Michelle Douglas

Un inizio molto poco avvincente e piuttosto lento che mi ha anche fatto pensare di smettere la lettura, poi il libro si riprende e la storia si movimenta.
Dylan non si fida del fidanzato della sorella e per capire chi sia veramente decide di inserirsi nell’organizzazione delle loro nozze. Per poter agire tranquillamente chiede aiuto alla event planner incaricata, Mia, una bella ragazza che lo colpisce particolarmente.
La storia è carina e piacevole e, superata la prima parte, riesce anche a coinvolgere.
… (plus d'informations)

The road trip is what initially drew me to this, particularly since so many road trip books are US based so the Australian setting feels somewhat unique. While the limited word count for Harlequin Romances means that understandably some details and experiences of the road trip have to be glossed over to leave room for the developing relationship, the sense of place still felt fairly strong throughout and I loved the variety to their stops along the way, fast food and fancier fare, the Sydney Harbor Bridge and a cheese factory farm, a sporting event, canoeing, etc., that play it by ear style of itinerary captures the spirit of a good road trip.

I really liked the glimpse of how this couple met as kids and how Noah came to be an honorary member of Bree’s family, that as well as the depth of their conversations provided a genuine understanding of why they’d hesitate to cross the line and potentially ruin a valuable friendship. I was also glad to see some moments of awkwardness between them because I just always have a hard time buying that friends would advance to something more without it at least momentarily shaking up their comfort level with one another, it just doesn’t seem like a transition that would be seamless and this book recognized that.

Although I came to this mostly for my love of road trip stories, my favorite part ended up being Bree’s personal journey, we learn early on that she’s taking the trip to think over a big change to her life plans. It was paced out nicely leaving the reader in a bit of suspense as to what that change may be and then the reveal didn’t disappoint, it’s something quite emotionally tricky and handled beautifully here, the sadness of the situation is evident yet there’s heartwarming light in it as well, and the charm bracelet was an especially thoughtful little touch.

I received this book through a giveaway.… (plus d'informations)

For readers who enjoy a focus on the internal this does a great job with that as Chloe and Beau each have experienced something that threw their lives off course and much of this book involves their reluctance and encouragement to move forward.

I really liked that their relationship is almost always supportive but each was willing to get contentious with the other when they needed a little tough love to nudge them in the right direction. I also thought it was a realistic touch that both of these characters have some anger in them, when you’re sad, when you’ve received a heavy blow to your life, it’s human to feel grouchy and grumpy even if you don’t mean to be and I appreciated that the author didn’t shy away from their tempers escaping them at times, it read as honest.… (plus d'informations)