Come for a visit to Walker Island where you’ll find stunning Pacific Northwest ocean views, men too intriguing to resist... and five beautiful, close-knit sisters who are each about to find their one true love.
After four years on the Seattle mainland, when Hanna Walker returns to Walker Island to make a documentary about the infamous Peterson-Walker feud from the early 1950s, she’s shocked to realize that passions still run high. Especially when it comes to Joel Peterson, the one man who is totally off-limits… but that she’s never been able to stop dreaming about.
The last thing Joel wants is for Hanna to dredge up the past, but when he realizes she’s determined to follow through with her documentary no matter what, he knows he has no choice but to join her. But despite vowing to hold back his growing feelings for her, as Joel works with Hanna to unravel the mystery of what really happened between their two families, he soon begins to see that love is an unstoppable force… and that sometimes two people are meant to be.
BE MY LOVE is the first fun, sweet, and emotional contemporary romance in the Walker Island series from New York Times and USA Today bestselling author, Lucy Kevin.
Hannah Walker is taking her Master degree in filmmaking and she returns to her old town to film a documentary about the 60-year-old feud berween the Walkers and Petersons. She gets back and her demand to look in the archives is denied by Joel Peterson. So far, this story promised tension.
But halfway through, it just could not hold my interest because the dialogue and situations weren't organic. I felt it was cliche after cliche. Like when Hannah and Joel gets stuck in a B&B that has only one room left!!
Hannah also said the ILY word after that b&b situation which is really fast IMO.
Overall, decent book. I appreciate the new premise but the second half wasn't satisfyingz.
the preview for the next one is really interesting!!
Starting today, I will be reading some books that weren't on my TBR before but they fit perfectly with prompts for a challenge so I'm happy to give them a try. Be My Love was a "sweet" romance story that never really compelled me in the romance department. There were no sparks and I kept rolling my eyes. The insta-love wasn't appealing to me here. They were in love way too quickly. The "I love you"s are one thing but the ending? Seriously? If you want to do that, do it in an epilogue at least, some months or years from now.
The mystery about Penny, a woman who disappeared in the 50's was a little more interesting but not by much. Our main characters come from families who hate each other, I guess. Her grandmother was held responsible for 'stealing' her grandfather from a woman who disappeared soon after and the FMC is determined to find out what happens even though her grandmother doesn't want to tell her outright and the MMC doesn't want to give her archives at the beginning.
Okay, I really, really wanted to adore this book, and I did during most of it. Short, simple, and perfect for a lover of the Northwest, the book offered much promise with a sweet love story, an ideal setting, and interesting characters.
But then I realized how naive the novel seemed. I feel like the Big Bad Wolf when I say this, but the male figure, Joel, seemed really, really girly. I don't know why—but he didn't seem masculine enough. Hanna was a spitfire, and I loved her (pink hairstreaks and all), but somehow I questioned how somebody can fall in love within a week, like in this book. Many times I wondered if a young person wrote this, because it was almost too predictable and too "sweet" (in the sense of happiness).
Lucy Kevin, the pseudonym for romance writer Bella Andre, is a so-so writer. But I found many blaring grammatical errors to be distracting, along with the childish plot. It wasn't Academy Award worthy, that's for sure, but it was pleasant and enjoyable. I mean, who gets married in a month's time?! It seems like people do not get married anymore anyhow, and here these two main characters get hitched without knowing each other...
Read it for its quickness and good ideas. However, "Be My Love" (imagine this is italicized) wasn't necessarily executed well.
Two families on Walker Island had held bad feelings since 1951 when an engagement was broken and the jilted bride disappeared from the island in a small boat and was considered a suicide.
Now, Hannah Walker needs a documentary film project to show her passion and starts filming and researching what happened to Poppy Peterson; Joel Peterson the only surviving relative is just as determined to stop her. This set the plot for them to unravel the mystery of what happened to Poppy and to finally find peace for everyone on the island by revealing the truth of what really happened in 1951. You will have to read Hannah and Joel's adventure to find out what the rest of the story is for yourself; I am not telling. I did love the ending of Be My Love.
The story was better than the last Lucy Kevin book I read but love story happened way too quickly with little development. Spoiler alert: I flipped the page and they were in love. Flipped two pages and they couldn't be together...
Another one I'm not going to rate because hey, it's not my genre and I only picked it up because it was free - but damn, was this book ever staggeringly bland. The central mystery felt contrived, the characters one-dimensional at best, and the romance incredibly shallow. One of the things that most romance novels have that I appreciate is a sense of enjoyment - you get the feeling that this is a labor of love (pun intended) for the author, and that's enjoyable in its own way. Not here, though. It was pretty much a checklist: instant physical attraction, trivial obstacle caused by communication issues, characters forced to spend time together anyway, instaromance, contrived breakup, sentimental reunion, marriage. The fact that it all happened within the span of - what, two months maximum, with the lovers rushing to the altar just one month later is ridiculous.
And honestly - I never thought that I, of all people, would complain about a lack of sex scenes, but this book was like spun sugar. It's pretty and sweet, yeah, but there's no substance. Even the physical attraction between the leads isn't explored, and that's 90% of their sudden relationship! They don't know each other as people, but he/she sure is Vaguely Generically Hot! Just... ugh. Not even the Pacific Northwest setting could save it.
I don’t normally read a lot of chick lit. I like it occasionally, much like a whole bar of Toblerone, it’s sweet but not my daily fodder. This story swept me along because a) it’s set on an island and I grew up on remote islands, b) there are a ton of sisters in it and I love big families (I’m from a family of seven with four girls), and c) yes, these plots are predictable but I like the twists and mysteries unearthed in the plot… so am I a fan? Sure thing. She is a compelling storyteller and a dynamo author!
The Walker series is contemporary romance, and I’m guessing it’s quite different to Bella Andre’s Sullivan series (which has steamy romance scenes) let alone her dozens of other romances. And I confess that when I was 11, Lace was one of the first books I snuck into my room to read without my parents knowing. EYE-OPENING. Romance has always “whispered truths” to its readers in a way other genres can’t quite match. It’s deeply intimate and enlightening and… yeah, I’ll say it, empowering.
This was a sweet but unbelievable romance that happened way too fast. I liked the mystery plot in the story but wanted way more info on the characters especially Joel the Hero. We learn practically nothing about him except that he is the last remaining person in his family. No idea how his parents died or what his life was like when he was younger. I needed more character depth from both Hannah and Joel.
There were also some things that never made sense. This huge feud started based on false information. No one bothered to follow up on Poppy's disappearance and Ava never came clean? The author never explained this to my satisfaction.
This is a series I just don't see myself continuing.
I read Be My Love by Lucy Kevin. I didn’t like this book at all. IT was really boring and it was a struggle to get through. This book is about a family of five sisters. They all what to find love. This books main characters were Hana Walker and Joel Peterson. It is also about a feud between there families. They find a mystery behind all the none scenes. They start to like each other then fall in love. I wouldn’t really recommend this book it isn’t interesting and doesn’t keep your attention well.
1 star for effort! This book was utterly boring. There are books that are set small towns that are great, phenomenal even! But NO, not this book. This is my first time reading a book from author and I have got to say I might not ever read another one. This plot line was just too predictable. The book would have turned out better if the great aunt had made a new family , which included a hot guy, and Hanna would flirt with him or something! Anything but this! But what else did I expect from a book about the making of a documentary?
This book was short and sweet. However, when it comes to contemporary romance, I thought it would be slow paced and more complexity in the story. In this contemporary romance, it was fast-paced and not as complexed as some other romance books I have read. The characters were okay, but I didn't care that much about them. The sisters were my favourite part of the story. Overall, an okay read.
This was a surprisingly interesting book - I was expecting some simple chic lit to keep me busy for a few days but I found it hard to put down. It was an easy read with a couple of subplots that kept the reader engaged. Part of a series of novels I am keen to get to the next one.
Having just finished the Sullivan series books, I was expecting more from Bella Andre. This book is interesting and a good love story, but it has none of the sensuality of the other books. For those that like simple love stories, you will be pleased.
This is my first Lucy Kevin book and it's short, sweet, fast-paced, and PG-13. I still loved it though, it had mystery, a bit of conflict, and I'm very interested to know the rest of the characters.
Feud – a mutual enmity or quarrel that is often prolonged or inveterate (firmly established by long persistence); especially: blood feud -Webster’s Dictionary- Twenty-three-year-old Hanna Walker is trying to secure acceptance in a graduate film making program at the University of Washington, in Seattle. She has to produce a documentary, proving that she deserving of the placement. The professor advises her to film something she knows; something she is passionate about. With this in mind, she heads home for the summer break. Walker Island is a small, once uninhabited, island in the Pacific, off the coast of the state of Washington, in the northwest corner of the United States. Four generations earlier, William Walker discovered the island, with its unique eco-system and its multitude of berries. Although the island had been visited, maybe even settled, by Indian tribes over the centuries, it was now deserted. William settled there and started harvesting the berries. As time passed, he made improvements and attracted other settlers. One of these settlers was the Peterson family. The Peterson’s started harvesting the mussels around the island and their enterprise soon developed into Peterson Shipping Company. When she is refused access to the town’s historical society archives, she is told that a society officer, Joel Peterson, has blocked her request. Hanna is determined to look at the documents and goes to see Mr. Joel Peterson.
This is a romance with a feudal undercurrent. Events occurring more than six decades earlier, still dictate the lives of the inhabitants of this small coastal island. This is the first book in the Walker Island Romance series by Bella Andre aka Lucy Kevin. I enjoyed it as it brought back memories of the time I spent on Bremerton Island, in Puget Sound, a half century ago. Although the story is interesting enough, it is a little too vanilla to leave a lasting impression. The romance and passion are presented, almost as an afterthought, leaving me with the impression that I had somehow missed out on something that may have been very exciting.
Zwischen den ganzen Fantasybüchern war es mal wieder sehr angenehm eine reine Liebesgeschichte zu lesen, welche das Herz berührt und in welcher man sich fallen lassen kann.
Die Geschichte um eine Familien-Fehde fand ich tatsächlich ganz spannend und war neugierig, was sich die Autorin hat einfallen lassen. Letztlich muss ich sagen, dass die Geschichte bis auf ein paar Kleinigkeiten wirklich schön und gefühlvoll umgesetzt wurde.
Hanna ist eine willensstarke, selbstsichere und einnehmende Persönlichkeit. Ich mochte ihre offene und fröhliche Art, immer erst mal das positive in allem zu sehen und nicht so schnell aufzugeben. Das hat dieser Geschichte definitiv gutgetan.
Joel ist oftmals etwas zu nachdenklich, in sich gekehrt und wird in gewisser weise von der Vergangenheit geprägt. Es war allerdings schön mit anzusehen, wie er innerhalb der Geschichte versucht hat auszubrechen und Lösungen zu finden.
Die Umsetzung dieser Liebesgeschichte ist wirklich süß und gefühlvoll angegangen worden. Gemeinsam mit Hanna und Joel ergründen sie ihre Familiengeschichte und lernen nach und nach, dass es nicht immer nur eine Seite gibt sondern das man erst die wahre Geschichte erfährt wenn man alle Puzzleteile zusammenfügt.
Insgesamt konnte mich die Geschichte auf alle Fälle von sich überzeugen, wenn ich auch manche Situationen in Bezug auf Joel gerade gegen Ende hin etwas übertrieben fand. Ich bin nicht so der Freund von gemachten Dramen, die nicht zwingend notwendig für die Geschichte wären. Ansonsten jedoch eine tolle Geschichte, in die man sich fallen lassen kann.
Mein Gesamtfazit:
Mit „Für immer deine Liebe“ hat Lucy Kevin einen schönen, gefühlvollen, familiären und durchaus spannenden Liebesroman geschaffen, welcher aufzeigt das nicht immer gleich verurteilen sondern die Hintergründe kennen sollte um zu urteilen.
This was a straightforward romance. There was nothing bad about it, nor anything surprising or special. The main character never really takes action except once, and that time doesn’t matter. She hopes that reality will conform itself to her desires and it does so, either immediately (in the case of the archives) or over time (in the case of the fate of Joel’s aunt), without any action on her part. For X to be true, Y has to happen, and sure enough there it is.
Her only hard choices are put off beyond the end of the book, and even then she’s probably just expecting that reality will conform itself to a good life for her without work on her part.
The next book in the series is telegraphed from start to finish in the final chapter of this one.
It’s probably an unfair comparison, but Possession has nearly the same plot. But not only are Byatt’s main characters more interesting, but the characters in the focus of their research are also more interesting. Both have to make real choices in the face of real adversity, with uncertain consequences.
I don’t remember how the book ended up in my Nook app collection. It may have been a promotional giveaway by Barnes & Noble. The book’s main feature is that it is very short, which was why I chose to read it now. I just recently cleared out the books in my Kindle app, and am now working on Nook. I never look in these apps for books to read—despite its problems the Apple ereader app is far superior—so I decided to clear them out this year and only get ebooks that can be imported into Apple’s Books, until something better comes out.
Hanna Walker is a student trying to get her masters in cinematography of documentaries. Her professor tells her that she needs to give them a documentary that shows her heart. So in her thinking Hanna sets off for home on Walker Island just off the coast of Seattle. There she encounters a problem in getting into the island’s archives to research the story about her own family and the other major family, The Peterson’s, tragic past of a wedding that didn’t happen. It seems that the Peterson running the shipping company they own wants her no where near the records cause he thinks she is out to make her family look good. So Hanna heads over to Joel Peterson’s office and barges in giving him a what for on telling her that she can’t look in the archives to see what she can find about what happened in 1951 when her grandfather, William Waller II, was supposed to marry his Aunt Poppy. The two of them start on an adventure in finding out the truth and manage to fall in love in the process. They also find out things that Hanna’s grandmother, Ava, has kept secret all these years and helps Hanna make a documentary that satisfies her and the brings a close to the mystery of Joel’s aunt.
I rather enjoyed reading a book by Andre's kinder, gentler alter ego. This was a very sweet romance with a touch of mystery. The Walkers and the Petersons have been engaged in a sort of family feud since the 1950s due to a broken engagement. Hanna wanted to make a documentary about this conflict, but first, she had to convince Joel to allow her access to the island archives. His initial mistrust had him saying NO, but eventually, he decided to "monitor" Hanna. It seemed there was a bit of an attraction between them which blossomed as they dug into their families' histories and found that there was more to the story.
Overall, short and sweet and entertaining. I definitely would like to meet more of the Walker girls.
This was my first time reviewing a Lucy Kevin book and I did enjoy reading it for the most part. It was a sweet and easy read, although it felt like parts of the book were rushed and left me with some unresolved questions. In this book, the Petersons and Walkers have been been feuding for 60 years and Hanna the youngest Walker is intent on telling the story and uncovering the truth about the family feud. Joel Peterson is convinced this documentary is not in the best interests of his family and tries to dissuade Hanna. After some discussion they decide to seek answers together and as they begin uncovering secrets from their past, they both fall in love. If you're looking for a very sweet and easy read this series is a good start.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Hanna is going home to Walker Island to do a documentary on what happened 60 years ago that started the "fued" between the Peterson's and her family. The only problem is that she is being denied access to the archives by Joel Peterson and needs to know why. So her first stop is his office! Even before letting her family know she is back. Will Joel give her access to the archives that she desperately needs? What about her grandmother Eva? Will she give her an interview so she has all of her facts, correct? What will she and Joel discover along the way? There is only one way to find out, read this great story by Bella Andre and Lucy Kevin.
Knocked this one out in a morning. Love reads like this, no angst, easy to follow with super cute characters. Shes a Walker from Walker island hes a Peterson. The families were like the founders of the island, the foundation, and it was broken when h grandfather married her Gma, rather than the H great aunt like planned. Long lasting feud means H tries to stay away,h is all in. Shes a go getter. Her documentary assignment has her digging up the island's history and together they find out the truth about what actually happened. They're quickly married
Hanna is home for the summer, with hope of filming a documentary that will earn her a spot in the graduate program. Her choice for filming is the tale of the Peterson-Walker feud on Walker Island. The island was named after her family. She is a Walker. To get into the Peterson family archives, she must first get past Joel Peterson. The search for truths turns up a few surprises. Great read.