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babyfacedoldsoul's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
hopeful
reflective
relaxing
- Strong character development? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
An enjoyable book that handled some nuanced topics in a well done way. Some of the more intimate scenes had some wording choices that took me out of the book but I enjoyed reading this overall.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content, Abortion, and Abandonment
This book talks about growing up with emotionally abusive parents.teemariereads's review against another edition
3.0
Loved the story line, but the male reading it on the audiobook left sooooo much to be desired. Not a very sexy voice.
oceanrainbownoir's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
desilu94's review against another edition
emotional
lighthearted
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
bookmeagoodread's review against another edition
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75
jackiehorne's review against another edition
3.0
A second-chance love story set against the backdrop of a small southern coastal largely Black town. Cynthia, who left Madison Island, and her high school love, for college and a life of travel, has just been laid off from her marketing job. She's decided to return to Madison and turn her beloved deceased aunt's home into a B&B. Marcel Lewis, her ex, now a divorced man with two almost-grown children, is the best contractor in town, and their sexual chemistry sparks almost immediately after Cynthia hires "Cel" to renovate. But Cel is still harboring a lot of unresolved anger about the way Cyn left him, and Cyn would much rather the past stay in the past. They dance back and forth between physical closeness and emotional retreat, especially on Cyn's part, until the public revelation of a private secret makes caretaker Cel realize he deserves more than Cyn's avoidance and decides that this time, she has to be the one to make the first emotional move.
My first time reading this author, and I found a lot to like here: strong writing, with a facility at code switching between standard English of the narration and the Black Southern dialect Cyn and her friends speak with one another; strong, supportive relationships between female friends; a small-town setting that isn't all about white people; 40-something protagonists; a divorced family still maintaining loving ties. 3 rather than 4 stars, though, because I wanted more show rather than tell, especially in regards to Cyn and her motivations. I had a hard time understanding why she would want to return to a place where her grandfather and parents were so cold and often abusive to her, and we don't actually see her interacting with them until the very end of the book. There were a lot of moments when important things happened off page, or were made out to be important, but then never discussed (Cyn's visting her dying grandfather, for example), which I found confusing. I was also frustrated by the "big secret"—I don't have a problem with a backstory secret being slowly revealed, but the clues were a little confusing to me, and I didn't know who knew what when until the final big reveal, which made understanding Cel's feelings towards Cyn, and Cyn's toward herself, hard for me to understand or relate to.
Definitely an author I'd read again, though, to see if these issues were specific to this book, or are common to her writing overall.
My first time reading this author, and I found a lot to like here: strong writing, with a facility at code switching between standard English of the narration and the Black Southern dialect Cyn and her friends speak with one another; strong, supportive relationships between female friends; a small-town setting that isn't all about white people; 40-something protagonists; a divorced family still maintaining loving ties. 3 rather than 4 stars, though, because I wanted more show rather than tell, especially in regards to Cyn and her motivations. I had a hard time understanding why she would want to return to a place where her grandfather and parents were so cold and often abusive to her, and we don't actually see her interacting with them until the very end of the book. There were a lot of moments when important things happened off page, or were made out to be important, but then never discussed (Cyn's visting her dying grandfather, for example), which I found confusing. I was also frustrated by the "big secret"—I don't have a problem with a backstory secret being slowly revealed, but the clues were a little confusing to me, and I didn't know who knew what when until the final big reveal, which made understanding Cel's feelings towards Cyn, and Cyn's toward herself, hard for me to understand or relate to.
Definitely an author I'd read again, though, to see if these issues were specific to this book, or are common to her writing overall.
now_booking's review against another edition
emotional
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
It was okay… like pretty much an inoffensive, if a little bland, second chance romance featuring high school sweethearts who lose touch after Cynthia makes the heartbreaking decision to abandon her love Marcel with a Dear John letter after finding herself pregnant and deciding not to have the baby. There are themes here of difficult mother-daughter relationships with emotional abuse, gaslighting and manipulation, abortion, and issues around differences in fertility preference and decisions around not being a mother.
I didn’t feel like the characters were always as mature emotionally as they could have been or as careful with each other as they could have been-especially given this was a second chance romance. I don’t think Cynthia had to drag out opening up to Marcel that long and that tension between them was needed- the elephant in the room was obviously there from the moment they met and what felt unrealistic was the way they were dancing around it and pretending some relationship could exist between them at their big age without any closure. In fact, with the way things were revealed in the conflict with Cynthia’s mom, I’m not sure they ever actually had the conversation they actually needed to have which was the moment this book was waiting for. Ultimately I listened to this in audio and it was a fairly pleasant listen. I don’t know if I felt invested enough in this series to read the second book featuring the FMC’s friend but perhaps… I certainly didn’t dislike it and it was a pleasant enough low key read so I might check out more from this series at some point… maybe.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Grief, Death of parent, Gaslighting, and Abandonment
Moderate: Abortion
kristyb_readsromance's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
kotareadsbooks's review against another edition
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
2.0