3 1/2 Stars. I’m a big fan of Radclyffe and always enjoy her books. I like this Rivers Community series very much. This is the 4th book in this series and finally time for Carrie’s story. Carrie has been a character I have always liked and I was happy to finally get her book. I did enjoy this read; I just didn’t love it as much as I had hoped.
The Rivers hospital is expanding and the project is on Carrie’s shoulders. When she meets the new contractor Gina, it does not go well. Gina’s family business is not doing great. It is up to her to get the Rivers job done on time and on budget. After a hostile first meeting, Carrie can’t believe how arrogant Gina is, even if she is incredibly good looking. As fate keeps bring these two together, is there a chance at something more?
First I want to say, I highly recommend reading these books in order. While each main story is contained, there are continuing threads that run through the whole series. On top of that, there are also a lot of characters to remember. Even having read all of the books, I still was forgetting who was coupled up with whom, and who did what job. I can only imagine how much more confusing it would be for someone new to this series.
When it came to the characters, I already really liked Carrie. Even when she was a secondary character in previous books, she was always one of my favorites. When it came to Gina, I had mixed feeling. She is almost two completely different characters in this book. How she is when she is with Carrie, to how she is with everyone else. I loved her when she was with Carrie, sarcastic, flirty and sweet. When she was by herself or with other people, so was so broody and just kind of blah. I guess that was Radclyffe showing us how good Carrie was for Gina, I just felt like I was reading about two different people.
I did enjoy the romance. It was not insta love, but it was a little fast, I’m giving it a pass though. What I liked was the chemistry. I thought there was a ton of sparks between Carrie and Gina. They were definitely hot together and I felt the heat. The scenes with Gina and Carrie were my favorite of the whole book.
What I didn’t care for as much was the rest of the book. I was fine with the scenes with Blake and Margie, I just felt like nothing else really happened in the book. While the other characters where in the book, they didn’t really contribute much to the storyline. I found myself just wanting to go back to Gina and Carrie. Also, the two characters from previous books I wanted to see the most, Glenn and Mari, were hardly in the book at all. Which was odd considering Mari is Carrie’s cousin; you would think there would be more about them growing their new friendship.
Lastly, there were a few softball scenes in this book, which I really enjoyed. I love baseball and softball. But I have to say I was disappointed how that turned out. There is such a big deal about a softball tournament, and bets, but the whole thing just fades out at the end. I think Radclyffe missed an opportunity there. If you are not a sports fan, it probably won’t bother you.
All in all I would say the Carrie and Gina storyline gets 4 Stars, the rest of the book 3 Stars. I had high expectations for Carrie’s story, I felt like I was waiting so long for it. I did really enjoy parts of this book, I just wish I loved the whole thing.
An ARC was given to me by BSB, for a honest review.