Still reeling from the loss of her parents, Aubrey agrees to take a job on an island off the coast of Georgia. The setting couldn’t be more idyllic; getting along with her new boss couldn’t be more problematic. Her warm, impulsive nature doesn’t mix well with his cool, detached disposition. Corbin just wants peace. He’s already been burned by love and has no intention of being so again. The secret is not letting anyone get close. What happens when a woman who listens to her heart meets a man who’s trying to forget he has one?
I'm a Georgia girl at heart if not by birth. I love to read, watch college football, and spend time with my husband. I'm a hopeless romantic so there will always be a happily ever after in my stories. I also like to write about second chances because love doesn't always work out the first time.
A smidgen of Beauty and the Beast flavored romance
While there were a few things that bothered me about the relationship development, overall, I enjoyed this coming-together-despite-themselves story.
Corbin's very protective of his privacy & generally wary of women, but reluctantly does a favor for a friend & hires her sister as a temporary assistant.
Aubrey is grieving the death of her parents & is seriously struggling with coming to terms with it. The change in setting & circumstances and keeping busy is a welcome distraction, though Corbin is coldly indifferent, & they don't get on particularly well together.
It doesn't help that despite normally being a solid & serious worker, she's struggling with her emotions being all over the place & a level of seize-the-day impulsivity that's foreign to her.
As Corbin adjusts to Aubrey's unwelcome presence, he runs both hot & cold. Much as he frustrates her, she's not immune to his attractiveness - however, it's surprising to read her realization that she's attracted and then she immediately decides that it's love. His dawning awareness is similar, & frankly, his frequently ambiguous comments to Aubrey are a little bit confusing to the reader, too.
There's not enough transition from their dislike to love or from their acknowledged attraction to romantic interest to support such a quick married-happily-ever-after.
It's not the author's best story, but enemies-to-lovers is my favorite trope, and despite its flaws, I still like this book enough to have read it several times. I think it helps being aware of its weaknesses going in, so they don't significantly affect your pleasure in the rest. Otherwise, I enthusiastically recommend trying out her Finding Love & newer series
This was my first Delaney Cameron novella and I found it well worth reading. It caught my attention and held it to the very last page. Unfortunately, the author did not respect her readers enough to correct errors that should have been caught before publication. Any editor of worthy of the name knows that “their” is NOT a contraction for “they are,” and they should be able to tell when necessary words are omitted. One of my pet peeves present in this offering as well as by many authors is the misuse of the word “ground.” By definition, the word “ground” means “the solid surface of the earth” in expressions such as “he dropped it on the ground.” If the surface is not the “ground” then identify the correct surface, such as floor, deck, sidewalk, etc. But what do I know, I’m just a lowly reader who becomes frustrated when these editorial errors pull me out of my reading “zone.” All that said, I was impressed with Ms. Camron’s writing style, characterization, and a general story-telling ability that can “keep me in the groove.” Keep those virtues intact and clean up the less than perfect editorial problems and I will happily award five stars for future offerings.
This book is not at all bad. However, the characters were really flat. Aubrey almost always was crying and getting hurt. She was the complete damsel in distress. I felt that she was super passive. She never did anything and always made stupid decisions.
Corbin on the other hand was also pretty flat. I liked how he was sweet , but some of his actions really contradicted how he felt about Aubrey. He wasn’t bad, just someone I couldn’t like.
The romance was okay. It checks all the boxes for an office Romance with cliches. But, there is nothing unique and so few romantic scenes. We never see how the characters develop feelings for the other. It is always told never shown. Also, I never got to feel the chemistry. Like this is a clean romance, but you could still have the sizzle and there was non of that.
The side characters were okay but quite frankly annoying. I really hated Richard and he is a creep. If you read the book, you will know and he absolutely doesn’t deserve Aubrey’s sister.
I felt that this book could have been better if there was more depth. Despite this, I will check other books by this author.
I was caught up in this story from the beginning. You knew there would be a HEA but not sure how they would get there. Aubrey was delightful and klutzy. Corbin was just not very nice to begin with, but you could understand it was self-protection. Delaney Cameron writes delightful stories. I read book one and enjoyed that as well.
Delaney Cameron creates characters with depth and writes a good fast paced story. Aubrey, like Kirsten in the first Tybee Island book, has an innocence and purity of spirit that makes her somewhat unbelievable. But you probably won't think about that while reading her story.😉
Unfortunately this tale was more like the first Tybee Island book than the author’s Finding Love series. The drama between these two characters was ridiculous, there was no chemistry and I just wanted it to be over. I don’t like to leave negative reviews but I just didn’t enjoy this story.
Good sweet, clean read. Had the elements to keep me reading, one of which is a little bit of angst, but not too much. Have actually gone back and read it more than once.
Corbin and Aubrey. I will say that I jumped into this story expecting characters that were similair to the ones in the (Finding Love Series), I didn't find that. I got a story of two very lost and broken souls. Corbin is the most eligible bachelor on the island and Aubrey, well she's the plain Jane that got tossed in the direction of the grouchy workaholic bachelor. Two people you least expected to ever see together. Well, in their misery they saw the best in one another and fought tooth and nail against their feelings.
Too many misinterpreted events take place to make the story what it is and to build the story up into what it turns out. Boss and employee, where do we draw the line? Well you gotta read to find out.
Loved this book cover and the story had my attention from the start :) The only reason I didn't give it 5 stars was because there were too many men in the picture that Aubrey would hang out with making the real romance of the story delayed. Truly enjoyed reading how Aubrey and Corbin fall in love.....even in the midst of slight confusion it was a sweet story. Also loooooooved Horace the kitten and how his loyalty shifts to Corbin :) Only wish the ending had been longer because once everything gets resolved, but still a satisfying read. I liked Corbin more than Aubrey as a character, but the girl was charming as well as very clumsy which made the plot more interesting :)
This book was just not for me. I got about 70% done and decided enough was enough. It's the same thing over and over and over again. The chemistry is not believable and the "misunderstandings" happen way too much. Some of the characters were extremely annoying and I just couldn't take it any longer.
Meh. No chemistry and the love interest had zero personality. Clean read. Well, there was talk about one of the secondary characters being a major player, and the 2 main characters lived in the same house and kept popping into each other's bedrooms for various reasons (nothing happens).
Having to start over, Aubrey takes a job working for a woman hater. He guards his heart as she guards her innocence. But With the tension between them, who can blame them for not wanting to fight a losing battle. Clean romance for all ages.
Rating 2.5. This was a nice enough romance but I struggled with the largely negative interactions between the main characters that ran throughout virtually the entire story.
It’s 4:14am and I just finished it after starting it a couple of hours ago, thinking I’ll just read a chapter or two. I couldn’t put it down! I absolutely had to know how it turned out for them. The tension of the extra love interests leaves you wondering if the author is going to do a 180 on what you think will happen.