Ex-Marine Kevin Vandemeer craves normalcy. Instead, he has a broken-down old house in need of a match and some gasoline, a meddling family, and the uncanny ability to attract the world's craziest women. At least that last one he can fix: he and his buddies have made a pact to swear off women, and this includes his sweetly sexy new neighbor.
After one hot night that looks a whole lot like a disaster in the light of day, Kevin and Holly are about to learn that true love doesn't play by the rules . . .
Comment: Another book in the pile for who knows why... to be honest, I did start once a list in one of my notebooks so I could write down the titles I was adding to my TBR but it started to become tiring and I've quit. Well, it would have been quite handy if I had done in regards to this one...
In this story we meet wedding planner Holly and ex marine Kevin, who meet when Kevin moves to the house next to Holly's. Their first meeting is a bit silly but the more they see each other, the more they like one another. However, at some point Holly learns Kevin is the son of her demanding boss and she believes they shouldn't be together, even more so since her position at work might not be certain and she needs money to keep her grandmother at the nursery home she is living in. Will these two find a way to be happy?
This was a very predictable contemporary romance with some interesting and more serious themes but whose development wasn't as rich in depth as I probably would have preferred. Still, I must say I was quite entertained and for the most part that fascination was enough to keep me going and I even got to think this would be a very solid four stars out of five but closer to the end kind of changed my mind.
The plot is very simple, a bit silly at times for how unlikely certain scenes are and for the misunderstanding of certain situations to give them a comedy flavor. Some scenes were fine regarding this, but others were more... cringe than funny, for me. Despite this, I was invested in Holly and her need to be there for her grandmother and I liked her relationship with her cousin after they lost their parents young, and how these dynamics shaped her way of seeing things.
Kevin is a little less intriguing, basically he is a good guy trying to help a friend, finds out he likes Holly and a lot of his decisions are related to his sense of honor, except the conflict, which is directly related to a misunderstanding with Holly... honestly, I've felt this was a bit silly because by that point they had known each other for that long and the supposed inference of what each one was feeling seemed a bit exaggerated.
Therefore, the main couple met, started liking one another, had to deal with external issues to their relationship and while Holly was still worrying about her work and her boss, which gave the vibe Holly was underappreciated and kind of take for granted, Kevin was dealing with his new job - always a little hard for me to understand exactly - and the renovation of the house he bought near Holly. It's not that there are too many themes or distractions, but sometimes it did feel some things weren't properly developed.
While not thinking of this critically, I was entertained as I've said, but then, when things finally reach that climax point, and Holly is delaying with a stressful wedding and Kevin is there to help after they acknowledged their feelings, I've thought the only issue to deal with was his mother discovering about them, but... suddenly, drama alert!
I struggle with contemporaries, and rushed endings don't help matters any. I think this is another one to skip for me.
ReplyDeleteIt's quite the pity because there were several elements and scenes I've felt were presented in an interesting way...
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