Mary Ann Rivers - Laugh

Dr. Sam Burnside is convinced that volunteering at an urban green-space farm in Lakefield, Ohio, is a waste of time—especially with his new health clinic about to open. He only goes to mollify his partner, suspecting she wants him to lighten up. Then Sam catches sight of Nina Paz, a woman who gives off more heat than a scorcher in July. Her easy smile and flirty, sizzling wit has him forgetting his infamous need for control.
 Widowed when her husband was killed in Afghanistan, Nina has learned that life exists to take chances. As the daughter of migrant workers turned organic farmers, she’s built an exciting and successful business by valuing new opportunities and working hard to take care of her own. But when Sam pushes for a relationship that goes beyond their hotter-than-fire escapades, Nina ignores her own hard-won wisdom. She isn’t ready for a man who needs saving—even if her heart compels her to take the greatest risk of all: love.

Comment: This is the second installment in the Burnside series by author Mary Ann Rivers. I was a bit disappointed in how the first book was executed so I had lower expectations about this one. But honestly, because I had the trouble of getting it, I decided to read it anyway, if only to just get it out of the way.

 

In this second story we have Sam as a protagonist, he's the older of the four brothers, a doctor who recently joined forces with the family's friend Lacey to open up a clinic.

Sam is considered a controlling, always serious man so he decides to try volunteering at a farm that will have a partnership with the clinic just to show those around him he has what it takes to be social and carefree. There he meets Nina Paz, the owner of Paz Farms and a woman he feels very attracted to. Nina is equally attracted but life isn't just about ourselves so both of them have a lot to deal with except the growing feelings between them...

 

I'll start by saying I found this book much more appealing and interesting than the first one. Not only did I like the man characters more, but I also think the author eased up on the writing style, which made this easier to read.

My biggest issue with the first book was how uninteresting the writing was because despite being very beautiful and precise it didn't captive me to be interested in knowing more and each chapter was a challenge to overcome. In this second story, I felt things were running smoother, better. I still think she took too many words and sentences to present something that less complication would have turned into something wonderful. I know, it's her style and prerogative as the author to do things the way she wants and feels it's her, but at this end, for me personally, the writing style is a little bit too complex for the needs of the story and the tone she gives them.

I mean, this isn't classic fiction, it's obvious the intent is write romances, but the writing just isn't appealing to me. I know other love it, but it's the way it is.

 

The plot is interesting, I liked knowing about farms and clinics, but there's a lot of technical talk which adds veracity to the story but at times it gets too wordy for me, I mean, it's nice to know all those things but does it really matter to the flow or the goal of the story?

Towards the end, stuff happens and I didn't see it coming. It was a smart way to solve things, I assume also to prepare future stories? But sincerely, I didn't really care, I just wanted to know how that would affect the romance.

 

The human studies one can make in the author's books are certainly unique. But that writing removes any fun out of finding out more, I think. Anyway, the romance features Sam and Nina, people with different backgrounds and experiences. I liked seeing them fall in love but there is something clinical about their relationship despite the efforts to not make it so. I wanted a bit more romantic elements, more towards a romance than a fictional tale that has a romance in it, because it was what it felt like. I'm glad they ended up happy but the path to it wasn't as special as that, it wasn't a fantasy happening like in other romances and it was the subtlety of a fiction story. I can't explain it well.

 

There other issues happening in the story, concerning other characters and that was interesting, probably to be important to following stories one day. The secondary characters offer good elements to support the action, as they should, but for the most part everything gets complicated with the author's constant explanations about what everyone is feeling and the two protagonists inner thoughts. I think it's actually real how they think, because most people in RL think complex in their heads but to read about it it's not as fun. Or maybe I'm not smart or intellectual enough.

 

All in all, this was better, I think it run smoother and more fluid, I liked Sam better than Destiny from the first book but there's still some difficulty in processing what should be simpler.

Nevertheless, a better effort in my opinion, especially with a good happy ending as that.

Grade: 6/10