I was pleasantly surprised by how this book evolved and how I evolved as a reader who was intrigued to invested in the narrative.

I will definitely pick up Jane Porter's other books. ( )

So first and foremost the only reason I really did run out and get this book was because I had read some of Jane Porter's books in the past, and this was a Lifetime movie on t.v. a few years ago. I remember it coming on around Christmas and I got a kick out of the t.v. movie.

Told in the first person, the main character is 39 year old Jackie. Jackie has two kids and is still reeling from a divorce. Dealing with a hard hearted ex-husband and feeling at sea with her life at the moment. She is talked into going to Hawaii to celebrate her 40th birthday with one of her best friends. Unfortunately, do a family emergency, Jackie is left going to Hawaii solo. Once there she meets a surfboard instructor years younger than her and starts off having a vacation fling that turns into something more.

So here's the big thing, I read How Stella Got Her Groove Back when I was around 20 and this book felt like a big re-tread of that whole story-line. Older woman falls for younger hot man, they have amazing sex, family and ex disapproves, etc.

That said, unlike with Frog Prince I was able to finish this book. It was touch and go there for a few moments though. I think just like with Frog Prince, the biggest issue I had was that for almost the entire book there is nothing happening and there was a lot of standing in place storywise while reading. It just gets boring reading someone's diary entries after a while. And no I don't mean that is how it was written. It was just written like, well today I thought about Kai and how handsome he is, and once again I wondered where this is going. Well you know what? Just ask him! Romance novels that do things like this just make me shake my head.

The character of Jackie was super indecisive at times, and I thought just secretive where it didn't need to be. She pushed back at her friends and definitely saw into their lives a heck of a lot better than they were seeing into her life, and I wish that her thoughts on them had actually come up. There was a lot of dysfunction with some of the other characters in this book that was either kind of glossed over until the very end.

The character of Kai is very flimsy as a character. I honestly don't get him at all. Besides being into surfing and having an awesome body, that was about it. He didn't seem to have any real thoughts on things, and these two never seemed to have real conversations. There is a serious incident that comes up that I thought would have been the perfect time for Jackie to include Kai in her day to day life, and it once again gets ignored.

The setting of Hawaii and Seattle really do shine through here and there. And it definitely makes me want to go on a surf holiday to Hawaii one day.

The ending happened and I wondered at how in the world readers were expected to overlook a several month absent which springboarded into a HEA. ( )

Fun, quick read! ( )

I read this for the Just For Fun Challenge which encourages reading one book that has been on the TBR shelf for a long time and without doing a review. I still rated this book though. I was disappointed, it was too light for me. ( )

flirting with forty by jane porter
she's 40 and it's Christmas. So getting the tree up on top of her car, dragging it to the house after dropping it from the roof of the car,
onto her cream color living room carpet and there is sap over everything, rug, clothes, furniture . she doesn't even have a saw to trim the trees
for it to be able to put the tree in the stand. What else can go wrong and why does she have nothing but he got the vacation home, the Porsche and the
20 year old girlfriend.
She goes first class to Hawaii, after giving her ex the kids for 5 days, to spend time with her girlfriend but she cancelled at the last minute, she has her own driver and she's in a luxury hotel.
Nothing to do but lie in the sun at the pool drinking til the men start to come over and engage her into conversation.
She decides to go with a local surf instructor and go for a cocktail cruise around the island via catamaran. He's 20 years younger than her and she just can't relax.
She does spend more time with him and finds herself and loves how he makes her feel-so loved.
Back to reality and life again til she can go again to HI. Another vacation and she's on the island again with him and his friends.
There is an accident and she has to overnight herself back home to deal with the injuries. Later she goes to take a home pregnancy test
and finds out her world is about to change.
How can she just call him and help her deal with this?
Her friends come to her aid and help her get through the problems and they introduce her to a man at a BBQ in hopes they will get together and spend some time together.
she makes a bucket list and first time the kids are with the ex she is on her way to argentina for the holidays. What she never expected to happen is when her doorbell rings.
Love the scenery, very long sunsets, Seattle area and learning about new places I need to visit. This is such a down to earth book but with impulsive behavior that is adventurous. ( )