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desertlover's review against another edition
3.0
This a cute, light hearted read. It's on the shorter side, and I would have liked 50-100 pages to further develop the story. I enjoyed it enough to read book 2.
chrys_marin's review against another edition
2.0
I received this book as part of the Amazon's "Kindle First" program.
I chose to read this because I thought the premise sounded promising: successful, career-oriented young woman, Olivia, finds herself in a dilemma when her sister and brother-in-law pass away in a car accident and leave her as the caretaker of her niece, a 4-week old baby, Annabelle. Putting her life on hold in the big city, she takes two weeks to go back to her small hometown, Mirror Lakes, to put things in order before she takes the baby with her to the city. But in her hometown more than her niece is awaiting her--handsome Brad, her ex-boyfriend from high school and also uncle of Annabelle, does not agree with her taking the baby, and will do anything he can to keep Olivia in Mirror Lakes. Whether he is doing it because he still feel things for Olivia or because he only wants Annabelle to be raised with her family is not clear, not even to Brad.
Many books and movies have played successfully this plot before, e.g., "Raising Helen," "Life as We Know It," so I was very excited to read "This Thing Called Love," probably expecting something of the same caliber. Unfortunately, I found it to be an utter disappointment. The family relationship complications and the hardship of finding yourself suddenly the mother of a newborn barely played a role in the novel, and were just used as an excuse to fuel the relationship between Brad and Olivia. Even though both characters kept mentioning now and then how much they cared about the baby, how the baby was everything, it just didn't feel that way. It just felt like cheap talk. I love romance novels, so I don't mind a focus on the romance or a bit of cheesiness, but I still like a good plot and well-developed characters, well-written scenes. Here, chapter after chapter, it moved from "Omg I love Brad, but he doesn't love me" to "Omg I love Olivia, but I am afraid she will leave me," and I don't think I heard any different thought from those two for however hundred pages this book lasted.
Their attitude felt more like that of a pair of teenagers rather than two 30-year old people. Although some scenes did make me laugh, e.g., ***SPOILER: when Olivia ends up hanging from the window because she tried to spy on Brad***, most of the jokes sounded a bit pathetic.
I think the idea was great and appealing, but the way it was written it just felt flat: flat plot, flat characters, poor romance. I am starting to think that beside Nora Roberts, Diana Gabaldon, or Deborah Harkness (and the last two aren't even romance writers, rather more like historical fantasy with a romantic couple in the center) I must desist from reading romantic novels, especially ones that are offered to me for free.
I chose to read this because I thought the premise sounded promising: successful, career-oriented young woman, Olivia, finds herself in a dilemma when her sister and brother-in-law pass away in a car accident and leave her as the caretaker of her niece, a 4-week old baby, Annabelle. Putting her life on hold in the big city, she takes two weeks to go back to her small hometown, Mirror Lakes, to put things in order before she takes the baby with her to the city. But in her hometown more than her niece is awaiting her--handsome Brad, her ex-boyfriend from high school and also uncle of Annabelle, does not agree with her taking the baby, and will do anything he can to keep Olivia in Mirror Lakes. Whether he is doing it because he still feel things for Olivia or because he only wants Annabelle to be raised with her family is not clear, not even to Brad.
Many books and movies have played successfully this plot before, e.g., "Raising Helen," "Life as We Know It," so I was very excited to read "This Thing Called Love," probably expecting something of the same caliber. Unfortunately, I found it to be an utter disappointment. The family relationship complications and the hardship of finding yourself suddenly the mother of a newborn barely played a role in the novel, and were just used as an excuse to fuel the relationship between Brad and Olivia. Even though both characters kept mentioning now and then how much they cared about the baby, how the baby was everything, it just didn't feel that way. It just felt like cheap talk. I love romance novels, so I don't mind a focus on the romance or a bit of cheesiness, but I still like a good plot and well-developed characters, well-written scenes. Here, chapter after chapter, it moved from "Omg I love Brad, but he doesn't love me" to "Omg I love Olivia, but I am afraid she will leave me," and I don't think I heard any different thought from those two for however hundred pages this book lasted.
Their attitude felt more like that of a pair of teenagers rather than two 30-year old people. Although some scenes did make me laugh, e.g., ***SPOILER: when Olivia ends up hanging from the window because she tried to spy on Brad***, most of the jokes sounded a bit pathetic.
I think the idea was great and appealing, but the way it was written it just felt flat: flat plot, flat characters, poor romance. I am starting to think that beside Nora Roberts, Diana Gabaldon, or Deborah Harkness (and the last two aren't even romance writers, rather more like historical fantasy with a romantic couple in the center) I must desist from reading romantic novels, especially ones that are offered to me for free.
nancy_ahyee's review
3.0
Predictable and a nice read
A nice story about childhood sweethearts thrown back together. We all know how these stories go: I hate him, I missed him, I want her back but I can't tell her, I want him but he doesn't want me. Typical back and forth, but a nice story with a happy ending.
A nice story about childhood sweethearts thrown back together. We all know how these stories go: I hate him, I missed him, I want her back but I can't tell her, I want him but he doesn't want me. Typical back and forth, but a nice story with a happy ending.
lissaraemcd's review against another edition
3.0
I received this book as part of the Kindle First reads program. I liked the book.
emmarj's review against another edition
2.0
I received this book free from Kindle First.
When her sister dies tragically in a car accident and leaves her 4 week old daughter to her care, Olivia's life is turned upside down. She returns to her small hometown and her high school romance is rekindled.
I actually enjoyed this book for the first 60%. It was around that point that I felt that the cheese had been turned up from about a 2 or 3 to, like, 7 or 8. It was really cheesy in the second half. I know all romance novels are completely predictable and that's even sort of the point of them, but this wasn't even fun predictable. It was flat predictable, a little boring, a little stale.
This reads like smut without the sex. We are told over and over about this great romance Olivia and Brad had but all we are ever shown is that they had a lot of electrifying sex. We don't get one mushy story about how they met or their first kiss or their first fight - just remembrance after remembrance of this sex or that sex.
Anyway, this wasn't terrible as romance novels go in that it was well written and well edited, I just didn't particularly care for the story itself.
When her sister dies tragically in a car accident and leaves her 4 week old daughter to her care, Olivia's life is turned upside down. She returns to her small hometown and her high school romance is rekindled.
I actually enjoyed this book for the first 60%. It was around that point that I felt that the cheese had been turned up from about a 2 or 3 to, like, 7 or 8. It was really cheesy in the second half. I know all romance novels are completely predictable and that's even sort of the point of them, but this wasn't even fun predictable. It was flat predictable, a little boring, a little stale.
This reads like smut without the sex. We are told over and over about this great romance Olivia and Brad had but all we are ever shown is that they had a lot of electrifying sex. We don't get one mushy story about how they met or their first kiss or their first fight - just remembrance after remembrance of this sex or that sex.
Anyway, this wasn't terrible as romance novels go in that it was well written and well edited, I just didn't particularly care for the story itself.
l1brarygirl's review against another edition
4.0
*I received a digital ARC through Amazon's Kindle First program.