Review: Great debut novel
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 04 20, 2013
I received a copy of this book from the author in exchange for an honest review.Having said that, I'm not someone who feels obligated to give a favourable review just because I got a free book. I really loved this story...and it made me cry! Rule #1 for me: if I have to pull out the tissues, you've made me connect with your characters, and that's enough for 5 stars.Zoe is living on a remote island, running a successful honeymoon resort. She's living the dream...but she's also living a lie. Zoe is estranged from her husband Rory, who she left in L.A. a year ago. Unable to deal with his obsession with his company and desire for success above all else, she escaped without a word. As she runs a honeymoon resort, she doesn't want it known that her own marriage is a failure and so she maintains the pretense of being married. When a magazine wants to feature her resort and her perfect life, she is forced to call Rory and ask him to come to the island and pretend with her. Rory is drawn by the promise of positive publicity to overcome his "ice man" image and accepts her invitation. So begins this story of second chances. I won't give away any more...but do recommend you read the rest for yourself!I thought the author did a great job of getting us inside the characters' heads, and especially Rory's. So often in romance we are given the female view and left to guess at what the man is feeling, but Rory's thoughts and feelings are well explored here. I think I would have appreciated some more background on the two of them. We are given snippets of their past, but I think more would have helped to explain their motivations. Ms. Manning also does a great job with the intimate scenes - they are tasteful, not overdone but still oh-so-steamy. I loved the scrabble game! I loved the writing style here, and thought everything really flowed well.Ok, on to the plot. I thought it was fairly predictable as far as the villain goes - there really wasn't any other crisis to be had and no other "bad guys" to be found on this idyllic island. I'm OK with that -I don't necessarily read romances for the plot twists. Where I thought the plot faltered, however, was in the first 100 pages or so. Zoe and Rory dance around each other in a seemingly endless circle that just doesn't seem to go far. They seemed to take one step ahead and then two back. This is not to say I didn't enjoy the dance...I absolutely did enjoy their struggles as they fought their feelings for each other. I just thought it was a rather roundabout route. Once the plot took off, however, I couldn't put the book down. While I knew the HEA was coming, I appreciated the way the author brought it about in dramatic fashion.All in all, I thought this was a really lovely first novel by a promising author. I'll definitely look to read more from her in the future!