Thoroughly enjoyed the first installment of the series and am excited for the next. ( )

Finished Reading September 18, 2015

2.75 Stars

1st the bad.
Was a bit long winded. Not really my cup of tea as far as excitement or pulling me into the story. A few editing problems, but not many. A little too SWEET for my taste.

2nd the good.
The writing was well done other than a bit too much detail on things that didn't really matter. But for those who love a "Sweet Romance" you will enjoy this book.

As for myself, not enough action. I prefer a book that has lots of different dimensions to it. This book did not have that.

Purchased from Amazon January 7, 2015 ( )

So this series was recommended to me by a friend who told me that she felt this was a good call-back to the romance novels we used to sneak out from under our mom's beds when we were kids. You all know what I am talking about. The books with the hero and heroine gazing into each other eyes looking overcome just be touching each other. Not really understanding why your mom/aunt/sister had flagged certain pages until you read them and then you understood.

The first book in Rosalind James Escape to New Zealand series, "Just This Once" is the first book in the series and I thought was a really steamy romance novel that evoked the older romance genre books that many still love.

Our heroine, Hannah Montgomery, goes to New Zealand for three weeks to figure out what she wants to do next. While there, she meets a professional rugby player, Drew Callahan. Hannah and Drew just fit together to me and their love scenes (when they happened) made me blush...a lot. I thought it was very realistic and quite open about two people who were deeply attracted to one another and their relationship trajectory made a lot of sense to me. Nothing was magically fixed, everything took work. What really made me love this book was that it took place in a country and city I have never been to and would have not thought a romance taking place there would work, but it did. I thought Ms. James did an excellent job describing the history of the New Zealand, the intricacies of rugby, and the Maori culture.

All in all a wonderful romance read! Cannot wait to read book two in this series!

Please note that I received this novel for free via the Amazon Kindle Lending Library. ( )

I was excited to read this because it takes place in New Zealand. Hannah meets Drew on her vacation in NZ and she doesn't realize how famous he is as the captain of the All Blacks rugby team.

Hannah has some hang-ups, the biggest one being that she is too independent and doesn't know how to let someone into her life completely. Drew has his work cut out for him from the beginning. I really loved Drew. He seemed like the perfect boyfriend. Hannah got on my nerves. I don't mind insecure characters because it is interesting to read how they grow and change when they find the one person who was made to love them. Hannah didn't get a clue until THE VERY END OF THE BOOK! I wished that the author could have moved that part of the story along. Otherwise I loved the setting and I loved the rugby aspect.

There are quite a few more books in this series. I plan to try another one. ( )

This one might be my favorite so far.

I love this series. ( )