So very, very boring - read on KU
I hoped I had found a new author but I couldn't get through the first book. At the 40% mark or so I jumped to see how it ended. There was just so much wrong with this book. I don't know how it can have so many 4 and 5 star reviews.
The grammar needs work. They do not understand personal pronouns. "Me" is never a subject pronoun. Sentences should never start with "Me and so and so...."
I think I read a review that said there was way too much bad language in this book. While there was some, it wasn't overly used. And most of it was in bedroom scenes. However, those scenes were not very descriptive.
The story itself is very very basic and it takes forever to build. We're at the 30% mark before he asks her out. And the part in the blurb about her being upset that he asks her out because she thinks he is married lasts about twice as long as the blurb. In other words, it is such a tiny part of the story it isn't worth mentioning.
There is no chemistry in this book. None. They go on their first date and don't even flirt with each other. They haven't even flirted much, if any, when he is at her shop to pick up flowers to deliver. During their first date, they talk a little about his wife being dead and her parents dying. Then make small talk, or st least that's how it is summed up. Then he walks her to her front door and she yanks him inside and they have bland sex. There was no lead up to it. They hadn't even held hands.
I don't take issue with sex on the first date, or even sex without a first date. It was just that they had only acted friendly and distant with each other without even a hint of spark between them and all of a sudden they have sex. It was the way it was written, not the fact that it happened.
And then there were inconsistencies everywhere. Her sister in law says she is only working a couple of days a week at the vet because they are slow, implying she wants to work more but they don't need her. Later, she says they offered her full time but she isn't sure she's ready. In addition to the inconsistency, what money is she living on? Her husband died. It is unlikely he would have had a huge life insurance policy.
And speaking of money, how did Philip afford to move across the country to work as a delivery man not even working 8 hour days? He bought a house, too. He only works the hours his daughter is in school. I could understand that for a month or so but after his daughter is settled, that wouldn't be sustainable. And who moves across the country for such a crappy job? I know it was also because he wanted to live in the country to raise his daughter but he could have done that in Washington State. He makes a big deal about his ego surviving the hit of not having a high paying job, but having a job that would feed and cloth his daughter was a necessity.
The authors also describe Jamie as "petite" at 5'5". The average height of a woman in the US is 5'3.7", so she is more than an inch above average. While you wouldn't consider her tall, most don't consider a woman of her height short. Especially as it is brought up several times. Of course, he is 6'3", but I think he would still know the difference between short and average.
I read one negative review that said Jamie thought too much about "bedroom" things when she first met Philip and that wasn't true at all. She thought he was attractive but she didn't thi k something like, "boy I bet he's good in bed." The person who wrote that review clearly needs to read clean romances. This book doesn't even flirt with the idea of sex until it actually happens. There isn't much sexy about it at all.
There is just so much day to day boring stuff in the story. So much that doesn't move the story along at all. I can't recommend this book or this set of authors. I keep a list of "never read again" authors and this pair will be going on it.