Review: A beautiful, everyday romance!
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 02 14, 2014
ARC received by the author in exchange for an honest reviewHow many times have you wondered if a chance meeting while you were doing something normal like grocery shopping could change your life in a tremendous way forever? Well, if you are a romantic like me, you have probably wished for it to happen on more than one occasion.Olivia (Liv) is living a quiet life - too quiet. She works hard at a factory, has her own house, and even though she has some great work friends, she feels lonely. She has resigned herself to the fact that she will never find The One or get her happily-ever-after. It does not exactly help that her younger sister, Ally, lives with her and that she has a history of completely disregarding Liv's feelings.But things change for the better one late evening when Liv meets Joel while shopping. After having eyed each other in the store, Joel asks for Liv's phone number - AND invites her out on a date the next night! Stunned, Liv says yes even though she cannot quite fathom what Joel could possibly see in her.The date goes remarkably well and Liv really feels that Joel could become someone very special to her in time. Not only is he a very attractive man, but he is sweet, attentive and enjoys doing a lot of the same things that she does.What follows is a very sweet, romantic love story between two people who both are afraid to love, but for different reasons: Liv has been hurt many times in the past and she has very low self-esteem because of these experiences - not to mention the fact that she has major trust issues as well; and Joel because of secrets he does not want to divulge. And do not expect me to reveal them here, either! *wink* That would really ruin the book for you, and I would hate for that to happen. But this book is more than a romance novel: it is about taking chances even when you are afraid, and to not being judgmental of others - especially not when you do not have all the facts."The intensity of what I was already feeling for Joel surprised me, thrilled me, and scared the hell out of me, all at the same time. How can I be feeling such intense feelings for someone I've only just met?" (Liv)My romantic heart loves the idea of two strangers meeting just the way Liv and Joel do in this book, and I honestly believe that it can happen. Liv is, for the most part a very likeable character: honest, sweet, yet shy and very vulnerable. I will say, however, that I could also find her to be a bit...well, annoying, really, at times. I can completely understand her reasons for wanting full disclosure between her and Joel - we all want that in a relationship - but there is just something about her reactions in certain situations that felt a bit over-the-top to me. I cannot really understand how she can live with her sister, either, given the way she treats her. Overall, though, I had absolutely no problems with connecting with her throughout the story, and I really loved seeing her grow more confident in certain aspects as her relationship with Joel grows."This man holds my hand just as tightly as he holds my heart...I hope he doesn't ever let go." (Liv)And Joel? Oh my...Really, I hardly know where to begin with him! Honestly, he is now on my VERY long list of favorite book boyfriends! His insecurity and shyness in the beginning of the story are very sweet - and very refreshing, actually! Do not misunderstand me, I love my very alpha book boyfriends - the ones who take charge immediately, practically ordering their women to get in line right away - but I also know that REAL men are not always like them. This means that I found Joel to be a truly believable character. You can sense from the beginning that his secrets are weighing on him, but you cannot help but crossing your fingers, hoping that all will turn out the way it is supposed to in the end. Oh, and he DOES show some very alpha traits once the story gets going - he is definitely a man who likes to have the upper hand in certain situations. And what woman does not want that?"Stop wriggling...Let me tease you." (Joel)While I was reading, I found myself with a goofy smile plastered on my face so many times! Trust me, you will definitely get to experience a wide range of emotions when you read this book: happiness, anger, sadness...Well, all emotions you really WANT to go through while reading a romance novel."I won't give up on us. I know we haven't been together long but the truth is I feel like I've known you practically my whole life. I wasn't really living before I met you and I don't want to go back to that." (Joel)I really like the writing style of this author. It flows really well, there is no stilted, unbelievable dialogue between the characters, and there is a certain dry humor in the right places which I find that I like immensely. Miss Keith is also giving us a quirky, fun and believable set of secondary characters - I LOVE Raelene and want her to be my new best friend - who never take the focus away from Liv and Joel's story. So yes, there is a great balance as well.To sum up: if you are looking for a sweet, everyday romance, sprinkled with a bit of angst and with some fun on top, I highly recommend "How To Liv". It will make you laugh, swoon and cry a bit, like all romance novels should, and the only reason I am not giving this book 5 stars is because of the few problems I had with Liv sometimes. I would also have liked to get inside Joel's head for a bit - I feel the story would have benefited from that - but all in all, I thoroughly enjoyed myself while reading the book, and I cannot wait to read more from the author in the future.