Review: Hope you enjoy. Due South
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 07 10, 2014
I was given this book to review. Hope you enjoy.Due South.As a southern gal, this phrase is quite common. Due south doesn't have a specific direction in mind, it's anywhere south of where you are now. And of course, anything that is due south is better. I mean, come on, due south of Tennessee is New Orleans and Gulf Shores and Panama City and the Florida Keys.So when I was asked to review the series, Due South, by Tracey Alvarez, those thoughts naturally popped into my mind. Boy was I wrong. I mean I was way off course.Due South, the series, is set on Stewart Island, New Zeland. Wow, thousands of miles from where I am. And, Due South is also the name of the pub owned and run by Ryan Westlake, one of our main characters in book 1.After the initial shock, I was pleasantly surprised. I love to travel. And more often than not, I get to visit some of the world's most beautiful and interesting places through books.Again, Due South, is a series set on Stewart Island, and is the name of the pub on said island. But the connotation is so much more. It is a place that feels like the end of the earth, a quiet, peaceful place where one can live and work and fall in love, or lurv as the Harland sisters insist.Due South Book 2, Melting Into You, is Ben and Kezia Muphy's story. This story begins with Ben dreaming of Kezia. Now Ben, one of the island's most eligible bachelors, and one that insists bachelorhood is going to be his permanent status, gets his world rocked by three women; his daughter, oh, surprise, surprise, Jade; Kezia, the sexy Italian schoolteacher that helps him with his new status as a father; and Zoe, Kezia's outspoken, headstrong, loving daughter.My first reaction to the plot of Ben's one night stand showing up on his doorstep with a girl that is unmistakably his daughter, was come on! I like my romances a certain way, but once I got over my initial reaction, I can honestly say, it was wrong.We met Kezia, as well as Ford and Kip in Due South book 1. And Kezia's fiesty, yet protective attitude of her daughter, Zoe wouldn't have allowed her and Ben to get together any other way.Kezia is a widow with an 8 year old daughter who's fought and won the battle of Leukemia, so far. And when Jade's mother dumps her on Ben, what ensues is a heartwarming tug of war with Kezia doing everything in her power to get Ben to loosen up his grumpy, one-way attitude.Ben goes through epic failure and triumph at becoming a single father, all with Kezia, Jade, and Zoe's help. Jade finds a place where she's wanted and Zoe gets a sister long before Ben and Kezia make it official.So you're thinking there's no romance in this story. But its woven within the strands of Ben becoming a father, and Kezia helping him. The off the charts attraction is there even as we see Ben placing flour covered hands on Kezia's face from the cupcakes he's made. That's after burning two prior batches.