Reviews

4.5 stars, actually.

I have to admit, I am kind of in love with all the main characters of Sanderson's Crooked Rock Urban Indian Center series. And this contemporary romance series is really its own flavor. All of the characters feel so real to me in the ways they are reluctant to talk about their feelings, in their focus on work and getting by, and especially in the ways they risk loving each other.

This is the second in the series, but you wouldn't need to read the first book to appreciate this one, although you would miss that little thrill when Rayanne and Henry have guest appearances.

This story continues both threads from the first book of the ongoing struggle for Crooked Rock to find a home as well as the understated beta romance between the head of the center and a board member.

But really it focuses on Theo and Esther. And Theo is another romantic hero (like Henry from the first book) who isn't your typical Alpha. Oh don't get me wrong, he's big and burly and works as a bouncer in a bar, but he's also trying to complete a degree at the same time as working like three different jobs.

He doesn't have time for a romance.

But then there's Esther, and the two of them find a kind of home in each other as they work together on making a film about Crooked Rock.

Half a star got lost because at some points in the story there's a kind of vagueness to the point of view character's perception of the action that threw me occasionally, but really its a sweet, very interesting, realistic portrayal of the way modern love sometimes unfolds.

churameru's review against another edition

Go to review page

emotional funny lighthearted medium-paced

3.5

nipomuki's review

Go to review page

4.0

The second volume has the same strengths as the first one. It does follow a very similar structure, and this similarity is the reason I give it one star less.

As a reading experience the story was equally enjoyable. I was completely sucked in and always in danger of missing my train or the bus stop.

A third volume is promised and I cannot wait!

PS. I love how the movie being made about the center gives the reader a good example on different ways of looking at a subject. The pro movie maker has a fixed idea about the struggles she wants to show, and totally misses what it’s all about.