A review by neverendingbooklist
Love at the Shore by Teri Wilson
3.0
3.5 stars.
I had high hopes for this book that were ~mostly~ met, ready for an enjoyable beach-y romance (that actually takes place at the beach). This book follows Jenna, a single mother of two, who is pursuing her dream as a writer. She has writer's block when trying to meet the deadline for her sequel. Hoping to get some work done while she takes her kids to the beach for five weeks, she finds that she has a noisy, messy neighbor who happens to be incredibly attractive. Lucas isn't thrilled to have a type-A neighbor who criticizes his every move. Even more annoying is that he can't seem to act nonchalant around her or her kids, involving himself in their lives. Of course, Jenna and Lucas have feelings for each other that they fight in a classic hate-to-love romance plot.
The characters were so likable, that I was invested from the start. Even though Jenna and Lucas both act immature somewhat frequently, I really liked them otherwise, so I was able to overlook it. Also, how does Jenna negatively judge Lucas because he owned an amazingly adorable and personable dog? Tank, Lucas's dog, is the best character - he has such a great personality! I'm not sure why Jenna's son, Nick, was so set on swimming. I would understand if his dad had been a swimmer and he misses him or something, but there's no real backstory other than his friend is on swim team. It also seems like he enjoys track and running more than swimming and is better at those, so his swimming motivation (or lack thereof) is pretty confusing.
While I love a good hate-to-romance plot, the distance between Jenna and Lucas went on for much too long. Most of the book is spent with Jenna and Luke spatting and "hating" each other, and not enough time was spent with them actually as a couple. Their "relationship", if we can even call it that, also moves at a weird pace. They don't ever go on a single real date, and they're already in love and thinking about major life changes like adopting kids and moving to the beach, uprooting Jenna's children's lives. This lack of relationship development was really frustrating in an otherwise engaging book.
I had high hopes for this book that were ~mostly~ met, ready for an enjoyable beach-y romance (that actually takes place at the beach). This book follows Jenna, a single mother of two, who is pursuing her dream as a writer. She has writer's block when trying to meet the deadline for her sequel. Hoping to get some work done while she takes her kids to the beach for five weeks, she finds that she has a noisy, messy neighbor who happens to be incredibly attractive. Lucas isn't thrilled to have a type-A neighbor who criticizes his every move. Even more annoying is that he can't seem to act nonchalant around her or her kids, involving himself in their lives. Of course, Jenna and Lucas have feelings for each other that they fight in a classic hate-to-love romance plot.
The characters were so likable, that I was invested from the start. Even though Jenna and Lucas both act immature somewhat frequently, I really liked them otherwise, so I was able to overlook it. Also, how does Jenna negatively judge Lucas because he owned an amazingly adorable and personable dog? Tank, Lucas's dog, is the best character - he has such a great personality! I'm not sure why Jenna's son, Nick, was so set on swimming. I would understand if his dad had been a swimmer and he misses him or something, but there's no real backstory other than his friend is on swim team. It also seems like he enjoys track and running more than swimming and is better at those, so his swimming motivation (or lack thereof) is pretty confusing.
While I love a good hate-to-romance plot, the distance between Jenna and Lucas went on for much too long. Most of the book is spent with Jenna and Luke spatting and "hating" each other, and not enough time was spent with them actually as a couple. Their "relationship", if we can even call it that, also moves at a weird pace. They don't ever go on a single real date, and they're already in love and thinking about major life changes like adopting kids and moving to the beach, uprooting Jenna's children's lives. This lack of relationship development was really frustrating in an otherwise engaging book.