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A Woman To Blame
All Rick Parrish wants is his bar back!
Pappy's Crab Shack is the go-to place for the marina owner & fishing boat captain to kick back, have a cold beer, some conch fritters and, for a little while, leave some unfortunate memories behind. Watching those gaudy-awful sunsets from his favorite chair isn't bad either. So the last thing he wants is his Florida Keys hangout turned into a fancy-ass French restaurant.
Rick returns from vacation to find Pappy is in the hospital and has given granddaughter Bryn (a design consultant) carte blanche to "improve" Pappy's Crab Shack. A furious Rick and a determined Bryn go head to head over the changes. Rick insists nobody on Malabar Key is interested in a gourmet restaurant while Bryn insists it's just the thing to improve business on the key.
Bryn senses Rick has a secret in his past compelling him to fight the changes but she grits her teeth and waits for him to explain. Just what does tiny August Moon Key have to do with Rick and his former wife? Meanwhile Bryn and Rick are shanghaied to co-chair a fund raiser for a new ambulance, but the unwanted sexual attraction they have for each other is complicating everything.
Well into the renovations Bryn comes to realize her upscale restaurant is not a good fit for the laid back life style on Malabar Key. She bravely confesses this to Rick. He is awed by the redhead's humble admission. They can no longer put off the inevitable and begin an intimate and very passionate relationship. Still Bryn wants to know what happened to Rick five years ago out on August Moon Key. And what she finds out is a life changing shocker.
Pappy's Crab Shack is the go-to place for the marina owner & fishing boat captain to kick back, have a cold beer, some conch fritters and, for a little while, leave some unfortunate memories behind. Watching those gaudy-awful sunsets from his favorite chair isn't bad either. So the last thing he wants is his Florida Keys hangout turned into a fancy-ass French restaurant.
Rick returns from vacation to find Pappy is in the hospital and has given granddaughter Bryn (a design consultant) carte blanche to "improve" Pappy's Crab Shack. A furious Rick and a determined Bryn go head to head over the changes. Rick insists nobody on Malabar Key is interested in a gourmet restaurant while Bryn insists it's just the thing to improve business on the key.
Bryn senses Rick has a secret in his past compelling him to fight the changes but she grits her teeth and waits for him to explain. Just what does tiny August Moon Key have to do with Rick and his former wife? Meanwhile Bryn and Rick are shanghaied to co-chair a fund raiser for a new ambulance, but the unwanted sexual attraction they have for each other is complicating everything.
Well into the renovations Bryn comes to realize her upscale restaurant is not a good fit for the laid back life style on Malabar Key. She bravely confesses this to Rick. He is awed by the redhead's humble admission. They can no longer put off the inevitable and begin an intimate and very passionate relationship. Still Bryn wants to know what happened to Rick five years ago out on August Moon Key. And what she finds out is a life changing shocker.
- GenresRomance
147 pages, Kindle Edition
First published February 11, 2012
10 people are currently reading
72 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
February 20, 2012
This is a case of laid-back dude in the Florida Keys meets city girl who is his complete opposite. City girl has the stock character grandfather who really wants dude and girl to get together. Grandpa owns the local watering hole where dude hangs out, and city girl wants to change it from the local dive into a chic French restaurant. Dude wants to maintain the status quo. Anyone who has read more than three romance novels should be able to figure things out from here.
The author belongs to the "spell it out" school of writing. It goes without saying that dude has the hots for city girl, which is fine and expected in this genre. Unfortunately, the author can't let a paragraph go by without reminding us of that and what's going on in the dude's groin. That gets boring fast.
I got this as a freebie, so I can't complain too much, but I can't recommend this one, even as a beach read.
The author belongs to the "spell it out" school of writing. It goes without saying that dude has the hots for city girl, which is fine and expected in this genre. Unfortunately, the author can't let a paragraph go by without reminding us of that and what's going on in the dude's groin. That gets boring fast.
I got this as a freebie, so I can't complain too much, but I can't recommend this one, even as a beach read.
August 28, 2018
Taming the sea
It was a very well written novel. The main characters displayed a plethora of human emotions. The love scenes were carefully written. A good novel for relaxing on a rainy day.
It was a very well written novel. The main characters displayed a plethora of human emotions. The love scenes were carefully written. A good novel for relaxing on a rainy day.
February 19, 2012
3.5 stars
A WOMAN TO BLAME -
While most books of the modern romance kind can be somewhat predictable; after all they have to have a happily ever after so we know what will happen in the end, the road to the HEA is usually uncertain with most books. Unfortunately, with “A Woman to Blame” the road to the HEA was a little more predictable than most. What we are told in the synopsis is that Bryn will find out about a life-changing shocker, but simply isn’t as shocking as it could have been.
Bryn has come to the Florida Keys to help when her Grandfather breaks his leg. Pappy as he is called, wants her to redo his Pappy’s Crab Shack restaurant. What he wants and what he ends up with are two entirely different things. Now add in Rick Parrish (Captain Parrish) to the mix. He had his own chair at the Crab Shack; it was his home away from home. Now as he returns from a vacation he finds the Crab Shack closed and all manner of things going on. No more will you be able to eat peanuts and throw the shells willy-nilly. There will be a dress code; there will be fancy food, no more will there be conch fritters and cold beer. Well not if Rick has anything to say about it. So Rick and Bryn get off to an inauspicious start. They are constantly butting heads about the renovation while their hormones run rampant.
Now one of the problems lies with the fact that Rick seems to be hiding something. This is something that everyone knows but Bryn, and she is reluctant to have anyone else but Rick tell her what it is. Had she known, the outcome of the story may have made a bit more sensed to me. The other problem for me is that while it was good for Bryn to back down on some of her ideas for her Grandfathers sake, I felt Bryn compromised her integrity and vision for some hot bed-sport.
I understand that the tension had to come from somewhere, but I have never liked romance stories written for women in which the woman has to do all the compromising.
This was a short and non-taxing story and it will be a perfect read come this summer while laying by the swimming pool or at the beach while sipping a Margarita..
A WOMAN TO BLAME -
While most books of the modern romance kind can be somewhat predictable; after all they have to have a happily ever after so we know what will happen in the end, the road to the HEA is usually uncertain with most books. Unfortunately, with “A Woman to Blame” the road to the HEA was a little more predictable than most. What we are told in the synopsis is that Bryn will find out about a life-changing shocker, but simply isn’t as shocking as it could have been.
Bryn has come to the Florida Keys to help when her Grandfather breaks his leg. Pappy as he is called, wants her to redo his Pappy’s Crab Shack restaurant. What he wants and what he ends up with are two entirely different things. Now add in Rick Parrish (Captain Parrish) to the mix. He had his own chair at the Crab Shack; it was his home away from home. Now as he returns from a vacation he finds the Crab Shack closed and all manner of things going on. No more will you be able to eat peanuts and throw the shells willy-nilly. There will be a dress code; there will be fancy food, no more will there be conch fritters and cold beer. Well not if Rick has anything to say about it. So Rick and Bryn get off to an inauspicious start. They are constantly butting heads about the renovation while their hormones run rampant.
Now one of the problems lies with the fact that Rick seems to be hiding something. This is something that everyone knows but Bryn, and she is reluctant to have anyone else but Rick tell her what it is. Had she known, the outcome of the story may have made a bit more sensed to me. The other problem for me is that while it was good for Bryn to back down on some of her ideas for her Grandfathers sake, I felt Bryn compromised her integrity and vision for some hot bed-sport.
I understand that the tension had to come from somewhere, but I have never liked romance stories written for women in which the woman has to do all the compromising.
This was a short and non-taxing story and it will be a perfect read come this summer while laying by the swimming pool or at the beach while sipping a Margarita..
June 4, 2012
This was a fun little read. The author did a good job developing the characters and giving you a good feel for the personality of each. It did change perspectives between the main characters, which I like when it is clearly done. There was also some good love/hate dialog between the characters that was very entertaining. All in all, in was a good, quick, freebie read that didn't get too deep.
February 25, 2012
Two-haiku review:
His life is changing
And he doesn't want it to
He thinks she's to blame
Well done backstory
Easy to like characters
Sparking chemistry
His life is changing
And he doesn't want it to
He thinks she's to blame
Well done backstory
Easy to like characters
Sparking chemistry
March 12, 2012
I did not care for the meddling female plotline.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews