Upstate Expectations

by Erin Marie Bassett

The last thing Nora Heely expected when she woke up today was to find herself stranded in a thunderstorm. With a dead phone. In upstate New York.

But plans change. One dead geriatric cat, one work deal gone sideways, and one little mistake of not checking her gas tank while deciding at the last minute to spend the week with her best friend, means Nora is stuck.

Life is good for Jimmy Lewis, he’s the third generation owner of his family’s hardware store. He and his sister work together to remodel homes in their community. And, sure he might not have a girlfriend but he knows a good thing when he sees it. He just hasn’t seen it, yet.

When Jimmy pulls over to help a stranded driver, is he up to the challenge of convincing this redhead to stay? When Nora hikes up her pencil skirt and climbs in his truck, is she ready to let someone else behind the wheel?

Genres: Romance

446 pages, Paperback

Published February 13, 2024

About the author

Erin Marie Bassett is a geriatric millennial, wife and mother of two living in Chicago. (A mile west of Wrigley Field but she, like her husband and kids, are St. Louis Cardinal Fans). When she’s not reading or writing romance, Erin helps small businesses and local organizations use the magic words to connect with their communities. She volunteers hard at her kids school and she believes in the power of S.L.O.W. Living.
Her doctor tells her not to but she drinks a lot of coffee. Like, a lot.

Take the Book Boyfriend Quiz to be matched with one of Erin's MMCs!
erinmariebassett.com
@erinmariebassett

Reviews

[Anna Knoy · Rating 3 out of 5]

A quick, cheesy read

[Zaq Patterson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Overall this was a cute read. It just wasn’t exactly what I had in mind. I plan to read more by this author and hopefully, I will get the experience I look for every time I read a romance novel.

[Terri Broms · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a fun read! I really liked the characters and I could relate to what they were going through. I found myself smiling while reading as Nora and Jimmy were experiencing life.

[Elizabeth · Rating 4 out of 5]

The author had posted a link to a survey to find out which one of her MMC's would be your book boyfriend. I got Jimmy Lewis so naturally I had to read this book. Small town Jimmy Lewis is just living his best life until a chance encounter with Nora flips his world upside-down (for the better). Nora is your typical city girl who is escaping to a small town, visiting her best friend, to hide from the chaos in her life. Nora doesn't do relationships, but here she is falling in love with Jimmy. The two of them are so cute and compliment each other really well. Super cute read and I love their story.

[Kimberly Howard · Rating 5 out of 5]

Upstate Expectations was such a cute story and had me hooked right away. I absolutely love the characters in this book and had so much fun reading about them. This is such a feel good story that has just the right amount of spice to it. It was fun to escape to Lakeville while reading this...such a cool place! One of the best books I've read in a long time, and I'm thinking we will need a sequel at some point...that's how much I love Nora and Jimmy. If you haven't read this one yet, you need to! 10/10! Highly recommend :)

[Elizabeth Illuzzi · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was lucky enough to be a beta reader for this book but reading it a second time gave me just as many chills, giggles, and all the feels for Jimmy and Nora. I love the characters, the town of Lakeville and the little one liners that make you chuckle.

[Erin · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book! Nora and Jimmy’s story was so sweet. I loved how Jimmy didn’t give up on Nora and let her figure out her shit without pressuring her on something. She finally realized she does have feelings for someone.

[Jacqueline Jensen · Rating 2 out of 5]

I tried so hard, but could get into this one

[Andrea Delph · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was such a cute sweet book! Legit had me enthralled the whole time! So sexy too!

[Anna-Bel Chambers · Rating 5 out of 5]

I absolutely loved Jimmy and Nora’s story!! I didn’t realize this was the second book, so now going to read Liz and Kyle’s book now!

[Erin Marie]

I made it to page 13 and this is a no for me.

[Laura Boeshaar · Rating 3 out of 5]

Eh this was just predictable and a bit too fast for me. I liked the slight banter and the funny names she called Jimmy but, I’ll stop here if the series continues.

[Meghann Hayes · Rating 4 out of 5]

slow but good with a few spice scenes

It was a slow starting one but once I got in to it I had a hard time putting it down.

[Cassie O · Rating 2 out of 5]

I wanted to like this book based on premise and author, but this REALLY didn't do it for me. Nora decides to visit her best friend for a week after she is put on leave at work AND her cat dies. After her car breaks down, Nora meets Jimmy, immediately uses him, and tries to leave him behind, only to realize Jimmy isn't going anywhere.

I found Nora to be way too over-the-top to be realistic. To have someone randomly pick you up on the side of the road and then mount him in the front seat of his car just to leave? Maybe I'm just not desperate enough. In addition to the lack of realism from Nora and the hopeless pining from Jimmy, the novel was riddled with errors that one decent editor would have caught. It desperately needs Grammarly at the very least to assess formatting, punctuation, grammar, wrong word use (think pecs/pecs or bare/bear), and tense issues throughout.

Spice rating: 3/5
Overall rating: 2/5

[Elizabeth Illuzzi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Listened to this one on audiobook book this time around. Readers did a great job. Their voices were exactly how I imagined the characters in my head. And the story….the Nora Jimmy story is so realistic and heartwarming.

[McKayla · Rating 3 out of 5]

I’ve thought about what I should write for this review and I don’t really have anything to say 😂 this is a fun read, don’t take it serious and remember this is a “LOVE AT FIRST SIGHT” which imo it should be a lust at first sight but…carry on