2015 DREAMS Awards Finalist
2015 RONE Award Finalist
Moving on doesn’t always have to mean goodbye.
Widowed makeup artist Jane Sullivan is more comfortable keeping her husband’s memory alive than dating a pool full of sharks. Ella, her 4 year-old daughter, is her whole world.
When Jane meets Lucas Oliver, famous cover model, it’s hate at first sight. His playboy persona rubs her the wrong way.
Accustomed to every woman fawning over him, Lucas is drawn to the shy, uncompromising single mom and completely melts at the sight of Ella. He is determined to convince Jane that sometimes a second chance can mend a broken heart.
2015 RONE Award Finalist
Moving on doesn’t always have to mean goodbye.
Widowed makeup artist Jane Sullivan is more comfortable keeping her husband’s memory alive than dating a pool full of sharks. Ella, her 4 year-old daughter, is her whole world.
When Jane meets Lucas Oliver, famous cover model, it’s hate at first sight. His playboy persona rubs her the wrong way.
Accustomed to every woman fawning over him, Lucas is drawn to the shy, uncompromising single mom and completely melts at the sight of Ella. He is determined to convince Jane that sometimes a second chance can mend a broken heart.
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MY IMPRESSIONS OF THIS BOOK:
This story may be set amongst the world of cover models and all the perceived superficiality they carry but readers quickly see another side to these men. Fun and flirty soon becomes heartfelt and emotionally intense in this romance that deals with love and loss. It's a tale full of sexual tension and witty banter that immersed me from the first page to the last.
Lucas is a world-class cover model who exudes arrogance when you first meet him. At least that's how the widowed Jane sees him until they're forced into close quarters that bring out a different side to him. Behind his sexy packaging is a man in pain, dealing with a dying mother and an addicted brother. Despite all the pain he's carrying he goes out of his way to bring joy and happiness to Jane and her daughter Ella. He's drawn to Jane as she's different than other women he's known and she sees the real him behind the sexy body. He's equally drawn to what she and her daughter represent as they're the family he desperately wants but doesn't think he deserves. As he struggles with where he fits in their lives I found myself aching for him and was endeared by how obvious he is in wanting to be in their lives forever. Lucas is a delicious hero whose snark had me chuckling and which added fuel to the fiery verbal tug of war between him and Jane. His interactions with Ella charmed me and made my uterus hurt for all the love and attention he unconsciously lavished on her. The evolution from his and Jane going from friends to lovers was a sweet and sexy transition and had me fully invested in their emotional journey to HEA.
Jane's still reeling from the death of her husband, stuck in a rut devoted only to her daughter and her burgeoning writing career. She's hiding though, scared to leave the memory of her dead husband behind. It has her resorting to antagonistic banter towards Lucas early on and using her daughter as a buffer later on to keep him at arm's length. Ultimately it's his pain that calls to her and has her wanting to heal him. Being with him pulls her out of her self-imposed mourning, reminding her of her sexuality, and the joys of caring and being cared for. Jane's a strong-willed heroine who frustrated me as she kept Lucas at arm's length far too long, treating him like a dirty little secret as their relationship heated up. Ultimately though she stepped up to the plate and supported him when he needed her most.
On a whole this was a charming story full of delightful banter and a delicious hero who has style and substance. Issues of grief are heartbreakingly portrayed to make these characters even more relatable and more worthy of HEA. I don't normally care for children in romances but Ella was a sweetheart who brought out a playful side to Lucas that made him an even more quintessential hero. My only quibble concerns Lucas's jealous ex and her vile machinations late in the story that felt emotionally manipulative. Her actions felt overly melodramatic, came out of left field, and went on far too long. It cast a shadow over both Lucas and Jane's personalities bringing out the worst in them and ruining the happy bubble their romance put me in until that point. Despite my issues I still enjoyed this romance and its compelling characters and hope to revisit this world as there are other sexy models who I'd love to drool over some more.
Lucas is a world-class cover model who exudes arrogance when you first meet him. At least that's how the widowed Jane sees him until they're forced into close quarters that bring out a different side to him. Behind his sexy packaging is a man in pain, dealing with a dying mother and an addicted brother. Despite all the pain he's carrying he goes out of his way to bring joy and happiness to Jane and her daughter Ella. He's drawn to Jane as she's different than other women he's known and she sees the real him behind the sexy body. He's equally drawn to what she and her daughter represent as they're the family he desperately wants but doesn't think he deserves. As he struggles with where he fits in their lives I found myself aching for him and was endeared by how obvious he is in wanting to be in their lives forever. Lucas is a delicious hero whose snark had me chuckling and which added fuel to the fiery verbal tug of war between him and Jane. His interactions with Ella charmed me and made my uterus hurt for all the love and attention he unconsciously lavished on her. The evolution from his and Jane going from friends to lovers was a sweet and sexy transition and had me fully invested in their emotional journey to HEA.
Jane's still reeling from the death of her husband, stuck in a rut devoted only to her daughter and her burgeoning writing career. She's hiding though, scared to leave the memory of her dead husband behind. It has her resorting to antagonistic banter towards Lucas early on and using her daughter as a buffer later on to keep him at arm's length. Ultimately it's his pain that calls to her and has her wanting to heal him. Being with him pulls her out of her self-imposed mourning, reminding her of her sexuality, and the joys of caring and being cared for. Jane's a strong-willed heroine who frustrated me as she kept Lucas at arm's length far too long, treating him like a dirty little secret as their relationship heated up. Ultimately though she stepped up to the plate and supported him when he needed her most.
On a whole this was a charming story full of delightful banter and a delicious hero who has style and substance. Issues of grief are heartbreakingly portrayed to make these characters even more relatable and more worthy of HEA. I don't normally care for children in romances but Ella was a sweetheart who brought out a playful side to Lucas that made him an even more quintessential hero. My only quibble concerns Lucas's jealous ex and her vile machinations late in the story that felt emotionally manipulative. Her actions felt overly melodramatic, came out of left field, and went on far too long. It cast a shadow over both Lucas and Jane's personalities bringing out the worst in them and ruining the happy bubble their romance put me in until that point. Despite my issues I still enjoyed this romance and its compelling characters and hope to revisit this world as there are other sexy models who I'd love to drool over some more.
My rating for this is a B.
*I got this book from the author for review in exchange for my honest opinion.
Ever since I began writing and publishing books I’ve been on the run, always trying to write the next page, the next chapter, the next book. Every story was another journey, another discovery of what I could do and another evolution. All these years my motto was it doesn’t matter who I am or where I come from, but what I leave behind is. I thought I have it all figured out.
Socrates, one of the biggest philosophers to ever grace humanity once said, “I am talking a crock of s***.” I had no idea this expression dated hundreds of years ago and belongs to him, but who am I to argue with him? Needless to say, after some soul searching I realized my motto was a . . . pot of smelly stuff. I had a meltdown because, if you think about it, why would what I leave behind matter more than who I am here and now in this very moment? How will I ever know if what I left behind mattered with no way of seeing it? How am I gonna enjoy it? Think Socrates; does he know how much he touched humankind? Does he know people still remember him centuries later? And if he knows, does it make a difference?
I’m not sure. Frankly I doubt with all my heart it makes any difference to him. He’s gone, like I’ll be gone one day and instead of beating myself up to leave something behind me, I’m going to learn how to live here, now and totally enjoy it. No more worrying about tomorrow, but live today. No more five-year plans, but rather let the sun soak my skin, the air fill my lungs and the grass touch my feet. After all, I only live once.
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Jody,
ReplyDeleteThank you so much for hosting my book tour on your lovely website. LOVED every bit of your review. So happy I managed to bring out in you those feelings, which is an author's deepest dream, to touch their readers on an emotional level. THANKs a million!
TYVM for stopping by & for your kind comments! I'm curious what you have planned next as I truly like the idea of you telling the other cover model's stories with a series set in the romance writer's convention world.
DeleteThe Scarf Princess
Thanks for hosting today, Jody! Glad you liked it this sounds like a fun read! :)
ReplyDelete