the-edge-of-your-seat suspense, which is NOT something you normally get from Ms. Bybee. This was not the fun, fluffy, feel-good story I would normally anticipate. (As I said before, this is an edgier, grittier Catherine Bybee than we get in the Not Quite series!) Instead, we have a cynical, prickly heroine who can kick just about anyone’s ass, and travels the world in pursuit of the person who murdered her former classmates. Yes, Sasha does end up falling in love, and I loved the times when Sasha and AJ were being transparent and sincere, but for once I’m not even upset with how little romance there was. The fast-paced action and all that was going on was enough to keep me from missing it.

It’s the mark of a truly talented author when they can write a genre they aren’t typically known for – even within a series – and have it still be amazing. I’ve read quite a bit by Ms. Bybee, and already considered myself a big fan. This book just solidified herself a spot on my auto-buy, no-preview-needed list.

I’m sad to see this series end. With Ms. Bybee’s skill in the romantic suspense genre, I’d love to see a spinoff series about the men who work for Reed. And maybe Claire, the young girl from the boarding school could get her own story?! I have no idea what Ms. Bybee has up next, but you can be sure I’ll be reading it.

* thank you to NetGalley and Montlake Romance for providing an ARC in exchange for an honest review

I’ve Got You, Babe (Must Love Babies #2) by Lynette Austin

Sometimes I forget how enjoyable a simple, uncomplicated love story can be…that boy meeting girl can be sweet and exciting all on its own, without all the trumped up drama that seems necessary. Which is exactly what I’ve Got You, Babe is.

Tucker Wylder is happy with his quiet life in Misty Bottom, Georgia. After losing three best friends during a tour in Afghanistan, he’s content to work at the classic car and motorcycle restoration garage he owns with his brother, and just wants to go home to his neat, orderly house at night to deal with his survivor’s guilt and PTSD alone.

Elisa Danvers and her precocious three-year-old daughter Daisy have had a run of bad luck and are just trying to catch a break when her run down car rolls into Misty Bottom. When Elisa lands in Tucker’s lap on the floor of his garage, she’s forced to accept the help Tuck offers after years of trying to hold things together all alone. Little did she know, he needs her just as much.

This really was a sweet story. Both Tucker and Elisa are managing life just fine, but get a glimpse of what life could be like with someone to lean on. They both have some issues to work through, though, before they can have a happy life together.

There was a lot to like about this book. The writing was good – the plot moved along at a quick pace and wasn’t dragged down by either of the main characters constantly lamenting over their woes. (I even think the author should have more thoroughly developed the hero’s lingering war issues – they almost seemed to be added as an afterthought, and I’ve previously felt that if you’re going to make those issues part of a character you should deal with them adequately and not just give them lip service; however, in this book I kind of appreciated that the author didn’t constantly dwell on the issues and instead let the story between the hero and heroine develop without it being a huge obstacle.) I also loved how the author threw in a plot twist – but didn’t hold “the big” secret over the reader’s head or refer to it constantly.

As a fan of small town romances, I really liked how the side characters in the book weren’t overly eccentric or ridiculous. There was just the right amount of quirky to make things the kind of charming I like. Throw in a cute three year old and good dialog, and I really enjoyed this book!

This was my first Lynette Austin book, but I’ll definitely be interested in reading more – especially about the youngest Wylder brother. It’s always fun to see the one who resists a relationship the most fall so hard. I’ll be here, waiting for it!

* thank you to NetGalley and SOURCEBOOKS Casablanca for providing an ARC in exchange for an honest review

Game On (Texas Playmakers #2) by Joanne Rock

I love, love, love the second chance romance trope. And Game On hit a stand-up triple with me.

Nate Ramsey and Keely Harper were high school sweethearts with a plan for the future – finish college, and then Keely would follow Nate wherever his career as a pro baseball player would take him. When Nate didn’t stick to the plan, Keely let him go, breaking both of their hearts.

Now five years later, Nate is back home recovering from an injury that occurred just a few short weeks after his major league debut. With maturity and a different perspective, Nate sees things about Keely and the love she has for her family – as dysfunctional as it may be – that kept her tied to their hometown. But he still loves her, and still wants the future they planned. Keely wants the same, but just isn’t sure if she can have it.

Overall, I enjoyed the writing in Game On. The storyline kept things moving at a quick pace, with excellent dialogue and an endearing hero and heroine. There was an issue with the same things being explained multiple times – who people were, what they were doing, etc. – throughout the book. What there wasn’t an issue with was typical unnecessary young adult angst caused by miscommunication and general immature behavior. I loved how even though both were hurt, neither was rude or mean to the other, nor did they hang on to lingering animosity. They were cautious about getting involved again, but didn’t overthink things. It was refreshing to see them be open with their feelings and talk things through. It was so freakin refreshing!

This was my first Joanne Rock book, and probably won’t be my last. She stayed away from the things I dislike about young adult stories, and didn’t fill her pages with musings about how hawt the hero or heroine is or continual internal ramblings about how they couldn’t be together again. I loved the characters in this story, and really think I’ll be interested in reading more in this series!

* thank you to NetGalley and Tule Publishing for providing an ARC in exchange for an honest review

One Summer Weekend (Cedar Street #1) by Shannon Stacey

This novella was EXACTLY what I needed to read.

After forcing myself to trudge through a book that made me ragey, I needed one that was fun, lighthearted, and uncomplicated. The thing I’ve come to appreciate about Shannon Stacey is that she writes stories about normal people, who behave like adults. She even took tropes I generally dislike – the fake relationship and friends-to-lover – and mostly stayed away from the things that make me dislike them.

Carly and Noah have been best friends for as long as they can remember. Now that they’re adults (although I don’t believe we’re ever given a hint as to what age they are), it’s caused some issues for their romantic relationships. Well, mostly for Carly – who’s ready to settle down and start a family – since Noah keeps things casual and fun with his lady friends.

When Noah tells his boss that he has a girlfriend, he thinks he’s dodged a matchmaking bullet, until he’s expected to bring the girlfriend to his boss’s wedding. After tense negotiations, Carly agrees to play the part. And when things evolve from best friends to a lot MORE than friends, they agree to play the part for the weekend.

Of course once they get home, neither really wants to go back to being just friends. The way things go down between them once they get home is endearing and sweet, and stayed completely away from how every other book in this trope goes. Thank goodness!!!

This story is fun, loaded with Ms. Stacey’s usual witty banter. It was plagued with repeated phrases and repetitious thoughts – the reader is constantly reminded the hero and heroine are best friends, and have been their whole lives, and that they don’t want to ruin their friendship (which is the thing that bugs me about this fake relationship/friends-to-lovers trope). However, this is probably one time when a story being a novella works in favor of the plot, since the author didn’t have to fill in pages and pages of trumped up drama and artificial angst. No, these characters were smart, and sweet, and there was no being stupid for the sake of “saving the friendship.”

Bravo Ms. Stacey! I always like the refreshing take she puts on her stories, and I’m looking forward to the next novella in this series.

*thank you to NetGalley and HARLEQUIN-Carina Press for providing an ARC in exchange for an honest review

Nothing But This (Broken Pieces #2) by Natasha Anders

I’m not sure why, but it always amazes me how subjective reading is. How some readers can think a book was great – that the angst was good, the groveling was amazing, the hero redeemed himself, etc – yet I can’t remember when I loathed a book so much. Nothing But This made me nothing but cranky, and it’s gonna come out it this review.

Also, consider this your warning: I need to purge all this frustration that accumulated reading this book, so there’s gonna be spoilers galore. Don’t wanna know why I’m ticked off? Don’t keep reading. I’m not usually one to have such a negative opinion about a book, and I usually temper my negative opinions if I do. Not gonna happen this time.

#sorrynotsorry

Greyson and Libby knew each other growing up. He was four years older and her parents worked for his family, so instead of trying to just keep things friendly when he started becoming attracted to her, he was rude. Ten (or so) years later, Greyson runs into Libby at a party, talks her into going back to his hotel room, and after spending the night together, proposes marriage. She puts him off for two months, then finally gives in. Shortly after the wedding Libby excitedly announces that she’s pregnant. But because Greyson believes he’s sterile he automatically thinks she cheated on him. He spends the whole pregnancy treating her like crap, and then accuses her to her face while she’s still in the hospital with the newborn baby in her arms. Also, he purposely went on a business trip so he would miss the birth.

This is not angst. This is an adult behaving like a 12 year old.

Because Libby has at least a modicum of self-respect (but apparently not a whole lot because if someone is treating you like crap for seven months, why the hell are you putting up with it???), she leaves town and builds a life for herself and her daughter.

Four months later – that’s right, FOUR MONTHS it takes him – Greyson finally shows up on Libby’s doorstep wanting her back.

This book brought out the GRRRR in me. I was really looking forward to it, too, because I love second chance love stories and it’s unusual for this genre to deal with couples who are already married. Also, so many reviewers I follow liked it. But for me, I couldn’t get past my enmity for the hero and the odd things the heroine does.

From the get go, I couldn’t understand why Greyson and Libby got married, and the “reason” didn’t seem plausible when it was given. I think I needed more time with them at the beginning of their marriage to feel torn up about the demise of their relationship.

Then I couldn’t fathom what would be a reasonable excuse for the way Greyson treated Libby after the birth of their child. Because he’s an “introvert” and not as outgoing as his brother isn’t an excuse or a reason. You are not a good person if you immediately think the worst of the people you supposedly love. If you can’t give me a plausible reason why the hero would make such baseless accusations, you won’t ever be able to win me over. Never. No matter how much the hero “grovels” or apologizes. Repairing faucets, installing door locks, and fixing things around the house is good and all, but that’s a pittance compared to accusing your wife of cheating and not contacting her for months. I was actually wishing there had been an evil ex-girlfriend responsible for the “miscommunication” instead of what actually went down.

After that, Libby does things like tell Greyson she doesn’t want him in her daughter’s life but then in the next breath asks if he wants to hold the baby he hasn’t seen since he walked out of the hospital room after Libby gave birth. She asks him to sign divorce papers, then never follows through.

I liked how Libby let the full force of her anger flow freely in Greyson‘s direction. But that was the ONLY good thing about this book.

Yes, Greyson was remorseful. Yes, Greyson tried to make amends. But there was no redeeming his asshole behavior. You can be an introvert and not be an asshole. You can be reserved and not be an asshole. You can be jealous of your twin brother and the relationship he has with your wife and not be such a colossal asshole.

So yeah. I shoulda quit this book instead of wasting my whole week trying to get through it. But I was lured by the false promise of redemption (it’s that damn romantic in me wanting everything to work out). Lessons learned: do a more thorough job vetting the books I request ARCs of (because I’m fairly certain just the reviews from the first book in this series would have put me off it), and QUIT A BOOK IF IT’S MAKING ME ANGRY!!!

* thank you to NetGalley and Montlake Romance for providing an ARC in exchange for an honest review

Rescuing Rayne (Delta Force Heroes #1) by Susan Stoker

I have an obscene number of books on my Kindle – 161, in fact, with 15 of them being ARCS. So I’m not sure why, when deciding to read Rescuing Rayne, I was surprised to discover I had purchased it already. TWO YEARS AGO.

There was actually a lot riding on this reading of a three year old Susan Stoker book, because the last couple I’ve read ( Rescuing Emily and Defending Allye ) did not rate well with me – at all – and it made me wonder if I had run my course with this author.  Having read many of her books, I had to face that fact that my reading tastes have changed and perhaps Ms. Stoker no longer writes what is appealing or engaging to me. But Rescuing Rayne was actually pretty good.

Rayne and “Ghost” meet when they got stuck in London overnight because of a cancelled flight. She’s a flight attendant, and he’s on his way home after a grueling top-secret mission. It’s chemistry at first sight for both of them, with Rayne being uncharacteristically friendly and trusting with a complete stranger, and Ghost being willing to spend a day and a night with a woman (he’s a “no relationships ever” kind of guy – and makes sure Rayne knows that). They have a delightful time touring London, and their night together comes to mean far more to them both than they ever expected. When it’s time for Ghost to sneak out before dawn, it’s the first time in his life he’s ever had second thoughts and finds himself torn about leaving Rayne behind. But he does it anyway.

Six months go by and Ghost keeps trying to shove his continual pervasive thoughts of Rayne away. For her part, Rayne isn’t faring much better, but with no way to contact Ghost (since he gave her a fake name) she’s beginning to think it’s time to move on. While on a layover in Egypt, Rayne ends up becoming a pawn – along with many other tourists – during civil unrest, and becomes captured by terrorists. Ghost is shocked when his team is called in to assist with the rescue of the tourists and Rayne is among them.

Up until this part of the book, the writing, the characters, the story was great. It was fun watching Rayne and Ghost flirt and spend time together, heartwarming to see them falling in love. Then it was suspenseful when Rayne is captured and held by the terrorists, and then rescued by the Delta Force men.

All the good vibes came to a screeching halt once they get back to the US and they do this whole “I love you but I can’t be with you” malarkey. BOTH of them do it! First she pushes him away, then he pushes her away… Add in conversations with the Delta brothers that were stilted and awkward, and a four-star read turned into three.

I may consider reading Susan Stoker again in the future, but gone are the days when I download a new release and plow through it. I seriously think that past few books she’s put out have been sub-par for her, but I also believe my reading tastes have evolved and I just need something different.

The Wonder of Now (Sanctuary Sound #3) by Jamie Beck

It takes a skilled author to redeem a vilified character, and this book is classic Jamie Beck…THANK GOODNESS. Book one in this series (The Memory of You) fell completely flat for me so I was concerned for the rest of the series. Thank goodness books two and three were exactly what I expect from Ms. Beck – which is a multi-book series with complex characters whose relationships are messy. These are not books meant to be read as standalones – as with all relationships, there is a story to tell and you need to read book to watch the story unfold of life-long friends Steffi, Claire, and Peyton.

For Peyton Prescot, the ire of her friends was well earned, having stolen the boyfriend of best friend Claire. Nevermind the asshat pursued Peyton…once she found out the “Todd” she was falling in love with was the same “Todd” Claire was in a serious relationship with, she should have walked away. When Todd then walked away from Peyton after she was diagnosed with breast cancer it seemed, at the time, karma was exacting her revenge.

Now Peyton is one year out from her last cancer treatment. She’s healed, she’s feeling healthy, and she has apologized to Claire (repeatedly) for her actions. (FYI, that took place in book 2 – The Promise of Us – of the Sanctuary Sound series). Now it’s time for her to embark on a publicity tour to promote the book she wrote with her brother Logan – a well known photo-journalist – documenting her cancer treatment. It’s a project Peyton was cajoled into and still has very mixed feelings about. All she can hope is for the book to help those affected by cancer and that the proceeds will fund research to find a cure.

Travelling with Peyton on this trip through Europe is PR guru, Mitchell Mathis. Having recently started his own PR firm, there’s a lot riding on the success of Peyton and Logan’s book, and unfortunately Peyton doesn’t always make things easy for him. He’s basically the opposite of Peyton: serious, reserved, and all business all the time. But as they go from city to city, Mitch learns to lighten up and Peyton finds the strength to tell her story.

With characters whose layers need to be peeled back and complicated relationships all around, this heartbreaking story pulls the reader in and doesn’t let go until the very last page. This series began with Peyton being persona non grata, and ended with her forgiveness. I loved how she never made excuses for herself, never tried to rationalize her choice. She knew she what she did was wrong, asked for forgiveness, and let Claire set the rules for their new relationship. My favorite thing about this series (well, in books two and three) is that everyone was allowed to have their feelings – people were angry, people were sad, and nothing was swept under the rug. It’s only when feeling the full force of the negative feelings that you can experience the joy of everyone being healed. And it was wonderful to watch the relationships between Steffi, Claire, and Peyton come full circle.

At its core, The Wonder of Now is about moving on after you’ve made a colossal mistake. It’s about doing the hard work to get over your issues (which, surprise surprise, was my big issue with book one – Steffi had major issues and the reader never got to see her doing the hard work). Ms. Beck is one of the most adept authors at exploring relationships – the good, the bad, the ugly. And not just ones between a hero and heroine. There’s plenty of mess to wade through with other relationships. Basically, I love all of it!

I’m excited to see what Jamie Beck writes next. It’s clear book one in this series was a fluke. I’m always up for complicated and messy relationships, and Ms. Beck delivers that time and time again.

* thank you to NetGalley and Montlake Romance for providing an ARC in exchange for an honest review

Redesigning Happiness by Nita Brooks

The lesson I learned from reading this book is to not let a preponderance of low reviews prematurely skew my very own opinion.

Because, Whoa Nelly, this book has soap-opera level drama of epic proportions. And I LOVED IT!

Yvonne and Richard had a brief, intense affair several years ago that ended when Richard felt duty-bound to go back to his fiancée (who he had just broken up with the night he met Yvonne). When Yvonne later discovered she was pregnant and Richard wouldn’t even talk to her, she took her heartbroken self and went on with her life, becoming a successful, well-known interior designer.

Now, recently engaged and on the cusp of having a television show with her new fiancé, Richard reappears in her life and wants to know his child. Not only does this mean upending the life of her son, it opens the door to all the feelings she had for Richard that she had to abandon when he abandoned her.

The thing I really liked about this story is that there was no glossing over anyone’s hurt feelings. No sweeping them under the rug because “chemistry” or lust. The author didn’t choose to drag out the truth of what happened between the hero and heroine – to the reader OR the characters – and instead laid it all out in the open. There were discussions and debates and doing their best figuring out how to deal with the meddling hand they were dealt. The characters manage the repercussions of their situation as the adults they are. It was great to see adults behaving like adults!

Also, there was very little strong language, and no overt sexual content…and it was still a very compelling, intriguing story. Proof that you don’t need all that for a story to be good. (Not that I’m against those things! But the absence of those is rare in today’s contemporary romances and was something I noticed, so I thought I’d mention it.)

I’ve recently instituted a “grab me by 30% or else” rule for all books because I’m so behind in my ARC reading – I keep hanging with books that aren’t interesting to me – and I needed to give myself permission to move on. But not only did Redesigning Happiness suck me in after a few chapters, I stayed up until 2AM to finish it even knowing I’d hate myself in the morning for doing so. The characters, their situations, and all their feelings wouldn’t let me go until I found out how everything ended. And the writing stayed completely clear of the two things that bug the crap out of me the most:
1. Constantly referring to how hawt the hero is and going on and on about how turned on the heroine is by all the hero’s hawt body parts, and
2. Holding big secrets over the readers heads and referring to them frequently in an attempt to create suspense/drama.
To be clear – there were plenty of plot twists (a couple of which I didn’t even see coming!), but they just showed up BAM made the story even more twisted. It was great!

There was nothing I disliked about the writing, the plot, the characters. And it’s an impressive accomplishment for a debut author. Time will tell if Ms. Brooks keeps writing the words on the pages of her own story (my author equivalent of marching to the beat of your own drum). I sincerely hope she does, because if so she’ll have a bright, successful career ahead!

* thank you to NetGalley and Kensington Books/Dafina for providing an ARC in exchange for an honest review