Sweet ending and overall nice storyline. There are some things in this novel that I need to be nit-picky about, though.
1. Carson leading on Fynlee— Alright, argue with me if you like, but it was wrong for Carson to pay attention to and spend alone time with Fynlee while he was still with Hilary. Even though he was beginning to fall in love with Fynlee, Carson had a commitment to Hilary (whether it was extremely serious or not) and he went behind her back with another woman. Now, nothing serious ever happened between Carson and Fynlee while they were alone but the fact still stands that they shouldn’t have been alone at all. It’s just not respectful— not to Hilary and not to Fynlee, neither of them deserved it (Hilary with her witchy behavior and all.) So yes, by spending time with Fynlee, teasing her and flirting with her, by not speaking whatsoever of Hilary( except when Fynlee first finds out he has a girl,) Carson leads Fynlee on. This aspect of the story took slightly away from my over all enjoyment of the book. I just wish Carson would have been honest from the get go waited until he severed any ties with Hilary before getting intimately (feelings wise) involved with Fynlee.
2. Fynlee should have had a little more respect for herself— woman are more emotional than men when it comes to attachment I think. Fynlee gets her heart involved with a man who’s already spoken for and acts surprised when there’s complications.
How would I have fixed this?: I would have written it so something can happen— something eye opening where Hilary is concerned— and Carson can severe ties with her near the beginning of the book. Together with meeting Fynlee and discovering Hilary’s true character, Carson would be able to make an honorable decision about any future romantic relationships, thus eliminating any leading on or look-alike leading on.
So... Clean?
There is no sex in this book which is an automatic thumbs up from me, but I really didn’t like seeing (or reading, rather) about Hilary kissing Carson. Although I do understand that some kissing was necessary in order to fully bring out Hilary’s character, I do wish their kisses weren’t quite so passionate— maybe Carson needed to have more of a back bone and just push her away, both mentally and physically?
In the end it does get my stamp of approval where cleanliness is concerned as there is no bedroom kisses, sex, nudeness, major innuendo, outright cheating (although it came close), and no overly detailed kisses, ie: tongue, biting, anything vulgar, etc.
Shanna Hatfield is one of my most read authors and an author I enjoy supremely:) this one simply isn’t one of my favorites.
Overall, 3 stars because I honestly did enjoy the romance between Carson and Fynlee and the storyline was cute.