Disclaimer: I am friends with the authors; however, I purcahsed this ebook for full price.
Sometimes my interest in the romance between two characters takes a backseat to my interest in the development of the characters themselves. This book was sweet and enjoyable, with all the traditional romance novel tropes, but I found myself much more invested in Sean and Jess as people than as a couple.
We’ve known Sean for a few books already, and his alcoholism is addressed right away. But it’s really his journey from stagnation, a man afraid of his past, to forward progression, a man who knows what he wants out of the rest of his life, that was the true development in this book. Both issues were addressed with care and taste.
Jess had less of a journey, except to get out of her crazy family’s thumb. Though the family issues are never quite resolved, I cheered when she went after what she wanted regardless. It would have been so easy for Jess to become Sean’s crutch, but the authors were clever enough not to take the easy way out.
I’m looking forward to the rest of this series. When I finished this book, I messaged them and demanded that they write faster.
Rating: 4 (out of 5) stars. Cross-posted to Amazon and Goodreads.