The Particulars: Contemporary romance, 2016, Harlequin Heartwarming #134, out of print, available in digital, Book #2 in Return to Willow Beach series
Why Was It In Wendy's TBR?: I had a print copy and it was autographed which means I picked this up at an RWA conference.
The Review: This is going to be a damning with faint praise review. To be perfectly blunt, it was exactly the right book to read in this moment of my life, with the world on fire and any semblance of work/life balance I normally have getting chucked out a 15th floor window. It bares little resemblance to reality, which was just what I needed even if the story and writing itself are flawed.
Luci Monroe has just graduated college and landed her dream job back in her hometown of Willow Beach (somewhere vaguely Pacific Northwest) doing PR for the Chamber of Commerce. Tourist-y magazines, brochures, promoting the local businesses - that sort of thing. She's super close to her family so returning to her hometown has always been in the cards. Not in the cards? Cody Jarvis - the man she's had a crush on since high school. The man who is now a world-class photographer, travels the world, who doesn't want to settle down in his quiet hometown. Turns out he's in-between gigs and has agreed to take a temporary summer job at the Chamber of Commerce as their go-to photographer. Oh, and Luci is going to be his boss. Worse yet, her crush is still there, Cody is still as handsome as ever, and still doesn't know she exists other than they're "good friends."
That's basically it. Luci has an unrequited crush. Cody actually likes her more than as "just a friend" but he's such a GUY it takes him the whole book to realize it. There's a whole bunch of small town shenanigans - including eleventy billion characters (really, in book 2?!), Luci navigating her new job/boss, getting saddled with a teenage intern, her family ties fraying at the seams, a wedding, a 4th of July celebration, a sandcastle building contest etc. etc.
The romance itself is very slow and leisurely, but lacks spark. It's a low-heat novel, which is fine - but even low-heat novels need something, and this romance is lukewarm to tepid. (Note: you can still write passion even if you don't have a sex scene and there's nothing like that to speak of here). The first kiss scene is pretty decent and there's some nice dancing scenes but other than that? Meh. I've read worse, I've read better.
But I kept flipping the pages and once I started reading I didn't come up for air. Even though this book lacks all semblance of reality. It felt like Mayberry. Like the small town that everybody thinks exists but rarely does in real life. The clincher for me was a moment in the story when the heroine buys three newspapers (two local-ish, one out of Seattle) to, ready for this?, CHECK THE HELP WANTED ADS! In a book published in 2016. In a local small town rag? Sure, maybe (even that strains at the seams of credibility) but SEATTLE?!?!?!?!
So if you want some semblance of reality? Yeah, not this book. If you want an escapist, Hallmark Movie-style setting completely devoid of reality however (and hello, see current events) this is a decent small town romance if you go for that sort of thing. I found it pleasant, but otherwise meh.
Final Grade = C
