This is Ms. Moore’s first romance. I liked the crisp writing style, and I liked the characters.
With respect to my review, I sincerely hope Ms. Moore will agree with my choice to write an honest, and by that, a very personal, review. And because I read this book expecting to find a romance novel, and found that aspect lacking, my rating and review are based on that expectation. (and no ARC or free copy has been given in exchange for this review) But if you’re not especially ‘needing’ a romance, and enjoy women’s fiction, or reading about personal journeys, this story can be just the thing for you.
I loved the first quarter of the book. The characters sparkled off the page, and the tension between the two leads was sizzling. The smile on my face was wide, and I kept on reading long after my husband had fallen asleep, looking forward to reading about the hero and heroine getting to know each other better. And although they did, they (sadly) didn’t do it on the page (or not as much as I would have liked them to). There were some sentences here and there about how they talked a lot, but I wanted more than just ‘tell’, I wanted to be a witness to the romance, I wanted ‘in’ on those conversations. Instead, I read about how the hero struggled with his PTSD helped by the veterans living in the apartment building, and how the heroine searched for her future career at a retreat and then set up her cafe. All was very well written, and especially the hero battling his demons was very emotional at times, but since all this was done alone, apart from their future significant other, I missed witnessing the sparkles and their growing emotional attachment. Towards the ending of the book they got together on the page again, broke up and made up, and some very sweet letters were written. But for me, because of the missing ‘show’ with respect to the romance in the middle of the book, the ending didn’t make me a believer of the depth of their romance.
All in all, for me, Ms. Moore's first book was lacking in the romance department, which is why I rated it as I did. With respect to future books, I hope Ms. Moore will have her heroes and heroines do more stuff together on the page (so I can witness), keep her heroes and heroines wounded, but with a little less information on the why and the how of those demons and focus more on those sparkles. That way, I think Ms. Moore can write sizzling hot romances with believable HEA’s. And yes, I am looking forward to reading Ms. Moore’s next book.
Having said that, I have to say that I have gotten to know Ms. Moore through a Facebook page I love, and for which she acts moderator. Besides that, Ms. Moore has been very helpful with my efforts in writing which, in contrast to Eva’s result I just read, have not led anywhere yet. So: yah Eva for finishing the damn novel!