3 stars This book was pretty good, but I had several big issues. The writing was competent but the plot could use some work and the pacing was off. As an example, the first time Rowan and Vera made love, it was described like this: “She pressed the palms of her hands against his chest and then glided them down, over his abdomen, to undo his belt and the buckle of his pants. There was no hiding the evidence of his desire as she slid the condom over his erection… Rowan stepped over his discarded clothes and drew her into the living room…” It went from them just starting to touch each other, to Vera putting a condom on Rowan, to the two of them walking into the other room. It was weird. I liked Rowan’s character, his sense of humor, and his efforts to build up Vera’s self-confidence. He offered some great advice for anyone. Everything about him was awesome and it was obvious why Vera fell for him. Her insecurities made it more difficult to understand what he saw in her, but I get that he was impressed by her intelligence and care for others, especially her daughter. The problem is, she kept doing stupid things driven by her inability to trust her intuition. I understand that a woman involved in an abusive relationship (which is what her relationship with Darren was) loses her self-esteem and questions her decision-making skills, but she could have spoken to her friend Iris and chose not to do so. Vera’s reaction to the news about Rowan, which was shocking but seemed out of character, was my biggest complaint about the book. Why would she push him away? I found this maddening because he begged her to allow him to explain but she wouldn’t even listen to him. If I were in love with someone and planning to marry them, you’d better believe I’d be looking for explanations rather than jumping to conclusions. Why would you believe the person who has demonstrated a total lack of respect or concern for your well-being over someone who has shown their care for you over and over again? It made me angry with Vera and I questioned the sustainability of her relationship with Rowan if she was unable to allow him to explain himself. If this were a mystery, I would avoid SPOILERS, but this is a romance, so every reader knows it will have a happy ending. If you don’t want to know what happens near the end, stop reading now. When Vera finally pulls her head out of her ass and decides to gather more information about Rowan and what actually happened in his past, she goes to NY to meet the girl involved. She finds out, to no one’s surprise, that he did nothing wrong. She goes looking for him, watches him work, then follows him home. Because she is carrying Allison, she decides to rest for a few minutes before going to his home. When she gets to his place, he doesn’t answer his door and she wonders why. “She had been no further than ten minutes behind him, but she had to set Allison down on a park bench for a few minutes to rest her arms.” This time frame is important because when she does talk to Rowan, this is what happens: “I called my lawyer after talking to Maggie.” Her face tightened. “He confirmed that the charges against you were dismissed for good reason, they wouldn’t have held up in court.” The reader is supposed to believe that Vera was able to call her lawyer’s office, actually speak with him, have him research the charges against Rowan, and assure her they wouldn’t hold up in court...in 10 minutes!?! I’m thankful that the book was so short because it felt a bit too saccharine for my tastes. The major conflicts were relatively insignificant, only requiring Vera to open her mind a bit. Although I’ll admit she changed for the better in certain respects, there was no major transformation. I think the book would have benefitted from more exploration of the abuse that Vera experienced as well as the long-term consequences of that abuse. I don’t believe the abuse was ever directly addressed and that’s a missed opportunity because everyone loves a story of a hero who faces hardship and overcomes. The acknowledgment of the abuse was incidental, at best, while it should have taken center-stage. At the end of the book, there’s an excerpt for the follow-up book, Betrayed. Based on the title and Vera’s extreme reaction to unexpected news about Rowan in this book, I chose not to read it. I feel confident it would have resulted in aggravation on my part—I think I know enough about the type of characters likely to be involved to know how it would have gone. This book was enough for me. August 5, 2020
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September 2022
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