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A review by mlcarl
Anything for Love by Melissa Foster
4.0
Beau Braden didn’t know what to expect when he first arrived at Charlotte Sterling’s Colorado mountain inn, but it definitely wasn’t her wearing very little clothing and having a blowup doll handcuffed to a bed. But as an erotic romance novelist, those things are totally normal in Charlotte’s life, especially since she’s been living a very solitary life at the inn since losing her last living family member. Hiding from his own tragic past of losing his first and only love, Beau’s perfectly content to just do his job of fixing up some things around the inn and steering clear of Charlotte’s crazy antics. But Charlotte has a different plan. She’s been suffering from some serious writer’s block and everything about Beau has Charlotte worked up about a non-fictional man for the first time in ages. And what’s the harm in a little flirting if it helps her work through some scenes?
This, this, is what I’ve been waiting for from Melissa Foster’s books. I’ve seen people wax poetic about them while I have finished a handful of them feeling rather dissatisfied. One of my biggest issues with this large, interconnected collection of series does still remain true; there are far too many supporting characters that have been introduced in other books/series and I either feel overwhelmed or sometimes punished for not having read every single book in this series, especially when each book is touted as being a standalone. But because of the nature of this book being that Charlotte and Beau spent most of their time relatively alone, most of the other extended family members came into play slowly and over the course of the book and, for once, I didn’t feel bombarded with fifteen characters I couldn’t keep track of, finally giving me an opportunity to actually enjoy the book and the main characters.
I also thoroughly enjoyed the plot of this book. Whereas previously I’ve felt like there wasn’t much story going on, even though this book didn’t really have a major conflict, it still worked for me. There wasn’t real conflict (or even contrived drama) that forced Charlotte and Beau apart and that was actually great. Instead, because both characters had their own demons and personal issues to move past, they were able to just be supportive of each other and that made for a really sweet love story.
And the characters were really intriguing to me. Charlotte was beyond insane at times, but in the most charming and fun way ever. And I adored that Beau just sort of went along for the ride with the crazy and didn’t try to change Charlotte, just changed a few things around Charlotte to give her the room to do the crazy while still staying safe. It made for a dynamic between the two of them that was really fun to read. And I also really appreciated that Beau and Charlotte’s relationship was deeply built on a platform of mutual admiration and total respect for the other person, especially when it came to their careers and the time that took in their lives. It gave their relationship deeper emotion and made it believable that they really didn’t have any major drama keeping (or driving) them apart.
I’m maybe not a total Melissa Foster convert yet and I probably won’t be rushing out to read every single one of the previous books in the Love in Bloom world, but this book helped convince me to give some books, especially future books in this series, a shot.
This, this, is what I’ve been waiting for from Melissa Foster’s books. I’ve seen people wax poetic about them while I have finished a handful of them feeling rather dissatisfied. One of my biggest issues with this large, interconnected collection of series does still remain true; there are far too many supporting characters that have been introduced in other books/series and I either feel overwhelmed or sometimes punished for not having read every single book in this series, especially when each book is touted as being a standalone. But because of the nature of this book being that Charlotte and Beau spent most of their time relatively alone, most of the other extended family members came into play slowly and over the course of the book and, for once, I didn’t feel bombarded with fifteen characters I couldn’t keep track of, finally giving me an opportunity to actually enjoy the book and the main characters.
I also thoroughly enjoyed the plot of this book. Whereas previously I’ve felt like there wasn’t much story going on, even though this book didn’t really have a major conflict, it still worked for me. There wasn’t real conflict (or even contrived drama) that forced Charlotte and Beau apart and that was actually great. Instead, because both characters had their own demons and personal issues to move past, they were able to just be supportive of each other and that made for a really sweet love story.
And the characters were really intriguing to me. Charlotte was beyond insane at times, but in the most charming and fun way ever. And I adored that Beau just sort of went along for the ride with the crazy and didn’t try to change Charlotte, just changed a few things around Charlotte to give her the room to do the crazy while still staying safe. It made for a dynamic between the two of them that was really fun to read. And I also really appreciated that Beau and Charlotte’s relationship was deeply built on a platform of mutual admiration and total respect for the other person, especially when it came to their careers and the time that took in their lives. It gave their relationship deeper emotion and made it believable that they really didn’t have any major drama keeping (or driving) them apart.
I’m maybe not a total Melissa Foster convert yet and I probably won’t be rushing out to read every single one of the previous books in the Love in Bloom world, but this book helped convince me to give some books, especially future books in this series, a shot.