At another point in her life, Peyton Watt would have been all over a cocky alpha male who pushes all her buttons like Drew. Right now, though, she needs to focus on taking care of her niece during her sister's health crisis, all while holding down a job and keeping...
Comment: I got this book after positive recommendations by people whose taste in books is similar to mine. I was looking for to a good read and although it wasn't as perfect as I imagined, it was a well written story.
In this story we meet Drew Sellers, a retired hockey player living in Chicago who had to give up on the game after a very bad injury. He's now restless without any drive nor desire to see his friends do what he loved the most so he spends his days procrastinating, drinking and occasionally helping at a foundation close to his heart.
One day he is found by Sara, a woman he barely remembers from their college days, claiming he has a 12 year old daughter, Chloe. Sara is well in life financially so she doesn't want money. What she wants is to inform him in case he might want to be part of the girl's life, since Sara has terminal cancer and won't be around for much longer.
The other main character is Peyton, Sara's younger sister who is now a successful career woman in New York. Peyton and Sara have always been close and Peyton is struggling to accept her beloved sister is dying but there's Chloe to think about. She thinks is a good idea for Chloe to have a father figure but if only they weren't as attracted to one another as they are...
Reading this book reminded me of a well thought, well structured, logical story that had the perfect amount of angst, of drama, of sweetness and of domesticity. What it lacked was a stronger romance or one where the sexual tension would have been better done because the relationship between Drew and Peyton, although perfect in so many levels (how they communicated!!) it just didn't feel as if they had to be together...
I think the best feature of the book is how the author made it look as if every single decision, every step made sense. The characters are mostly grown ups and they act like it. Peyton and Drew act like the roles they play and even Sara acts as someone who has a goal but she is not being imposing.
It really felt like everything had a purpose and even the character's doubts, like Peyton's in regard to stay in Chicago or take Chloe to New York, were weighted in according to what was happening to them. Nothing was spur of a moment, nothing was magically done in the page after. I could see how much consciousness thought went into planning this book.
I liked how the relationships were portrayed, especially Chloe and the adults, the two sisters with one another and Drew and Sara after many years without thinking of the other.
I think the author really took into consideration the effort and the dedication one has to have to keep up with healthy relationships, whether they are long or very recent. The interactions among everyone were consistent, were believable and it almost felt as if the pages weren't turning.
Both Drew and Payton, individually, were good characters, realistically drawn according to their positions in life and the things they were going through. I think the professional side of their lives was well achieved. The romance between them was fair, acceptable, sweet and believable.
I just think it was a bit too convenient and I wasn't convinced by how each described their attraction with the other.
I know this is a romance and lust/attraction doesn't always chooses the best moments but Drew was emotionally tired, he had just found about a daughter and Peyton was already starting to mourn her sister, she had so many worries.... it's only fair people should be able to distract themselves but... I'd have preferred if more time somehow had passed between their meeting and their acting on their attraction. I understand why not for plot reasons but...ehh.
I have to mention the emotional side of things. Sara's final days were minimized in terms of what she went through but we get to read about them. Thia added some veracity to the other character's feelings without turning this into a huge drama nor did it attempt to exploit Sara's situation. I think it was well inserted into the story.
All in all, this was a good story for me. I think it had many strong elements, many situations well done and the writing felt really aware of what was going on. I liked it and, of course, it had a positive HEA.
I might try to investigate other books by the author in the future.
Grade: 8/10
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