Debbie B. (orchid7) -
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
This is the first book I have read by this author. It is the fourth book in a connected series, but I read it easily as a stand-alone. There are a lot of peripheral characters, but the family relationships are explained (quite frequently), so I was able to keep up.
Jace Rice is approaching 30, and is coveting the type of close relationship he sees between his friends and family members and their spouses. He has been burned a few times, thinking he was in love with other women who then went on to find love with other men. He is tired of being "the detour guy", and wants to be someone's sole destination. He is also dealing with a broken relationship with his twin brother, due to mistakes he's made.
Bree Fox is a widow who lost her husband in Afghanistan. She is in her late 20s, but has basically stopped living so that she can "properly mourn her husband". She has been leaning on Jace for comfort, but decides to retreat up to a ranch in Idaho for time alone. She and Jace tap-dance around each other throughout the book- which felt like it was about 100 pages too long.
I really had a hard time with Bree's character. She was a very selfish person. She used her "grief" as an excuse to flit around from place to place, worrying friends and family, while she took and took without giving very much at all. Even when Jace was quite obviously upset and suffering, she still yanked his chain on several occasions and her constant back and forth with him made me wish that he would find someone else about halfway through the book.
Jace was a nice guy- although I don't think that he gave himself enough credit. His constantly going after "unavailable women" seemed a bit desperate to me.
I couldn't believe that the reason Bree finally decided to latch on to Jace had more to do with a discovery she made about her late husband than the way she "felt" about Jace. That left me feeling quite uncharitable towards her. Nice way to make the guy who always feels like the detour feel wanted! Jace deserved better than Bree.
There was a community feel to the book, but I thought it was a bit odd how everyone just used each other's houses all the time. I guess I just didn't really connect with this one.
2 1/2 stars
This is the first book I have read by this author. It is the fourth book in a connected series, but I read it easily as a stand-alone. There are a lot of peripheral characters, but the family relationships are explained (quite frequently), so I was able to keep up.
Jace Rice is approaching 30, and is coveting the type of close relationship he sees between his friends and family members and their spouses. He has been burned a few times, thinking he was in love with other women who then went on to find love with other men. He is tired of being "the detour guy", and wants to be someone's sole destination. He is also dealing with a broken relationship with his twin brother, due to mistakes he's made.
Bree Fox is a widow who lost her husband in Afghanistan. She is in her late 20s, but has basically stopped living so that she can "properly mourn her husband". She has been leaning on Jace for comfort, but decides to retreat up to a ranch in Idaho for time alone. She and Jace tap-dance around each other throughout the book- which felt like it was about 100 pages too long.
I really had a hard time with Bree's character. She was a very selfish person. She used her "grief" as an excuse to flit around from place to place, worrying friends and family, while she took and took without giving very much at all. Even when Jace was quite obviously upset and suffering, she still yanked his chain on several occasions and her constant back and forth with him made me wish that he would find someone else about halfway through the book.
Jace was a nice guy- although I don't think that he gave himself enough credit. His constantly going after "unavailable women" seemed a bit desperate to me.
I couldn't believe that the reason Bree finally decided to latch on to Jace had more to do with a discovery she made about her late husband than the way she "felt" about Jace. That left me feeling quite uncharitable towards her. Nice way to make the guy who always feels like the detour feel wanted! Jace deserved better than Bree.
There was a community feel to the book, but I thought it was a bit odd how everyone just used each other's houses all the time. I guess I just didn't really connect with this one.
2 1/2 stars
