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The First Move
An unlikely encounter…but he'll take it!It seems like fate…or something! When Miles Brislenn spies the girl he had a crush on in high school—at his ex-wife's wedding, no less—he can't let the opportunity pass. He might not have had the courage to talk to Renia Milek back then, but he definitely does now. And that's not the only thing that's changed. Gone is the rebel Renia used to be. In her place is a beautiful woman who's reserved, cautious…and holding on to secrets.
For Miles, this second chance with Renia is too important to let her past stand in their way. He'll do whatever is necessary to help her accept her choices and move on—even if that means a salsa lesson or two! Because now that he's made the first move, he wants the second to be hers.
For Miles, this second chance with Renia is too important to let her past stand in their way. He'll do whatever is necessary to help her accept her choices and move on—even if that means a salsa lesson or two! Because now that he's made the first move, he wants the second to be hers.
304 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 2013
4 people are currently reading
344 people want to read
About the author
Jennifer Lohmann
25 books81 followersJennifer Lohmann is a Rocky Mountain girl at heart, having grown up in southern Idaho and Salt Lake City. When she’s not writing or working as a public librarian, she wrangles two cats and several backyard chickens; the dog is better behaved. She lives in Durham, North Carolina
Her favorite non-romance books are Wolf Hall and A Country Called Home. She'll read anything Mary Roach writes. Her favorite romance authors are Carla Kelly, Madeline Hunter, Sherry Thomas, Courtney Milan, and Elizabeth Hoyt.
Her favorite non-romance books are Wolf Hall and A Country Called Home. She'll read anything Mary Roach writes. Her favorite romance authors are Carla Kelly, Madeline Hunter, Sherry Thomas, Courtney Milan, and Elizabeth Hoyt.
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Displaying 1 - 26 of 26 reviews
April 9, 2013
4.5*
I like just about everything about this book. Every characters feel real. The challenges, past and present, that they face felt normal, like things I can relate to. Renia is damaged, but not broken and not self-pitying. Miles starts off seeming maybe a little to good to be true, but his human failings show up, and we learn that even with all his good intentions, he's just as likely to screw up as anyone. Sarah, Miles' teenage daughter irritates me at times (not always), and that is definitely the point. She is suppose to be caught in that awkward phase between childhood and adulthood. I have a difficult time imagining a teenager actually saying some of snotty things she says in front of other grown-ups because my children would honestly never do that--they'd think it, but not say it aloud! But I can be persuaded that there are teens who would.
I want to say again that the people feel real, the emotions feel real, the situations, regrets, second-guessing--everything. And the pull between Renia and Miles is so sweet. The romance is wonderful and the sex scenes are really good. There is so much in this book but it all works so well together. It's a book about finding a healthy place in relationships- between mother and daughter, father and daughter, mother and the daughter she gave up for adoption, between a man and a woman falling in love. There is hope, fear, rejection, forgiveness and finally acceptance. Acceptance that you do the best you can, so forgive yourself and others and move on with your life.
My minor quibbles are the following: 1) just a bit of repetitive internal monologuing by Renia on her feeling and 2) Miles got off the hook at the end with too little groveling. ;-)
I like just about everything about this book. Every characters feel real. The challenges, past and present, that they face felt normal, like things I can relate to. Renia is damaged, but not broken and not self-pitying. Miles starts off seeming maybe a little to good to be true, but his human failings show up, and we learn that even with all his good intentions, he's just as likely to screw up as anyone. Sarah, Miles' teenage daughter irritates me at times (not always), and that is definitely the point. She is suppose to be caught in that awkward phase between childhood and adulthood. I have a difficult time imagining a teenager actually saying some of snotty things she says in front of other grown-ups because my children would honestly never do that--they'd think it, but not say it aloud! But I can be persuaded that there are teens who would.
I want to say again that the people feel real, the emotions feel real, the situations, regrets, second-guessing--everything. And the pull between Renia and Miles is so sweet. The romance is wonderful and the sex scenes are really good. There is so much in this book but it all works so well together. It's a book about finding a healthy place in relationships- between mother and daughter, father and daughter, mother and the daughter she gave up for adoption, between a man and a woman falling in love. There is hope, fear, rejection, forgiveness and finally acceptance. Acceptance that you do the best you can, so forgive yourself and others and move on with your life.
My minor quibbles are the following: 1) just a bit of repetitive internal monologuing by Renia on her feeling and 2) Miles got off the hook at the end with too little groveling. ;-)
September 16, 2013
It was ok but not compelling. I was not glued in. It’s more womens fiction than romance.
The majority of the story is about Renia’s grief, self doubt, and related issues. She was pregnant at age 16, gave the baby up for adoption, and is still grieving about it 18 years later. She has never been in love. The reason was not explained other than it was somehow related to her messed up mental state. Apparently the few times she was involved with men, she did not treat them well and quickly broke up with them.
Miles had a crush on Renia when they were in high school. He is recently divorced and their paths cross. He now acts on that crush. Renia treats him bad, but he continues his pursuit and she softens toward him. That was the best part of the story. It brought the book into the romance category, but their relationship felt like a secondary story. More time is spent on other relationships like Renia wanting to meet her adopted daughter Ashley, things going on with Sarah (Miles’ 16-year-old-daughter), and Renia’s troubled relationship with her mother. I enjoyed things happening between Sarah and Renia. It would have been neat if more happened with the adopted daughter Ashley.
This is for readers who are in the mood for problems and emotions surrounding giving up a child for adoption.
There were three brief sex scenes. I don’t recall any emotional reaction to them.
DATA:
Narrative mode: 3rd person. Story length: 298 pages. Swearing language: strong but not often used. Sexual language: mild. Number of sex scenes: 3. Setting: current day Chicago, Illinois. Copyright: 2013. Genre: contemporary romance.
The majority of the story is about Renia’s grief, self doubt, and related issues. She was pregnant at age 16, gave the baby up for adoption, and is still grieving about it 18 years later. She has never been in love. The reason was not explained other than it was somehow related to her messed up mental state. Apparently the few times she was involved with men, she did not treat them well and quickly broke up with them.
Miles had a crush on Renia when they were in high school. He is recently divorced and their paths cross. He now acts on that crush. Renia treats him bad, but he continues his pursuit and she softens toward him. That was the best part of the story. It brought the book into the romance category, but their relationship felt like a secondary story. More time is spent on other relationships like Renia wanting to meet her adopted daughter Ashley, things going on with Sarah (Miles’ 16-year-old-daughter), and Renia’s troubled relationship with her mother. I enjoyed things happening between Sarah and Renia. It would have been neat if more happened with the adopted daughter Ashley.
This is for readers who are in the mood for problems and emotions surrounding giving up a child for adoption.
There were three brief sex scenes. I don’t recall any emotional reaction to them.
DATA:
Narrative mode: 3rd person. Story length: 298 pages. Swearing language: strong but not often used. Sexual language: mild. Number of sex scenes: 3. Setting: current day Chicago, Illinois. Copyright: 2013. Genre: contemporary romance.
May 25, 2013
This book made me emotional, in a good way. I'm not a crying sort of reader. It rarely happens. But there are moments in this story where I was reading with a lump in my throat, and I really think that's on the strength of the heroine. Romance, as a genre, tends to spend an inordinate amount of time and energy focusing on hunky, beefcake heroes who are emotionally screwed up because their Mama, Daddy, Brother, Pet Goldfish didn't love them enough. Yeah, heroes are great - but romance works because at the end of the day it's the heroine's journey. It's a genre that relies on studs for the sex appeal, but it gets its running legs from the heroines. Renia drives this story. Renia pretty much makes or breaks this story. And in my opinion? She makes it. She's stellar.
http://wendythesuperlibrarian.blogspo...
http://wendythesuperlibrarian.blogspo...
September 12, 2015
Cute book with lots of plot. This is a very full story and honestly, I was a little overwhelmed. It felt long to me, but anytime I tried to look for someplace I would cut, I couldn't find one because every page seemed essential to the story line. Truly, this book was packed with plot. That's common for a Harlequin SuperRomance, but I've read a decent number in the line to know that not all of them are quite so packed.
It's not a bad thing, to have a lot of plot, but it does make for a lot of storylines to wrap up at the very end which I think lead to me being overwhelmed. Our HEA didn't happen until the very last few pages made it feel slightly rushed even though it worked well with the way the story progressed. I think I just kept seeing how few pages I had left and was worried not everything would be tied up nicely at the end.
I read this for my romance book club where the theme of the month was "secret babies". This book fit that theme well, which is all I'll say to prevent spoilers. I did think the baby issue was handled with a lot of care and lot more detail than I'm used to. This book was incredibly realistic. Both hero and heroine were incredibly flawed, major mistakes, and dealt with them as actual real people would. Not a terrible thing to read, but not exactly what I'm used to in a romance, especially not in a Harlequin.
I bought this book because Jennifer Lohmann is a fellow librarian (full disclosure: I have met her on one occasion and have communicated with her on Twitter both before and after she published) and I wanted to be supportive. I was unsure what to expect but I really liked what I read. This was a well written, tightly paced story with realistic characters and real emotion. If all her books are like this, I will be checking out others.
Final grade: B
It's not a bad thing, to have a lot of plot, but it does make for a lot of storylines to wrap up at the very end which I think lead to me being overwhelmed. Our HEA didn't happen until the very last few pages made it feel slightly rushed even though it worked well with the way the story progressed. I think I just kept seeing how few pages I had left and was worried not everything would be tied up nicely at the end.
I read this for my romance book club where the theme of the month was "secret babies". This book fit that theme well, which is all I'll say to prevent spoilers. I did think the baby issue was handled with a lot of care and lot more detail than I'm used to. This book was incredibly realistic. Both hero and heroine were incredibly flawed, major mistakes, and dealt with them as actual real people would. Not a terrible thing to read, but not exactly what I'm used to in a romance, especially not in a Harlequin.
I bought this book because Jennifer Lohmann is a fellow librarian (full disclosure: I have met her on one occasion and have communicated with her on Twitter both before and after she published) and I wanted to be supportive. I was unsure what to expect but I really liked what I read. This was a well written, tightly paced story with realistic characters and real emotion. If all her books are like this, I will be checking out others.
Final grade: B
June 4, 2013
I enjoyed this story quite a bit. The realistic aspects of adoption, divorce and childhood trauma were very believable and set the stage for both characters' personalities. However, while I liked seeing Renia come out of the secretive shell she'd wrapped around herself, I felt like many major issues resolved themselves too quickly.
Her issues with her mother were deep, had been festering for years and seemed to be wrapped up much too quickly. I also had a hard time believing that Miles really understood how wrong his actions were and have a hard time believing he won't do the same thing in the future. Even within the story I felt that he was a contradiction. We see him thinking, Did I really say that? How could I have screwed up so bad? However, he doesn't understand why his daughter is upset with him. If he knew he'd screwed up, why didn't he understand why his daughter was angry? It just didn't work for me. I felt like his attraction to Renia was due to his high school fantasy of her and he never really seemed to accept the reality of the messed up teen she was. I'm not entirely sure whether I believe that he and Renia will work together long term.
Her issues with her mother were deep, had been festering for years and seemed to be wrapped up much too quickly. I also had a hard time believing that Miles really understood how wrong his actions were and have a hard time believing he won't do the same thing in the future. Even within the story I felt that he was a contradiction. We see him thinking, Did I really say that? How could I have screwed up so bad? However, he doesn't understand why his daughter is upset with him. If he knew he'd screwed up, why didn't he understand why his daughter was angry? It just didn't work for me. I felt like his attraction to Renia was due to his high school fantasy of her and he never really seemed to accept the reality of the messed up teen she was. I'm not entirely sure whether I believe that he and Renia will work together long term.
March 18, 2013
Why is it we have such negative feelings about women who "give up" their babies--even when the child now grown could never have had a good life other than with the people who raised her? Answers to this and other hard questions are demanded when Renia's back story is revealed and why she has closed herself off to closeness with anyone ever since. The climax when she confronts her mother who sent her away and Miles acts like Renia is again undeserving of his trust came too soon for me. I could have read at least another 100 pages.
June 27, 2013
I lost interest. My problems stemmed from the series line rather than the author's writing style or plotting (which was very good).
July 14, 2019
Great book. Couldn't put it down
March 4, 2025
Romance. Harlequin Super romance. Second chance.
February 20, 2014
My copy of The First Move was provided to me by the Jennifer Lohmann herself, after I tweeted her to ask whether she knew if the e-version would be available in the UK. I'd read Wendy the Superlibrarian's review, you see, and it sounded like just my sort of book.
Renia Milek's world was crushed when she was a teenager, when her father, grandfather and one of her brothers were killed in a car accident. Her mum withdrew into her own head, and Renia (Rey, as she called herself then) reacted by acting out. There was drinking, drugs and sleeping around. It all ended with Rey getting pregnant and her mother shipping her off to an aunt to have her baby. The aunt was very supportive and helped Rey do what she needed to screw her head back on, including giving her baby up for adoption.
At the time Rey thought it best to cut ties to the baby, so she opted for a closed adoption. There was a provision for her daughter to contact her when she turned 18, though, and now that the time has come where she might receive a phone call from her, Renia is both scared and terrified.
It's a really bad time to come across Miles Brislenn again. Miles was a shy kid who went to the same school as her, and he had a huge crush on her. He recognises her the minute he sees her, but Renia has no idea who he is. She only knows he calls her Rey, so he must know her from her worst times. But as things come to a head with her daughter, Miles becomes a surprising source of support.
There was a lot to like here. Renia is a really interesting character, and at a really interesting time in her life. I really appreciated how sensitively the issue of her having given her daughter in adoption was handled. This is not yet another book saying that giving a baby up, even when it’s patently the right thing to do, will screw you up for life. It’s true that Rey IS pretty screwed up about what happened, but I’d argue that it’s clear that this is more about her mother’s abandonment of her teenage self than about her own abandonment of her baby.
That issue with Renia's mother leads to my favourite aspect of the book, which is the very complicated relationship between the two. They have a very civilised relationship now, but a distant one, and it's clear Renia's mother is desperate to fix that, but doesn't know how. There's a long overdue conversation near the end that had me choking back tears.
In fact, the family angst was the best thing about the book, and it was really, really good. In addition to the sections about Renia's mother, there's the stuff with her birth daughter. This is developed really slowly, and Lohmann doesn't make it into some sort of insta-connection. It feels realistic, both painful and hopeful at the same time, and I really liked it. I also liked Renia's relationship with Sarah, Miles’ daughter, in whom she sees bits of herself.
I was a bit less enthused by the romance. Renia questions whether Miles loves the real her or whether he’s just reacting to his old crush on her 16-year-old self, and I must say, I questioned that at times. Also, although Miles was pitch-perfect most of the time, always being very accepting of Rey’s past and her current issues, there was that fight at the end, which seemed to show that deep down, he wasn’t quite as accepting as all that. I’m in two minds about that. On one hand, I liked seeing he wasn’t quite perfect, but on the other, that might have come a bit too late in the book, and he didn’t quite redeem himself from what I felt was a really mean, almost unforgivable thing to say.
On the whole, though, I really enjoyed this. The writing is good and flows smoothly, and the pacing is generally good as well. There's a bit of a draggy section round the middle, but things got going again soon after, and I raced to the end.
MY GRADE: It's a B.
Renia Milek's world was crushed when she was a teenager, when her father, grandfather and one of her brothers were killed in a car accident. Her mum withdrew into her own head, and Renia (Rey, as she called herself then) reacted by acting out. There was drinking, drugs and sleeping around. It all ended with Rey getting pregnant and her mother shipping her off to an aunt to have her baby. The aunt was very supportive and helped Rey do what she needed to screw her head back on, including giving her baby up for adoption.
At the time Rey thought it best to cut ties to the baby, so she opted for a closed adoption. There was a provision for her daughter to contact her when she turned 18, though, and now that the time has come where she might receive a phone call from her, Renia is both scared and terrified.
It's a really bad time to come across Miles Brislenn again. Miles was a shy kid who went to the same school as her, and he had a huge crush on her. He recognises her the minute he sees her, but Renia has no idea who he is. She only knows he calls her Rey, so he must know her from her worst times. But as things come to a head with her daughter, Miles becomes a surprising source of support.
There was a lot to like here. Renia is a really interesting character, and at a really interesting time in her life. I really appreciated how sensitively the issue of her having given her daughter in adoption was handled. This is not yet another book saying that giving a baby up, even when it’s patently the right thing to do, will screw you up for life. It’s true that Rey IS pretty screwed up about what happened, but I’d argue that it’s clear that this is more about her mother’s abandonment of her teenage self than about her own abandonment of her baby.
That issue with Renia's mother leads to my favourite aspect of the book, which is the very complicated relationship between the two. They have a very civilised relationship now, but a distant one, and it's clear Renia's mother is desperate to fix that, but doesn't know how. There's a long overdue conversation near the end that had me choking back tears.
In fact, the family angst was the best thing about the book, and it was really, really good. In addition to the sections about Renia's mother, there's the stuff with her birth daughter. This is developed really slowly, and Lohmann doesn't make it into some sort of insta-connection. It feels realistic, both painful and hopeful at the same time, and I really liked it. I also liked Renia's relationship with Sarah, Miles’ daughter, in whom she sees bits of herself.
I was a bit less enthused by the romance. Renia questions whether Miles loves the real her or whether he’s just reacting to his old crush on her 16-year-old self, and I must say, I questioned that at times. Also, although Miles was pitch-perfect most of the time, always being very accepting of Rey’s past and her current issues, there was that fight at the end, which seemed to show that deep down, he wasn’t quite as accepting as all that. I’m in two minds about that. On one hand, I liked seeing he wasn’t quite perfect, but on the other, that might have come a bit too late in the book, and he didn’t quite redeem himself from what I felt was a really mean, almost unforgivable thing to say.
On the whole, though, I really enjoyed this. The writing is good and flows smoothly, and the pacing is generally good as well. There's a bit of a draggy section round the middle, but things got going again soon after, and I raced to the end.
MY GRADE: It's a B.
April 1, 2013
Hey, so you know how I constantly ask for books that portray functional co-parenting between divorced couples? THIS IS THAT BOOK.
I would like it for that alone, how messy and complicated those kinds of relationships can be, but it also does a pretty good job with the complexity of balancing doing the right thing for your child versus the feelings of abandonment that can ensue.
Overall, the writing remains the weakest part of the author's work, but she's putting together such interesting things that I really don't care. There's also some content in this book that could be read as slut-shaming, but I think it's more of a perfectly rational, if sad, self-loathing than that directly. The characters are messy in a good way in this, and so you have to make for allowances when they do stuff that isn't perfect.
I want a book about the brother now. When am I getting one of those?
I would like it for that alone, how messy and complicated those kinds of relationships can be, but it also does a pretty good job with the complexity of balancing doing the right thing for your child versus the feelings of abandonment that can ensue.
Overall, the writing remains the weakest part of the author's work, but she's putting together such interesting things that I really don't care. There's also some content in this book that could be read as slut-shaming, but I think it's more of a perfectly rational, if sad, self-loathing than that directly. The characters are messy in a good way in this, and so you have to make for allowances when they do stuff that isn't perfect.
I want a book about the brother now. When am I getting one of those?
May 2, 2013
Really a 3.5 star review - wish Goodreads would just let us do half-stars.
Disclaimer #1 - I am friends with the author
Disclaimer #2 - I really don't like romances as a whole
So...
I still don't like romances (though I've now read 3 this year - somehow, Jennifer, this is All Your Fault). But, I did like The First Move better than Reservations for Two, hence the wishing for the half-star.
I found myself actually caring more about the characters in The First Move - the story moved things along enough in a way that I cared about. The writing seemed to flow a bit better as well; I only noticed one phrase that caused my reading to veer off course.
I think things will keep getting better from here, so keep up the good work, Jennifer!
Disclaimer #1 - I am friends with the author
Disclaimer #2 - I really don't like romances as a whole
So...
I still don't like romances (though I've now read 3 this year - somehow, Jennifer, this is All Your Fault). But, I did like The First Move better than Reservations for Two, hence the wishing for the half-star.
I found myself actually caring more about the characters in The First Move - the story moved things along enough in a way that I cared about. The writing seemed to flow a bit better as well; I only noticed one phrase that caused my reading to veer off course.
I think things will keep getting better from here, so keep up the good work, Jennifer!
May 28, 2013
I thoroughly enjoyed this novel by Lohmann. Her character development is intriguing and keeps the reader engaged.
I thought the book had two weaknesses, however. For those of us who read Lohmann's first novel where we meet Rey's sister Tilly, Tilly and Dan make no appearances in this story and only a couple of references are made to them. Finally, I thought the ending was almost too abrupt. I felt we needed just a little more assurance of Miles' and Rey's relationship going forward, perhaps with an epilogue.
Despite what I feel are shortcomings (my opinion only), I still thoroughly enjoyed this book and applaud Lohmann's second published novel!
I thought the book had two weaknesses, however. For those of us who read Lohmann's first novel where we meet Rey's sister Tilly, Tilly and Dan make no appearances in this story and only a couple of references are made to them. Finally, I thought the ending was almost too abrupt. I felt we needed just a little more assurance of Miles' and Rey's relationship going forward, perhaps with an epilogue.
Despite what I feel are shortcomings (my opinion only), I still thoroughly enjoyed this book and applaud Lohmann's second published novel!
April 27, 2013
Realistic characters, fascinating story. Didn't 100% love Miles; his flaws were just a little too flawed. But on the flip side, he's very aware of that, and his self-reflection was fascinating (okay, it doesn't sound fascinating, but it was! Not too dwelly, just the right amount of insight). Didn't see the final conflict coming. Should have. That took the book from a 3 to a 4 star.
August 3, 2013
I liked this book. It had a good story line and kept my interest. It was a little too heavy for me. It dealt with a very serious subject that does deserve consideration, however I didn't feel like there was a lot of good humor and lightness to balance. All in all, I enjoyed it.
April 8, 2013
I LOVED this book. Although I really enjoyed Lohmann's first book, "Reservations for Two" I found her second book to be even better. I can't wait for a third.
April 26, 2013
Kindle pre-order :-)
May 25, 2013
See my full review:
http://harlequinjunkie.com/review-the...
http://harlequinjunkie.com/review-the...
May 4, 2013
I read this for review at All About Romance and gave it an A-.
My review is here:
http://www.likesbooks.com/cgi-bin/boo...
My review is here:
http://www.likesbooks.com/cgi-bin/boo...
April 3, 2013
Really enjoyed this.
Read
December 29, 2014Category: Romance with More
April 8, 2013
This was a completely engrossing book. I couldn't stop reading once I started.
to-buy-harlequin
May 26, 2013Wendy's review piqued my interest.
October 8, 2013
Excellent!
October 28, 2013
This book was also a fast read for me. I did wonder a little about the realism of the story. But, I didn't think it was bad.
May 9, 2015
Giving up one's child
learning to aim for the future --not rehash the past
learning to aim for the future --not rehash the past
Displaying 1 - 26 of 26 reviews