2015, 313p, Clean Contemporary Romance
My Rating=5 Stars
Source: Received a copy from the author for an honest review
Charlee Jensen had what she considered the idyllic childhood growing up in a town named for that most prized emotion of all, Loveland, Colorado. At seventeen, her teenage crush, a man eight years older than her, marries and she naively thinks this is the worst thing that would ever happen to her. Then her parents divorce and her world crumbles. She finds herself being whisked away from her beloved home and estranged from her father.
Now eight years later, with two degrees that she never wanted in hand, and no job prospects, her father offers her a position with his CPA firm. With no other options available, Charlee accepts his offer and returns to the hometown she loved. While rebuilding her relationship with her father, she discovers that perhaps a romantic relationship is in the cards for her, with her old teenage crush, Ryan Carter, who just happens to still live next door and is now a partner in her father’s CPA firm.
Newly divorced and single dad, Ryan Carter, isn’t quite sure what to make of the girl next door, who’s all woman now. He finds himself having a hard time resisting this beautiful yet annoyingly charming woman, but their age difference and his complicated relationship with his ex-wife cause quite a bit of trouble for the couple. Ryan finds himself torn between keeping the peace with his ex-wife and mother of his child and his feelings for Charlee.
Can they successfully overcome their troubles in Loveland? Find out in this clean romance filled with sparks, humor, and of course, a little bit of trouble.
For me as a reviewer, there is nothing better than reading a book I loved (House Divided) to find out that the author has other books out and then comes out with another new book shortly after I read her last release! That is the case with Jennifer Peel. I don't automatically give any author 5 stars so they have to earn it each time I read one of their books. The bar is already set high if I've loved their previous books. Even though I have only read one of hers so far, I've heard great things about her other books, too, and so I was glad when she delivered!!
I thought this book was fantastic! When Charlee was 17, her life was pretty good. It quickly fell apart, though, when her parents divorced and she chose to leave Loveland, Colorado with her mother. We learned about her attraction to her much older neighbor, Ryan, who got married shortly before she left. She was gone for eight years before she came back to Loveland to work as an accountant with her father in his firm. Oh, yeah, and now Ryan is divorced and her father's business partner so they will be working together.
I loved Charlee! She was fun and flirty and knew what she wanted--Ryan. Once she caught his attention, she didn't just give in to him all the time. She stood up for herself and when he treated her poorly, she let him know. I enjoyed her sense of humor throughout the book. Charlee was also working on mending her relationship with her father. She was angry at him when she left with her mother and had pretty much ignored him during the eight years she was gone. She was now able to see some things from his perspective which helped her understand him better.
Ryan had known Charlee when she was way too young for him and it took him a while to come to terms with the fact that both of them getting older didn't make their age difference such a big deal. He was attracted to her and tried hard to fight it. His relationship with her caused some issues with his ex-wife because he also had a young son in the mix. Josh was three and was absolutely adorable! It was impossible not to fall in love with him. I actually liked Ryan from the beginning. He did some stupid things that he had to make up for and that was part of what made reading this so enjoyable for me. I was hoping he would come to his senses in the end.
I enjoyed reading the ups and downs of Charlee and Ryan. Just when things were looking up, something else would happen that would threaten to destroy what they had. They hung in there and there were others cheering them on and helping them see things they couldn't. I loved this book from beginning to end and couldn't put it down. It's another winner from Jennifer and I'm looking forward to what she'll come up with next!
1 comments:
Thanks for this awesome review!! So happy you loved the book!
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