Her Kind of Trouble

Her Kind of Trouble

By Sarah Mayberry

Publisher: Harlequin 

(SuperRomance)

Release Date: April 1, 2014

Vivian Walker and Seth Anderson meet at a dinner the night before the wedding of her older sister Jodie and his older brother Jason. Their attraction is immediate, and, almost as quickly, they discover how much they have in common. They are both young enough to still be in the process of discovering who they are, they both have big dreams (she of see her designs on Paris runways, he of his band, Skunk Punk, making it big), and they are both free spirits who are loved but not understood by their conventional families. When they are warned away from one another, surrendering to temptation become irresistible. They leave the wedding reception to share some champagne, a joint, and incredible sex on the backseat of a limousine.  But since they both have big plans for their lives and a romantic entanglement could become awkward because of their family connection, they agree that it just one night to remember.

 “Listen, Seth…I had a great time. But just so you know, I’m not really looking for anything. I’ve got a lot going on with my studies, I’ve got a graduate show to prepare for…”She trailed off awkwardly.

He was silent for a long moment, his expression unreadable. “So, what, this was just one night of the best limo-monkey-sex ever, no strings attached?”

She couldn’t tell if he was pissed or not. He didn’t sound pissed, but there was something about the way he was holding himself that made her a little nervous.

“That’s another way of putting it.”

He grinned hugely, his posture and expression relaxing. “I knew you were my kind of girl when I met you, Vivian Walker.”

For ten years they meet only occasionally at family gatherings, enjoying a little light flirting when they see one another but going on with their lives, including romantic relationships. Vivian spends most of that period in the United States, accepting that she’s not going to become an internationally acclaimed fashion designer but finding her niche as a professional stylist. Seth’s band goes the way of most rock bands of limited talent and luck, and he becomes the owner of a successful Melbourne bar, Night Howls.  They are both in their thirties when Vivian decides she misses home and family and returns to Melbourne to set up a business with a friend.

Vivian is amazed when she learns that Seth and an ex-girlfriend are about to come parents, and she’s furious when she finds out that Seth has questioned her fitness to become co-guardian to their young nephews if anything should happen to Jodie and Jason. But she proves herself the friend Seth needs when he has to confront an unthinkable tragedy and make life-altering decisions. Soon hearts and libidos are on full alert, but Vivian and Seth have to be honest with themselves and with one another if they are to be more than an unfinished chapter in one another’s lives.

I always approach a Sarah Mayberry book with anticipation and delight, but I admit that after reading the first chapter if this one, I was ready to give it a miss. It was well-written, but it gave me the feeling that I sometimes get when I am a party to my nieces’ TMI conversations or that I used to experience when my composition students wrote in full confessional mode: I don’t need to hear this. However, since Her Kind of Trouble was an ARC for review, I persisted. And I’m happy I did because the book turned out to be the kind of richly nuanced, slowly developing relationship story I love, the kind that has made Mayberry one of my favorite authors.

Vivian and Seth engaged my interest and won my heart. Their HEA left me with a smile and a tear and an unshakable conviction that these two people were perfect for one another. I can see them growing older together, still laughing and learning together. It’s this kind of story with this kind of conclusion that keeps me reading romance fiction. If you enjoy contemporary romance, you can’t do better than a Sarah Mayberry book. I highly recommend Her Kind of Trouble.

Everyone who posted about favorite category authors last week mentioned Sarah Mayberry. She really is an extraordinary writer. Have you read her books? What’s your favorite?

Saturday Review: Winning Over Skylar

Winning Over Skylar

By Julianna Morris

Publisher: Harlequin

(SuperRomance)

Release Date:

April 1, 2014

Skylar Naples was an eighteen-year-old filled with regret over some bad choices and ashamed of being the daughter of the town drunks. Skylar Gibson hasn’t been that person in fourteen years. She is now a widow, the mother of an almost-fourteen-year-old daughter, and the proprietor of the Gibson Nibble Nook, a prosperous short-order restaurant located almost at the gates of Cooperton, California’s biggest business, Cooper Industries. Jimmie Gibson and his parents loved her and encouraged her and helped her grow into the confident, assertive woman she is, and almost a year after Jimmie’s death, Skylar still misses him and the life they built together. She is fiercely protective of her daughter, Karin, who is still grieving the loss of her father. Skylar would prefer to avoid Aaron Hollister, a bad memory from her past, but she is not intimidated by him or his wealth. She remembers him as a “jackass of major proportions,” and his arrogant, dictatorial mismanagement of his new responsibilities gives her no reason to change her mind.

Aaron Hollister is not happy to have succeeded his grandfather as CEO of Cooper Industries, but as the only grandchild of the grandparents who taken him in after he had spent his early years being shuffled between his divorced parents and various other relatives, he feels obligated to try to bring the business into the twenty-first century and into the black now that his eighty-plus-year-old grandfather has retired. He also never expected to find himself responsible for his sixteen-year-old half-sister, Melanie. Aaron is the eldest and Melanie next-to-the-youngest of S. S. Hollister’s eight children by seven different ex-wives, and the two don’t know each other very well. But Aaron cares about his sister enough to agree when her mother asks him to take Melanie for the school year. He’s not sure how to deal with a teenager, but he is convinced that Skylar, whom he remembers as a “smart-mouthed, trouble-making high-school dropout,” is not an appropriate role model for his sister.   

When Skylar, who has inherited her husband’s position on the Cooperton City Council, is given the responsibility, over her protests, of hearing Aaron’s proposal to expand Cooper Industries, the two cannot avoid each other’s company. Clashes over business ideas are compounded by more personal clashes when Melanie decides to “divorce” her parents so that she can move in with Karin and Skylar. Then just as Skylar and Aaron reach a degree of understanding over these issues, Aaron learns that Karin could be his daughter, and all the relationships become immensely more complicated.

Julianna Morris takes some of the most frequently used tropes in category romance and gives them a fresh twist in the first book of her Those Hollister Boys series. Skylar and Aaron really were bad news in high school, not merely misunderstood kids. She was a rebellious rule-breaker headed for trouble, and he was a privileged jerk who destroyed the vestiges of Skylar’s reputation just to impress his buddies. It’s really a misnomer to label this novel a reunion story or a second-chance-at-love story. Skylar and Aaron were never star-crossed lovers torn apart by forces greater than themselves, and they have not spent fourteen years apart remembering their time together as an idyll and longing to be together. They were two kids controlled by hormones and the appeal of the forbidden. They grew up and got on with their lives when they parted, and the impressions they carried of each other are overwhelmingly negative.

Skylar matures first because of her commitment to creating a good life for her child, with the transition eased first by the help of the Gibsons and later by her happy marriage to Jimmie Gibson. I particularly liked the fact that she and Jimmie love one another and that he accepts Karin without reservations as his child. Aaron learns to be responsible, but it is only when he falls for Skylar, realizes how much he cares for his sister, and opens his heart to his daughter that he adds compassion and empathy to his strong sense of duty and become the man Skylar loves.

I like romances with realistic roots, and Winning Over Skylar satisfies this criteria. Also, not only Skylar and Aaron but all the other characters from the two girls to the senior Gibsons, Aaron’s contradictory father, and the citizens of Cooperton are interesting people who are more than cardboard figures. This was my first book by Julianna Morris, but I have already noted that the story of Aaron’s brother Matt will be released on July 1. And I’ll be checking out her backlist.

What’s the last book you read that sent you looking for the author’s backlist?

Bonus Review: More Than She Expected

More Than She Expected

By Karen Templeton

Publisher: Harlequin 

(Special Edition)

Release Date: 

March 18, 2014

Laurel Kent never planned on being pregnant and single, but she’s fathoms deep in love with her unborn child and reasonably confident that, with a little help from the grandmother who reared her, she can care for her baby. She bought a house before she knew of her pregnancy, and her work as a writer allows her to work from home. That’s a plus for a single mother, but it also means that Laurel lives a rather isolated life. Perhaps that’s why she loses her heart to the friendly mutt next door who pays her visits and seeks sanctuary from a storm in her arms, but as appealing as the mutt and his hot, younger owner are, the owner is clearly marked “Proceed with Caution.” And his penchant for giggly, young blondes makes clear Laurel is not his type. Still, a woman can enjoy the scenery without putting her heart in jeopardy—or can she?

Tyler Noble is just being a good neighbor when he persuades Laurel Kent to let him rebuild the wall between their properties. He has the necessary skills, it’s the best way to keep his dog in his yard, and it’s no big deal. But soon he spending way too much time with Laurel, thinking about her far too often, and settling into a relationship he’s just not ready for. Tyler is not ready to make a commitment to someone else until he figures out who he is. And with his history of an unknown father, a mother who surrendered her parental rights when Tyler was ten, and an adopted family who loved him but never managed to convince Tyler he really belonged, he still has a lot of baggage to work through. But if he isn’t careful, he may lose his best chance for the life he really wants.

Karen Templeton has done it again. She has given readers a story high in believability with characters who have a high likeability quotient and layers of internal conflict, a story that quietly seduces the reader into a full engagement with these characters that lasts until the last obstacle to the HEA is removed and a blissful conclusion leaves her happily sighing. I loved the interaction between Laurel and Tyler, and I loved all the family dynamic. From the new born to the retirement home resident, I found the characters interesting and endearing.

Templeton’s stories are not filled with high adventure, kickass protagonists, or smoking hot love scenes. But if you like your contemporary romance filled with characters you care about involved in situations in which your friends and neighbors might find themselves, nobody crafts this kind of story better than Karen Templeton. I’ve been a fan for years, and More Than She Expected is just another reminder of why I never miss a Templeton book. This is the second in her Jersey Boys series, and I recommend both books.

Some romance readers can be real snobs about category romance, but that attitude prevents them from discovering some of the consistently best writers in the genre. Do you read category romance? Who are your favorite category authors?

Tuesday Review: Island Promises

Island Promises

By RaeAnne Thayne, Marie Ferrarella, and Leanne Banks

Publisher: Harlequin

Release Date: 

January 7, 2014

If you are shivering through these record-breaking January temperatures, as many of us are, this anthology may be just the book to provide a pleasant escape as you join the wedding party and guests in Kauai, Hawaii, for the destination wedding of Nick McNeil and Cara Russell.

“Hawaiian Holiday” by RaeAnne Thayne 

Megan McNeil is accompanying her seven-year-old twin daughters, Sarah and Grace, to Kauai so that the girls can be flower girls in their father’s wedding. Megan and Nick amicably ended their brief marriage five years ago, and they have remained friendly, both dedicated to parenting the twins. Even so, Megan would have skipped the wedding if Grace’s medical needs had not required that Megan travel with her daughter, who has moderate cerebral palsy. She knows the nine-hour flight from Chicago to Hawaii will be exhausting for her and the twins, but she doesn’t expect to share the journey with Shane Russell. Who knew the sexy cop that she flirted with several months ago when a bullet wound sent him to the ER where she works as a nurse would turn out to be the brother of the bride? 

Shane has not forgotten Megan or the sting of rejection when the phone number she gave him turned out to be fake. The initial spark between them is even stronger now, and he appreciates her honesty about why she gave him the fake number. He is also captivated by the charms of the twins. But Megan thinks her responsibility to her daughters doesn’t leave room in her life for a romantic relationship, and Shane, with his parents and their serial spouses, swore long ago never to date women with children because he didn’t want other children hurt as he and Cara were. Are the romantic setting and the bliss of Nick and Cara enough to persuade these two to believe in a love that lasts a lifetime, not just for a holiday?

I loved the warmth and sweetness of this story. It was refreshing to see exes who sincerely wished each other the best and worked together for their children’s best interests. Sarah and Grace came across as real and appealing, and I especially liked seeing a special-needs child whose health issue did not define her as a person. Thayne is an author whose work I find consistently engaging, and I thought this novella was the best in the anthology.

“Hawaiian Reunion” by Marie Ferrarella

Devlin Marshall, Nick’s best man, does not want to spoil his friend and fellow firefighter’s wedding with the news that Devlin’s own marriage is ending, so he strikes a deal with his estranged wife: if she will attend the wedding with him and play the role of the happily-married Mrs. Marshall everyone thinks she is, then Devlin will sign the divorce papers.

Amy Marshall is eager for her divorce to be final before Devlin discovers a secret she is determined to keep from him as long as possible. Cara and Nick’s happiness reminds her of how deeply she and Devlin were in love once, and sharing intimate space with Devlin again reminds her that she finds him as sexy as ever. But she stubbornly refuses to accept Devlin’s assurance that she is the only woman he has ever wanted and that he has always been faithful to her.

Marie Ferrarella has written some terrific stories over the past three decades, but I regret to say this is not one of them. Devlin is a dream hero—handsome, tender, and faithful with a sense of humor. But I actively disliked Amy. I thought her jealousy was irrational and obsessive, and I thought the reunion came too quickly. The jealousy issue was resolved too simplistically to be credible, and I didn’t believe in this HEA. Frankly, I thought Devlin deserved better.

“Hawaiian Retreat” by Leanne Banks

Gabi Foster is the half-sister of the groom. She and Nick have always been close, and she knows she can’t miss his wedding. But she is not enthusiastic about attending. First, it is an awkward time for her to be away from work where she thinks she is on track to finally win a promotion and the approval of the CEO, who also happens to be her father. She also has reservations about Cara and her ability to measure up to Megan. Finally, she is not at all looking forward to meeting her ex, a friend of Nick’s and a fellow fighter, or the ex’s pregnant wife. To make things worse, the friend who agreed to be her date for all the wedding festivities can’t get out of Chicago because of the weather. Things start to look more promising when she meets a surfing instructor who volunteers to be her date.

Finn Beckett left a successful Wall Street career to move to Hawaii when he became the guardian of his orphaned nephew Kai. He though Kai needed the security of a familiar place and his mother’s extended family, and so Finn exchanged his suit and laptop for shorts and a surfboard. Finn knows workaholic Gabi is headed back to Chicago, and he tries to protect his own heart and Kai, who bonds with Gabi right away—to no avail. Finn and Kai both fall fathoms deep for Gabi, who finds they are both occupying her thoughts to the exclusion of things that have been all-important to her. But neither Finn nor Gabi is expecting her to start questioning whether she really wants to leave Paradise after all.

I really liked these characters. Gabi is an endearing mix of confidence and vulnerability, and Finn’s big heart and high degree of self-knowledge coupled with his good looks make him a hero who appeals on many levels. Kai is a heart-stealer. This is also the most sensual of the three stories. My only complaint about this story is that it just moves too quickly. I wanted to see more of how the relationship between Finn and Gabi developed. I wanted this one to be a novel.

Overall, I liked the way the wedding theme connected these three novellas. With one excellent story and one good one, I recommend Island Promise as a quick, easy read with some characters contemporary romance readers will delight to see achieve their HEA.  

Destination weddings have become increasingly popular in romance fiction over the past several years. If you were writing a destination wedding story, where would you send the wedding party and guests?

Saturday Review: Two Heartwarming Holiday Tales from Harlequin

A Cold Creek Christmas Surprise

By RaeAnne Thayne

Publisher: 

Harlequin (Special Edition)

Release Date: 

November 19, 2013

The day after his only sister’s wedding to veterinarian Ben Caldwell, Ridge, the eldest Bowman sibling, is left with the detritus of the wedding and the empty space, literal and figurative, in his life now that Caidy will be living with her new husband and his two children. Ridge knows that he and his eleven-year-old daughter, Destry, will adjust. Perhaps he has depended on Caidy too much all these years since he was left alone with a baby to rear and Caidy stepped in to help. Eating wedding reception leftovers for breakfast certainly makes him realize how much he will miss the pancakes, bacon, and hash browns that Caidy cooked in the mornings. But he has too much work to do to get caught up in reflection. If only the clean-up crew he hired would show up to do their job, he could get started on his job. When the crew of one does arrive, however, the sight of her sparks an attraction that sends Ridge running scared.

First-grade teacher Sarah Whitmore is not happy about her journey to the Bowman ranch, but she has something that belongs to the Bowman family, one of their mother’s paintings, a particularly treasured one It’s not Sarah’s fault that Ridge Bowman jumps to the conclusion that she is employed by the cleaning company Caidy has hired, and he doesn’t really give Sarah an opportunity to explain before he disappears. Still, she didn’t have to start cleaning. If she hadn’t, she would not have tripped on the stairs and ended up with a concussion and a broken arm. Then Ridge would not have insisted that she recuperate at the ranch, and Sarah would never have fallen in love with Ridge, with his daughter, and with ranch life and the whole Bowman family and the Pine Gulch community. Ridge and his world offer everything Sarah has ever wanted, but the secret she is keeping means that she can never really belong in this world. Perhaps she can have Christmas, but only if she hides the truth a little longer.

A Cold Creek Christmas Surprise is book 12 in RaeAnne Thayne’s Cowboys of Cold Creek series that was introduced in April 2006. It also marks the conclusion of the four Bowman siblings’ stories (following Christmas in Cold Creek, A Cold Creek Reunion, and A Cold Creek Noel) and provides the resolution to the mystery of their parents’ murder. Fans of the series will be happy to see Ridge finally get his HEA—even if it does come with complications. For those new to the series, Thayne provides ample details to follow Sarah and Ridge’s story. And these two wounded, great-hearted people deserve happiness. It’s easy to root for them to overcome the one barrier that could keep them apart. This shorter tale lacks the substance of Thayne’s single titles, but it is a sweet, cozy Christmas read nonetheless.

Sugarplum Homecoming

By Linda Goodnight

Publisher: 

Harlequin (Love Inspired)

Release Date: 

November 19, 2013

Paige Turner, almost ten, and her eight-year-old brother Nathan know the legend of their hometown Whisper Falls, Arkansas: prayers whispered behind the falls are always answered. They have a really important request of God, so when their widower dad falls asleep on a family picnic, they take the challenging climb to the special spot and ask God to send them a new mom, one with brown hair like their first mom, and preferably by Christmas.

Lana Ross left Whisper Falls, back when the town was still Millersville and before the legend brought a name change and crowds of tourists. An eighteen-year-old party girl the small town expected to come to a bad end, she had dreams of hitting it big as a country singer and headed for Nashville as soon as she could legally leave home. Thirteen years later, she has returned to the house where she and her twin sister Tess grew up, a house haunted by memories darker than the haunted house tales the local kids tell to frighten themselves. The house her mother left to Lana and Tess is one of the reasons Lana has returned. Owning the house gives her a head start on giving nine-year-old Sydney the stable life she needs and deserves.

But memories are long in small towns. Lana knows that God has forgiven her mistakes, but she also knows human creatures are not so merciful. Some people don’t believe in second chances, and Lana has secrets to protect. Davis Turner proves himself a good neighbor, but Lana’s fears, Davis’s pride, and the relentless prejudices of some Whisper Falls residents threaten the new relationship that is developing between the two. Lana and Davis both must discover that God is bigger than all their fears and flaws before they can claim the happiness waiting for them

This is a tender story, the third in Goodnight’s Whisper Fall series, all of which center on the theme of a new life after an old one filled with bad choices. It is a Love Inspired book, so the Christian faith of the characters is central to their experience and to the story. But the story of a woman who turns her life around and the “Mr. Upright and Righteous” who discovers how far short he falls of his own standards is one that will touch hearts of readers regardless of whether they share that faith. The three kids are endearing without being unbearably cute and precocious, and the town is a believable mix of good people, small-minded people, and people who are a contradictory mix of the admirable and the deplorable.

I think have two more holiday reviews to write for this year. What is your favorite Christmas book of 2013?

Tuesday Review: Adventures in Parenthood

Adventures in Parenthood

By Dawn Atkins

Publisher: Harlequin 

(Superromance)

Release Date: 

November 1, 2013

Dixon Carter has depended on his older brother Howard as a constant, unchanging presence in his life. Even his place of employment, Bootstrap Academy, is the dream of Howard, who worked as a social worker for seventeen years before he and his schoolteacher wife, Brianna, started the job-training and placement agency to help workers in Phoenix displaced in a faltering economy. Dixon is left in charge of his twin nieces when Howard and Brianna take a rare vacation to celebrate their fifth wedding anniversary, the first time they have ever left their four-year-old daughters. Dixon is blindsided by the news that Howard and Brianna have been killed in an automobile accident as they were returning to Phoenix. Devastated by his own grief, he is also overwhelmed with the realization that he has suddenly become responsible for his nieces.

Aubrey Hanson can hardly contain her excitement about a potential sponsor that will allow her to continue her blog—Extreme Adventure Girl: Ordinary Girl on an Extraordinary Journey. Having just returned from reindeer racing in Norway, she resents every mile between L.A. and Phoenix that delays her sharing the news with her twin Brianna, the person who has shared all the important moments of her life. Aubrey’s good news would add another celebratory note to the celebration of Briana and Howard’s anniversary. Nothing could have prepared Aubrey for the news that awaits her when she arrives in Phoenix. Brianna and Howard are dead, and Ginger and Sienna are orphans. Instead of attending an anniversary party, Aubrey must help plan a funeral.

Both Dixon and Aubrey have lost the person dearest to them, and both are eager to assume the care of their young nieces.  But neither of them has any real understanding of all that parenting two little girls whose lives and hearts have been delivered a knockout blow. Despite Aubrey’s good intentions, she reluctantly admits that the lifestyle of constant travel and risk-taking imposed by her adventurous life makes her a poor candidate to be the girls’ primary guardian. Dixon, in contrast, is based in Phoenix, the girls’ home, with a stable routine. Moreover, he has been a regular part of their young lives, and their emotional attachment to him is strong. Clearly, it is in the best interest of the children that they remain in his care.

The two agree that Dixon will serve as guardian, but Aubrey will be involved in the girls’ life as much as possible. However, it’s not as simple as it sounds. First, the situation is complicated by Dixon and Aubrey’s history. They came within a heartbeat of having a fling at Howard and Brianna’s wedding, but Dixon’s native caution prevailed at the last minute. The chemistry between them remains potent, but given the differences in their lifestyles and personalities, avoiding temptation seems their wisest choice. And if their feelings don’t complicate matters enough, the disagreements over what risk-taker Audrey and risk-avoider Dixon think are best for Ginger and Sienna are vast. Are they too great to overcome when the happiness of four people is at stake?

Atkins provides a realistic view of grief and the difficulties of rebuilding lives after traumatic loss. Both Dixon and Aubrey are complex characters with personal histories that make it easy to understand why they have become the particular people they are. I also appreciated that after their almost-fling, they both went on with their lives. Both have been seriously involved with other people in the interim, and the fallout from those failed relationships adds to their wariness with one another. Ginger and Sienna are credibly portrayed in their reactions to their parents’ deaths and to the changes in their lives. Not only does Atkins avoid making them cardboard kids, but she also avoids making the twins carbon copies of each other. All of these characters change during the course of the story. Atkins does an admirable job of showing the difficulties of getting on with life after great loss while giving readers a solid romance at the same time. If you think category romance can’t be satisfying and substantive, you should give Adventures in Parenthood a try.

As an aunt and great-aunt whose nephews and nieces are important in my life, I like stories that show aunts and uncles playing significant parts. Most readers remember Auntie Mame, of course, but aside from her, who is your favorite fictional aunt or uncle.

Tuesday Review: Not Another Wedding

Not Another Wedding

By Jennifer McKenzie

Publisher: Harlequin (Superromance)

Release Date: October 1, 2013

Poppy Sullivan made a rare choice to leave her partner in charge of an event their Vancouver events planning company was responsible for in order to head to her hometown, Naramata, BC, ostensibly to attend the wedding of one of oldest friends. In reality, Poppy hopes to stop the wedding. She’s no anti-Cupid. Even though her own love life is nonexistent at the moment, her parents were high school sweethearts who settled into a happy marriage in the town where they grew up, a pattern her sister and brother-in-law repeated. But Jamie Cartwright has known his bride only two months, and Poppy doesn’t believe a relationship of such short duration is a sound base for a happy marriage. She hopes that if she can just talk to Jamie alone, she can persuade him to stop and think before he jumps into matrimony.

Beck Lefebvre allowed himself to be guilted into serving as his cousin Jamie’s best man, but he’s not happy about it. Not only does he find it difficult to take time away from the family business just as negotiations for the company’s sixth hotel are ongoing, but Beck is skeptical about love, marriage, and happily-ever-afters. His attitude is hardly surprising given the example of his much-married parents, who, to Beck’s dismay, seem to be headed toward their third attempt at being married to each other. Making matters more complicated is his mother’s plan to match him with the younger sister of the bride. The only bright spot in Beck’s situation is his auburn-haired high school girlfriend whom he hasn’t seen in a dozen years.

Poppy can’t believe Beck is flirting with her. She wants nothing to do with this man, a prime example of the one who never called. He apologizes nicely, but a mere apology is not enough to make her forgive the man who disappeared without a word the day after he became her first lover—not even if he is even hotter now than he was then. But when Poppy finds it impossible to catch Jamie alone for a serious conversation, Beck proposes a deal she can’t turn down: he will see that she gets time with Jamie if Poppy will be Beck’s date for the wedding events and save him from his mother’s matchmaking. Soon Beck and Poppy are falling heart over head. Sometimes life offers a second chance at love when you least expect it.

Not Another Wedding combines humor, family dynamics, and some sizzling chemistry into this story about a hero and heroine who are not looking for love when it finds them. I have a soft spot for reunion stories, and this one was a bit different. Poppy and Beck are credible as young, contemporary professionals. Their families provide context and contrast as well with Poppy’s happily married parents with stable lives rooted in Naramata, and Beck’s parents with their varied, troubles past. All of these details make the story more interesting.

I did find Poppy’s determination to interfere in her friend Jamie’s life difficult to understand. But perhaps this is a generational difference since it is a plot point I have observed in a number of contemporary romances over the past year or two. Nevertheless, if you are looking for a quick, fun, easy read, this one is worth checking out.

Would you try to stop a friend’s wedding if you thought the friend was making a mistake?

Note: I responded to Jane’s comment yesterday with an acknowledgement that I remember reading a Superromance with a Canadian setting. Not Another Wedding is actually the second of Jennifer McKenzie books I’ve read, both set in Canada.  That Weekend (January 2013) is the other.