(2.5 stars) - A cinderella story on steroids
I've enjoyed so many of Cindy Roland Anderson's books, & I love the idea of two broken people coming together and helping each other heal, but I'm sorry to say, this one struggled. So many elements of the story were over the top.
Attraction, lightning jolt touches & wanting to know someone better are romantic interest not love. I can accept insta-love stories in the right setting or circumstances, but there wasn't enough in this story to support them falling in love with each other in such a short span of time.
As awful as her steps were & her father who had emotionally abandoned her (I was surprised that he was such a flat, almost non-entity), I honestly don't understand why she would feel obligated to go home at all.
Also, nasty people like her steps aren't so blatant in front of strangers. They get away with their crap because they know how to be discreet, using passive aggressive comments, manipulation, & lots of backstabbing.
The pitch about Josie being so good & doing all that charity stuff was overdone, made it sound like she's a saint or something.
I love fairytales, so I can work with fantasy, but I need it to be written in a way that it doesn't awaken skepticism. So I really struggled with the story because my inner skeptic was triggered repeatedly, and I couldn't shush her.
I did enjoy seeing some of the characters from the previous books in here. And the ending was fun which made up for quite a bit
*Clean romance level: sweet kisses, nothing graphic