Anne

It Had to Be You by Jill Shalvis – A Duel Review

Posted on by Dirty Girl Anne

It Had to Be You (Lucky Harbor, #7)

Grade: C+/B
Hotness Level: Blaze
Kink Level: No Kink
Genre: Contemporary
Series: Lucky Harbor #7
Reviewed by Anne and Kate
266 pages

Anne and Kate had differing views on this book, so we decided to present their reviews together.  Dueling reviews!

Anne:
Ali works at a flower shop in Lucky Harbor.  She’s a fairly new resident of the small town, but very much loved by all, especially due to her work with the senior citizens of the community.  Luke grew up in Lucky Harbor, but has been gone for years – since his grandmother passed away.  Since her death, and because of a time when he feels he let his sister down, Luke has decided to focus on his career and stay away from relationships.  After a rough spell at work (he’s a policeman) he takes a two week vacation and returns to Lucky Harbor to get away from an investigation gone wrong.  When Ali is accused of stealing money for the town’s new Senior Center, Luke is the only one who believes she couldn’t possibly have done it. And their adventure begins…
 
I’m a Lucky Harbor fan and I’ve read the six books that come before this one.  I liked them, and I liked this one, too, but it wasn’t my favorite of the bunch.  I love that with each new trilogy Shalvis starts in Lucky Harbor she sets the books apart from the trilogy before.  So in this case we hear about other characters, and even have scenes with Sawyer, but we don’t have a cameo from every character we’ve ever met.  I thought that was very well handled.  I love the people of Lucky Harbor. The Senior Center folks are fun.  The fact that Lucille has a Pinterest page made my day.  (In my opinion, Lucille is the one Lucky Harbor resident who MUST appear in every book.  She’s awesome!)  I really liked Luke and Ali, too, but I thought their relationship was weak.

A low conflict romance is one of my favorite reads, and this one IS a low conflict romance.  There is a story line where Ali is accused of stealing some money, but that doesn’t really color their relationship, other than providing a practical reason for them to be together.  Luke never thinks even for a moment that Ali took the money.  So, despite the mystery, this was a low conflict romance for me.  The thing that I missed was the relationship development.  They seemed to magically get to know one another.  I don’t know if it happened off page or what, but every once in a while I’d come across a line like this:  (Luke is thinking about Ali)
 

“He knew damn well that being with a man meant something to her. Lots of things meant something to her.” p.132

And such thoughts would leave me thinking “How does he know this?  He seems so sure she wouldn’t just have casual sex.  Why is he so sure?”  This kind of thing happened a few times and it bothered me.  
 
The book was still enjoyable, though, and sequel bait for the next book has me sure I’ll keep reading.  


Kate:
See, I didn’t come away with the same feeling. I really liked this one a lot. Probably my second favorite (after Tara and Ford’s story). And while there wasn’t a lot of struggle in Ali and Luke getting together, I got it. He was very up front about what he wanted and didn’t want in their relationship (read: nothing long term). She is definitely a wear-your-heart-in-your-sleeve kind of gal. So it didn’t bother me that he knew what she was thinking, because I think she was telegraphing it.
 
 
There are some authors’ books that I don’t hesitate to shell out money for. I feel I’m almost guaranteed a good read. Jill Shalvis is one of those authors. At the same time there are some series that grow tiresome after a while. It seems like the characters are simply given different names in each installment. Lucky Harbor is not one of those series. Since the first book, I have looked forward to the next book, and the next, and the next…but I was skeptical that this seventh book would be able to his my interest the way the last six have. I was proven wrong.

Things I liked:

  • I liked that Ali seemed so sure if her path in life. Even when things weren’t going her way, she was a keep on keeping on kind of gal.
  • I liked that Luke was the one who was more unsure in their relationship, Ali was the stronger on the two in that aspect.
  • I liked Luke’s grandpa Edward and how he became a sounding board for Luke.
  • I liked that the characters we’ve come to know through the other books didn’t begin to overshadow the relationship of Ali and Luke.
  • I liked that I wasn’t able to guess who-dunnit. In fact I was way off base (I thought it was Ali’s boss Russell) but it was still believable.
  • I liked that Ali was the glue that held her sister and mother together.


Things I didn’t like:

  • Why didn’t anyone tell Ali to keep her nose out of police business? Seriously. And Sawyer seemed a little too willing to share info with Luke.
  • I didn’t like that Luke felt responsible for everything in his past (couldn’t someone just smack him upside the head already?).
  • The beginning went kind of slow for me. Although I think a lot of that had to do with being re-introduced to Lucky Harbor and its inhabitants. Kind of like the old Baby-Sitters Club books, I just wanted to skip the intro part and get right to the story.



Anne:
Of course you’ve worked a BSC reference in.  I remember those books well!  It’s interesting that we had pretty opposite experiences reading this book. Honestly, when I look at your list of what you liked, I totally agree.  When I look at what you didn’t like, I totally agree.  But my overall experience was just meh, and it was one of your favs of the series.  Go figure.

The Rebound Girl by Tamara Morgan

Posted on by Dirty Girl Anne

The Rebound Girl (Getting Physical, #1)
Grade: A-
Hotness Level: Blaze
Kink Level: No Kink
Genre: Contemporary
Series: Getting Physical #1

Reviewed by Anne
265 pages

I first read Tamara Morgan last year and thought then that she was one of the funniest romance writers I’ve read!  I read Love is a Battlefield and The World is a Stage and enjoyed them.  When I saw Rebound Girl was available I jumped at the chance to read it.  It has great characters who aren’t like every other character you’ve read.  And it’s so funny!   I laughed out loud so many times reading this! Not just smiled, but laughed. I woke my husband up laughing as I read far too late into the night to finish this story.  And because I enjoyed the style of writing so much, I give you a review with lots of quotes:
Whitney is a very self confident plastic surgeon.  She’s no Barbie, though.

“…the thirty extra pounds she carried mostly in her hips didn’t make her a victim of low self-esteem or discounted standards. She liked that weight right where it sat—and she would have been the first to advocate going under the knife if she felt otherwise.”  p.9
 
She and her friends have moved to the burbs, taken out a big loan and are opening the Surgery Center/Spa they’ve always dreamed of.  Whitney has always been a big city girl, but she has no doubts she’ll be fine in the small town she’s moved to.  This is her dream!  Finally coming true.
 
On one of their first nights in town, Whitney and her friends head out to the local bar hoping to hook up with willing partners, or at least have a good time .  Matt’s brother has just talked him into going out for the first time since he split from his ex-wife.  Brother Lincoln is hitting on Whitney’s friend, and Matt approaches Whitney.
 
“Now that she was seeing the man head-on, she could tell she was going to have to take it a little easy on him. He wasn’t bad looking—in fact, the hesitant smile and tousled sandy hair signaled nerd chic at its best, and there was a slight depression in his cheek that she thought might transform into a full-blown dimple if he tried. But the guy wore a corduroy jacket with elbow patches and drank something pink with little bits of fruit floating on the top.
He was obviously clueless.”  p.8
 
The thing is, Matt’s an old fashioned kind of guy.  A kindergarten teacher.  And he’s not really looking to hook up with anyone.  He just wants to start moving on.  And Whitney isn’t really interested in hooking up with Matt either, but when his brother and her friend leave the bar, Matt and Whitney agree that pancakes and bacon would be great and they make their way to a diner.
 
“Matt could hardly believe his good luck.
It was officially eight months since he and Laura signed the divorce papers, and most of that time had been spent hiding in his apartment, avoiding women and Lincoln’s single-minded insistence that Matt needed to put himself out there again.
He’d finally caved, and the first woman he’d gathered up the nerve to approach turned out to be this one. Easy to talk to, funny, pretty in a straightforward, no-nonsense way he wasn’t used to. And best of all, she’d already made it abundantly clear she had no intention—or expectation—of sleeping with him. She was like training wheels.
Awesome, bacon-loving training wheels.” p. 19
 
After spending a little time with Matt, Whitney changes her mind about not having sex with him.  And because she’s Whitney, she lets him know, no doubts about it.
 
‘The space between them, infinitesimal as it was, felt thick with promise. “What you need more than anything right now is a rebound girl.”
“I do?” Then, “What’s a rebound girl?”
She smiled brightly. “I am. Here’s how it works. I don’t want you to buy me a ring. I don’t want to bear your children. I don’t even want to be your girlfriend. All I want is you and me and as much sex as we can possibly squeeze into the four hours before dawn.”
Matt’s mouth went dry. “That’s a real thing?”
“Oh, Matt. Poor, sweet Matt. You have no idea.’  p.24
 
So, that’s the set up, and the book takes off from there.  Whitney is brash and independent and out of her element in the small town she’s moved to.  Matt finds her refreshing and wants more than just a rebound with her.  Throw in some great secondary characters and annoying small town politics and you’ve got an interesting story.
 
I really enjoyed what a strong character Whitney was.  She’s almost unlikable, except that you see where she’s coming from and you like her all the more for speaking up.  I’ve always thought it’s nice to have that one really outspoken friend who will say the things you really want to but wouldn’t dream of.  That’s Whitney.  And her mouth and her decisions get her into trouble.  But she takes responsibility and tries to set things right.  She was a refreshing change from the too good and too sweet heroines I read a lot of.
 
Matt is a beta hero, and a wonderful one.  That’s another change from the tried and tried alpha-asshole hero!  But while he is beta, he does know what he wants.  He’s not perfect either, but watching Matt and Whitney work out their issues and their relationship was really fun!
 
The author did such a good job painting Jared, Whitney’s cheating ex, through Whitney’s eyes that I really had a hard time being ok with him when he showed up. I see that there’s a second book coming in this series and it’s about him. Part of me doesn’t want to read it because I still hate him for Whitney’s sake! But the majority part of me wants to see how the author handles him and what his future brings.

Hooray for a strong female character! Hooray for a humorous and sweet romance! This one goes on my Best of 2013 list!

Stranded with a Billionaire by Jessica Clare

Posted on by Dirty Girl Anne

Stranded with a Billionaire (Billionaire Boys Club, #1)
Grade: B
Hotness Level: Inferno
Kink Level: No Kink
Genre: ContemporarySeries: Billionaire Boys Club #1
Reviewed by Anne

So, there’s this billionaire (Logan) who doesn’t really do relationships.  He’s in a secret billionaires’ club. (The club is the secret, not their billionaire status.)  He buys a hotel and goes to visit it.  While he’s there a hurricane blows in.  He ends up stranded in a hotel elevator with a woman (Bronte) who giggles when scared (and the hurricane is scary!) Also, Bronte thinks he’s the hotel’s manager, not the owner. Logan’s never met a woman who didn’t know who he was.  And every woman who has known who he was has wanted him for his money.  So it’s very refreshing to him to spend time with someone who thinks he’s a regular guy and still likes him.
 
Logan falls for Bronte pretty quickly.  She’s falling for him as well, but is thrown for a loop when he reveals his billionaire status.  While she’s still reeling from that reveal, he also shows her he’s an ass.  And while he’s reveling in being an asshat, patting himself on the back for how lucky she must feel now that she knows he’s loaded…  Bronte takes action.  And her action really, really surprises Logan.  And the story takes off from there.  Logan is stumbling over all the problems having money has brought to his life.  Bronte is struggling with not being overwhelmed by Logan and all his bags of money.  It’s a romance, so it’s a given that these two will work things out, but *how* they work them out was delightful to read.  My favorite line sums it all up:

“I’m serious, Logan. I want to date like normal people. Not like a billionaire and the waitress he just bought.”

There were some weaknesses.  Honestly, I didn’t really get the significance of the super-secret billionaire’s club.  I’m not sure what exactly they did, and if what they did was legal or illegal.  There were times where Logan was downright stupid about their relationship. I wasn’t always happy with how Bronte handled things either.  But while I was reading it was very believable, and even looking back, it strikes me that this is pretty much what it would be like if *I* were dating a billionaire.  Seriously, I gave it some thought, and I hope I would handle things as well as Bronte!  So, despite some weaknesses, this was overall a very good book for me.  
 
Also, besides Logan and Bronte, there is plenty of sequel bait in Logan’s secret billionaire club.  The set up between the very scarred Hunter and Bronte’s writer friend have me itching to read the next book in this series.  I’m not a big billionaire book fan, but I really enjoyed this one!