Erika Kelly

I had such high hopes for this one, as I used to read this author when she had that rock star romance series and I ADORED those books. But this book just felt like a hot mess. It was all over the place and I just wasn't enjoying it that much but I pushed through it. I just found this one to be such a disappointment and I am not even wanting to read the rest of the series, so I might try looking through her backlist and see if she has other series that might appeal to me more. I know she can write great things so I think I just had such high hopes for this one here. And I expected so much from it and it just didn't work for me. So many aspects of it just made no sense to me. But I will try some other books. But I am more picky about books these days and just won't stick with a series if a book isn't doing it for me. It might have been a "me" issue.… (meer)

All in all, this is a pretty sweet CR. There are flaws, sure, but I felt pretty satisfied overall, and I haven't really connected with this author's work yet. When I was reading, I was reading this-which at the moment is more than I can say for most books.

If I had to name an issue here, while I enjoyed the central conflict because I thought it was reasonable I sort of couldn't get on the bandwagon of where the blame lies. The hero makes a very human, family-centric choice at 17, when the heroine is choosing her future and career. Fin remains family-centric and never gives up on his high school girlfriend, six years passes, and she returns.

So they are 23 or so, and I liked how they read believably, and yet I couldn't shake the notion that her expectations were a little "off" for their age and stage in life, and that his confidence in her was unwavering. I suppose that was part of the appeal of the book, but it left me a little cold that it felt like she was afforded all her own choices and he was expected to ride along - or that they'd compromise simply because of their choices.

It's a good foundation, but for me, it wasn't enough to see very little give in her idea of careers and relationships.

I know that is all a criticism, but it really was sweet and angsty, even comforting to read. I thought she built lovable characters and look forward to reading on about these brothers. 3.6… (meer)

There's a reason why I dislike reviewing books that are part of a series and this book is one of those reasons. Throughout the book, I felt that I was missing pieces of the other characters such as why the Bowie brothers have a toddler baby sister or the details behind the older two Bowie brothers. Sometimes there are hints or clues to give a new reader a glimpse of these details so the reader isn't left confused about the minor characters that play an integral role in the storyline or pushing the major characters to that break through point or ah-ha moment. Sadly, Kelly didn't do that. I know that the promos say this is a standalone novel, but without reading the previous two books, many aspects were confusing.

If I put all of that aside, the basic storyline for Knox and Gray was slightly better than average. They had all the basics for a romantic novel--struggle to be together, guilt, miscommunication, meddling friends/family, and reunion. But without reading the previous novels, something was missing for me. I didn't close this reading with a happy giddiness, I normally do.

What I did like was Kelly's approach to addiction and how sometimes loved ones of addicts just have to walk away. (I know from experience). Her approach to the addiction was spot on. Sometimes, loved ones must move on, not because they don't love the person but out of self-preservation. That's what both Gray and Knox did but in different ways. Upon seeing Robert again, both Gray and Knox returned to their previous behaviors (again very true to reality).

If I separate Knox and Gray's love story away from the Bowie family history, I quite enjoyed the book, although I highly recommend reading from the beginning of the series not from this novel.… (meer)