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Summerside Stories #2
In His Good Hands
Renita Thatcher never imagined she'd see Brett O'Connor in town again - let alone in her office. Over the years, Renita has only caught glimpses of her old crush in the tabloids as Brett jet-set his way to football superstardom.... Oh, who's she trying to kid? She'd followed his career religiously. And his marriage to the gorgeous, high-profile trophy wife. Ex-wife.
Now Renita, the only loans officer in Summerside Bay, has something Brett wants. Just like in high school, she's in a position of power over him, but this time, she doesn't want to mess it up. Her next move is critical. Does she want revenge or does she want to surrender herself to a guy who looks even better than her best fantasy?
288 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published February 1, 2011
1 person is currently reading
76 people want to read
About the author
Joan Kilby
66 books102 followersJoan Kilby is the award-winning author of thirty contemporary romance novels. Originally from Canada, Joan studied to be a marine biologist and worked for many years in the field of environmental biology. In mid-life she returned to her first love--writing--and never looked back. These days Joan lives in Melbourne, Australia with her husband and three children. She loves to cook and grows her own herbs, fruit and vegetables. Other interests include hiking, yoga and travel. She once spent six months sailing the South Pacific on a fifty-five foot sailboat built and skippered by her father. Joan belongs to Toastmasters International and is an accomplished speaker--teaching romance writing and giving talks to community organizations. When she’s not working on her latest book she can often be found in a sidewalk café, sipping a latte and indulging in her favorite occupation--people watching.
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Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews
April 4, 2011
This is the first book by Joan Kilby I have read, and it’s probably the last. There were so many things that bothered me that I don’t even know where to start. First and foremost I should say that my review has spoilers, because I can’t explain why it didn’t work for me without giving away some of the plot.
The story is set in Australia; Renita, the heroine, has been in love with Brett since high school, where he broke her heart after he refused her invitation to prom. Fast forward some years, and he’s back in town. He’s a former football player that comes back to his home town after retiring and plans to start a gym. To do it he needs a big loan (Australian footballers don’t win that much money and he’s recently divorced and still hasn’t settled that), so he goes to the bank were Renita is in charge of the loans, he tries to charm her but only gets enough money to buy the old gym but not much else, he still needs to replace every single machine for state of the art equipment.
Renita sees what he’s doing and isn’t happy about it, but she tries to maintain a professional relationship and not get into personal territory. Brett finds out that Renita’s father is a diabetic and needs exercise, and offers him a two for the price of one three month membership, and one on one training sessions, hoping that she will go too. Her father convinces her and thus Brett becomes her personal trainer, up to this point and towards the middle of the book, the story was good, but then it all went downhill.
By the time she starts losing some weight, gets a makeover, and becomes confident in herself -although I’m not so sure about that- he realizes that she’s hot. The scene that leads to the first time they have sex is crazy: he invites her to his daughter’s prom as a chaperone, once there he kisses her, but she feels the kiss is a bit off and asks him if he’s doing it to compensate for what he did to her in high school, he says yes and the next thing I know they’re at his house having sex. After they sleep together she asks him if he would have made love to her had she not lost the extra weight, again he says yes, but now she’s hot so it’s ok. I understand and even appreciate his honesty, but the only reason he likes her is because she’s not “ugly” anymore, not because she’s smart, honest, goodhearted, good with his daughter, nope, she’s hot and that’s it, now he can date her. Oh, and then he adds: I didn’t asked you out before because you didn’t like me and I don’t deal well with rejection (not to mention that he didn’t like her at first and the only thing he wanted was the loan), but the worse thing is that she stays and doesn’t get angry, she feels like he just gave her a compliment, and she believes him when he says that he was afraid to ask her out!
I admit that at first the story sounded really good, I’m a sucker for those “ugly duckling gets the prince charming” type of story, and I like when the heroine isn’t perfect. In this case Renita is a bit overweight and feels really insecure about it, is she ugly? No. Is she morbidly obese? No. She just has low self-steam, and she’s still feeling sorry for herself after she got turned down by the hot jock when she was in high school. To be honest, I just wanted to yell at her to get over herself and get a life!
What comes next is even worse, he needs almost two hundred grand, and sells something dear to him, but the sale doesn’t comes through and he finds himself with two hundred grand worth of equipment and no money to pay for it. Of course Renita comes saving the day, she offers him the money out of her own pocket, here at least he shows some reason and declines, but Renita doesn’t take no for an answer and comes up with a plan to get him the money without him finding out, this master plan includes taking on a second mortgage for her house, and having his 13 year old daughter snooping trough his things and keeping secrets, and she does all that for a guy who she knows is acting immaturely crazy, a guy who tells her point blank that he only likes her for her new body, and a guy who she doesn’t really know that well.
This is how she explains to her father why he deserves the money:
Oh yes he did it for her! Because he wanted the loan! He was trying to get on her good graces so she would approve the loan, it wasn’t out of real concern for her father, it wasn’t because he secretly loved her, it was because of the money.
And then she questions herself and her decision (just for a second though, she ignores her own concerns and gives him the money anyway):
Of course she didn’t have the right! He’s behaving like an immature spoiled brat, he wanted the fitness center on his terms, and he wanted everything perfect now, no matter what. Come on! He had options, he could’ve bought used equipment for a fraction of the cost, he could’ve kept the equipment he already had, he could’ve bought just the strictly necessary, and then, once he had more money, buy the rest, but no, he wanted all and he wanted it now. She should have let him face the consequences of his actions. And even if he was the best entrepreneur ever, why is she lending him all that money? She was going to get a second mortgage for a guy who is a financial risk just because she has a crush on him? He didn’t even deserve the crush! At this point I was ready to stop reading altogether.
The ending wasn’t satisfying either, he did show some growth, but it was too late, I didn’t like him, I didn’t sympathize or connect with the heroine, and I wasn’t rooting for them to be together. I would recommend just skipping this one, or checking it out of the library.
I debated whether to give this one a 2 or a 1, because I did read it almost in one sitting and the writing was good, the first half wasn’t bad and was engaging, but the second half was terrible, that’s why I ended up giving it a 1.
Brie at Romance Around the Corner
The story is set in Australia; Renita, the heroine, has been in love with Brett since high school, where he broke her heart after he refused her invitation to prom. Fast forward some years, and he’s back in town. He’s a former football player that comes back to his home town after retiring and plans to start a gym. To do it he needs a big loan (Australian footballers don’t win that much money and he’s recently divorced and still hasn’t settled that), so he goes to the bank were Renita is in charge of the loans, he tries to charm her but only gets enough money to buy the old gym but not much else, he still needs to replace every single machine for state of the art equipment.
Renita sees what he’s doing and isn’t happy about it, but she tries to maintain a professional relationship and not get into personal territory. Brett finds out that Renita’s father is a diabetic and needs exercise, and offers him a two for the price of one three month membership, and one on one training sessions, hoping that she will go too. Her father convinces her and thus Brett becomes her personal trainer, up to this point and towards the middle of the book, the story was good, but then it all went downhill.
By the time she starts losing some weight, gets a makeover, and becomes confident in herself -although I’m not so sure about that- he realizes that she’s hot. The scene that leads to the first time they have sex is crazy: he invites her to his daughter’s prom as a chaperone, once there he kisses her, but she feels the kiss is a bit off and asks him if he’s doing it to compensate for what he did to her in high school, he says yes and the next thing I know they’re at his house having sex. After they sleep together she asks him if he would have made love to her had she not lost the extra weight, again he says yes, but now she’s hot so it’s ok. I understand and even appreciate his honesty, but the only reason he likes her is because she’s not “ugly” anymore, not because she’s smart, honest, goodhearted, good with his daughter, nope, she’s hot and that’s it, now he can date her. Oh, and then he adds: I didn’t asked you out before because you didn’t like me and I don’t deal well with rejection (not to mention that he didn’t like her at first and the only thing he wanted was the loan), but the worse thing is that she stays and doesn’t get angry, she feels like he just gave her a compliment, and she believes him when he says that he was afraid to ask her out!
I admit that at first the story sounded really good, I’m a sucker for those “ugly duckling gets the prince charming” type of story, and I like when the heroine isn’t perfect. In this case Renita is a bit overweight and feels really insecure about it, is she ugly? No. Is she morbidly obese? No. She just has low self-steam, and she’s still feeling sorry for herself after she got turned down by the hot jock when she was in high school. To be honest, I just wanted to yell at her to get over herself and get a life!
What comes next is even worse, he needs almost two hundred grand, and sells something dear to him, but the sale doesn’t comes through and he finds himself with two hundred grand worth of equipment and no money to pay for it. Of course Renita comes saving the day, she offers him the money out of her own pocket, here at least he shows some reason and declines, but Renita doesn’t take no for an answer and comes up with a plan to get him the money without him finding out, this master plan includes taking on a second mortgage for her house, and having his 13 year old daughter snooping trough his things and keeping secrets, and she does all that for a guy who she knows is acting immaturely crazy, a guy who tells her point blank that he only likes her for her new body, and a guy who she doesn’t really know that well.
This is how she explains to her father why he deserves the money:
“He cares about people. Look what he’s done for you. He didn’t have to go to so much trouble. I think, maybe, he did it partly for me”
Oh yes he did it for her! Because he wanted the loan! He was trying to get on her good graces so she would approve the loan, it wasn’t out of real concern for her father, it wasn’t because he secretly loved her, it was because of the money.
And then she questions herself and her decision (just for a second though, she ignores her own concerns and gives him the money anyway):
“Was she doing the right thing in trying to help Brett? Or would it be in his long-term interest to let his fitness center fail? Either way, did she have any right to affect his life so significantly? Especially when he’d turned down her offer to help?”
Of course she didn’t have the right! He’s behaving like an immature spoiled brat, he wanted the fitness center on his terms, and he wanted everything perfect now, no matter what. Come on! He had options, he could’ve bought used equipment for a fraction of the cost, he could’ve kept the equipment he already had, he could’ve bought just the strictly necessary, and then, once he had more money, buy the rest, but no, he wanted all and he wanted it now. She should have let him face the consequences of his actions. And even if he was the best entrepreneur ever, why is she lending him all that money? She was going to get a second mortgage for a guy who is a financial risk just because she has a crush on him? He didn’t even deserve the crush! At this point I was ready to stop reading altogether.
The ending wasn’t satisfying either, he did show some growth, but it was too late, I didn’t like him, I didn’t sympathize or connect with the heroine, and I wasn’t rooting for them to be together. I would recommend just skipping this one, or checking it out of the library.
I debated whether to give this one a 2 or a 1, because I did read it almost in one sitting and the writing was good, the first half wasn’t bad and was engaging, but the second half was terrible, that’s why I ended up giving it a 1.
Brie at Romance Around the Corner
April 28, 2011
Being an Aussie Rules fan, I couldn't help but fall for the tough-yet-vulnerable hero Brett in this 2nd book in the Summerside trilogy.
And I love a realistic heroine. While Renita struggles with her weight issues, she's so 'real' you feel like you know her.
An enjoyable read.
And I love a realistic heroine. While Renita struggles with her weight issues, she's so 'real' you feel like you know her.
An enjoyable read.
dnf
August 31, 2019No star rating because I didn't get very far in this one and it's solely because the set-up bothered me - the heroine is an overweight ugly duckling loan officer; the hero is a recently retired Australian football star who needs a loan to buy and refurbish a gym. There's a lot of emphasis from the heroine's perspective on how fat she is, and the fact that the hero rejected her in high school weighs heavily on her; the hero also thinks about how overweight the heroine is, is annoyed that his insincere compliments didn't make any headway with her given that she probably doesn't get many, and spitballed his loan proposal rather than sitting down and doing the math because apparently he's a lazy idiot. This is all in the first chapter. I'm not reading any further.
May 14, 2017
Set in Australia.
February 6, 2011
3.75 Stars Contemporary Romance
Brett O’Connor is a retired pro Australian Rules football player who makes his way back to his hometown of Summerside years after he left it with his 13 year old daughter Tegan in tow. Just recently divorced from his wife Amber who has made Brett reluctant to try anything in the relationship department, Brett is a man who is determined to make it big and show that he is not just a sports jock without a brain. With all his savings tied up in the divorce settlement proceedings, it is up to Brett to convince the local bank to grant him a hefty sum in order for him to purchase and refurbish the only gym in Summerside and open it up as a successful venture.
32 year old Renita Thatcher works as the loans manager at the Community Bank in Summerside and is a bit overweight and always at battle with self-esteem issues which had not been helped much by the fact that she had once had the mother of all crushes on Brett only to be rudely brought back to Earth by his firm rejection of her obvious feelings for him. 13 years later, Renita thinks herself to be over her painful crush on Brett O’Connor only to have her theory disproved when he walks in sinfully handsome and hot as ever into her bank to ask her to grant him the loan to start up his business.
Though Renita tries to ignore Brett and his obvious effort to charm her, she can’t help but be aware of the effect he has on her senses. And before she knows it, she and her father are cornered by Brett into joining his gym and its not long before Renita finds herself losing weight and her heart in the process as she gets to know the complex man that Brett is inside and out.
For the full review: http://bit.ly/e5nj21
Brett O’Connor is a retired pro Australian Rules football player who makes his way back to his hometown of Summerside years after he left it with his 13 year old daughter Tegan in tow. Just recently divorced from his wife Amber who has made Brett reluctant to try anything in the relationship department, Brett is a man who is determined to make it big and show that he is not just a sports jock without a brain. With all his savings tied up in the divorce settlement proceedings, it is up to Brett to convince the local bank to grant him a hefty sum in order for him to purchase and refurbish the only gym in Summerside and open it up as a successful venture.
32 year old Renita Thatcher works as the loans manager at the Community Bank in Summerside and is a bit overweight and always at battle with self-esteem issues which had not been helped much by the fact that she had once had the mother of all crushes on Brett only to be rudely brought back to Earth by his firm rejection of her obvious feelings for him. 13 years later, Renita thinks herself to be over her painful crush on Brett O’Connor only to have her theory disproved when he walks in sinfully handsome and hot as ever into her bank to ask her to grant him the loan to start up his business.
Though Renita tries to ignore Brett and his obvious effort to charm her, she can’t help but be aware of the effect he has on her senses. And before she knows it, she and her father are cornered by Brett into joining his gym and its not long before Renita finds herself losing weight and her heart in the process as she gets to know the complex man that Brett is inside and out.
For the full review: http://bit.ly/e5nj21
June 22, 2011
In His Good Hands is the book about the second sibling Renita and her high-school crush ex-football player Brett.
Renita was always a bit on the plump side and still is and after her father's health scare has been thinking of doing something about that weight. She used to tutor Brett in maths but he hurt her when he turned down going to the prom with her. So, when Brett comes to her bank for a loan Renita is professional but does not want to walk down memory lane.
Brett has moved to town with his daughter, his money is tied up in his divorce and he wants a loan to start and spruce his gym. He gets the loan but not the full amount. Brett always wanted to feel smart. He weedels Renita and her father into joining the gym.
I didn't enjoy the book that much for one I didn't get why Renita was still so hung up over Brett, he was shallow and put too much appearance. Yes, Brett does realize later that material possessions don't matter, that they only show him how far he has come from the difficult times in his childhood. I didn't like how impractical he was about the gym equipment, ordering it before he had the money in hand. Also, he didn't spend enough time with his daughter. Renita she too was dumb, after only one night with him she offers to mortgage her house to give him the money. I was like hello and then when she decides to get a boob job. Then what happens after that didn't really resonate with me. Not the book for me I guess, though it did have potential.
I will still read the elder sister's story though.
Renita was always a bit on the plump side and still is and after her father's health scare has been thinking of doing something about that weight. She used to tutor Brett in maths but he hurt her when he turned down going to the prom with her. So, when Brett comes to her bank for a loan Renita is professional but does not want to walk down memory lane.
Brett has moved to town with his daughter, his money is tied up in his divorce and he wants a loan to start and spruce his gym. He gets the loan but not the full amount. Brett always wanted to feel smart. He weedels Renita and her father into joining the gym.
I didn't enjoy the book that much for one I didn't get why Renita was still so hung up over Brett, he was shallow and put too much appearance. Yes, Brett does realize later that material possessions don't matter, that they only show him how far he has come from the difficult times in his childhood. I didn't like how impractical he was about the gym equipment, ordering it before he had the money in hand. Also, he didn't spend enough time with his daughter. Renita she too was dumb, after only one night with him she offers to mortgage her house to give him the money. I was like hello and then when she decides to get a boob job. Then what happens after that didn't really resonate with me. Not the book for me I guess, though it did have potential.
I will still read the elder sister's story though.
March 17, 2011
IN HIS GOOD HANDS by author Joan Kilby is an entertaining read.
Australian football pro player Brett O'Connor is retired and returns to his hometown Summerside, accompanied by his teenage daughter, Tegan with plans to open a gym there. He goes to the Community Bank for a loan. The bank's loans manager is someone he went to high school with, Renita Thatcher. She had a crush on him back then when she was his math tutor and to her chagrin still does. He is on the vrge of obtaining a divorce from gorgeous Amber.
Renita's insecurities about her looks makes this second chance love story very fascinating. She doesn't believe Brett wants her above all other slim ladies around. Yet Brett is resolute.
It is an unique and fasinating story.
Australian football pro player Brett O'Connor is retired and returns to his hometown Summerside, accompanied by his teenage daughter, Tegan with plans to open a gym there. He goes to the Community Bank for a loan. The bank's loans manager is someone he went to high school with, Renita Thatcher. She had a crush on him back then when she was his math tutor and to her chagrin still does. He is on the vrge of obtaining a divorce from gorgeous Amber.
Renita's insecurities about her looks makes this second chance love story very fascinating. She doesn't believe Brett wants her above all other slim ladies around. Yet Brett is resolute.
It is an unique and fasinating story.
September 24, 2011
I tried to like it, as I love me a chubby heroine who is insecure, and also adore the "awkward girl who has been pining for the popular guy for years" thing. But there was too much silliness and immaturity on both their parts.
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December 24, 2014Miniseries: Summerside Stories
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December 24, 2014Miniseries: Summerside Stories
September 14, 2011
This one was alright. I really liked the part when she purchases the medal in secret.....
December 1, 2011
Very disappointing to read a story supposedly set in Australia with Australian characters but all of the language has been Americanised.
September 3, 2015
2.5 stars!!!
I didn't like the h at all and the H wasn't much better!!
I didn't like the h at all and the H wasn't much better!!
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December 30, 2017I got 100 pages in and had to DNF because there was absolutely no real relationship development. Between the hero opening the gym, his financial issues, his daughter, and ex-wife drama and the heroine's family drama and weight issues, there was way too much happening to give the relationship any real page time. I was so keen for an AFL hero, but this just didn't work.
Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews