Review: What can I say, I loved this book!
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 06 30, 2013
I am so happy I found this book! I'm thrilled to say that in A Basic Renovation, not only are both leads in their 40's, but the book itself is fun, sassy, sexy, smart and emotionally intense. The pace is sharp (no saggy sections), and the author's voice is clear and strong and reminds me of two of my current favorite contemporary romance authors, Ruthie Knox and Julie James. I picked the book up with few expectations, so it was doubly sweet to discover such a great read, completely out of the blue.The story follows Lesley, an independent 40-something woman, who flips houses for a living in Chicago, but who decides to buy a fire damaged house in her home town of Los Alamos, NM so that she can spend a summer visiting with her parents and her 92 YO grandfather, and also make a nice profit while she's at it. Lesley was previously married to Terry, also from Los Alamos, and the marriage ended acrimoniously. Unbeknowst to her, Terry (a total ass) told his family quite a few lies about her, and as a result, his entire family blames her for his downward slide. When she returns to Los Alamos, one of the first people she runs into is Terry's older brother Dominic, who owns the local hardware store. Insults and sparks fly in equal measure as Lesley and Dominic find themselves unwillingly attracted to each other. There are lots of very funny scenes, as well as lots of emotion between Lesley and her family, and Dominic and his 16 YO son. There's also a subplot involving Lesley's Sicilian grandfather who has been widowed for 30 years, and unexpectedly finds himself falling for an 80-something Irish widow whom he meets in church. It's also nice that the book is actually a bit longer than the usual romance, so there is more time for the plot and the relationships to develop. I'm not sure what the page count would be but there were 6,300 locations on my Kindle (the average romance is 4,000 - 5,000). There are so many things I loved about this book, and I strongly recommend it.