Review: So glad Willa has her own story
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 04 26, 2014
As a reader of Tessa’s Line of Duty series, I was happy to see Willa getting her own story in a spin-off capacity.After winning a photography contest, Willa travels to Ireland as part of the prize package. The timing of the trip couldn’t be more perfect, as she is still trying to get over the hurt of her breakup with her boyfriend, Evan, and to find herself as an individual again. When she meets the owner of the inn she will staying at for the next month, she begins to feel things she has never felt before. But the owner, Shane, is more than Willa expects and as she gets to know him more, she finds herself drawn to him.Even though we’ve met Willa before, and think we know her, there is so much more to learn in her own words. She was full of surprises throughout this book. She feels like she lost herself during the two years she dated Evan, and searching for the girl she was is proving more difficult than she imagined. I enjoyed watching her rediscover things she liked, and new things that the old Willa would have never tried.The addition of Shane was perfect. I loved him from nearly the moment we met him, and I couldn’t wait to see what else was in store for these two. He was the perfect person to challenge Willa during her time in Ireland.I loved that this book took place almost entirely in Ireland. The drastic geographic change separated adult Willa from the teenage Willa we have met before. It also forced Willa to face things on her own without running to Ginger and Derek at every turn. The other great part of the location was that even though much of the story takes place in and around Claymore Inn, it is not located in traditional touristy parts of Dublin, and shows a variety of locations in the city.We don’t see a whole lot of Ginger and Derek in this book, but there are in the perifory enough that we remember Willa has a great support system in them. The new characters added in Ireland were a great mix of funny and touching. I loved Faith Claymore’s bubbly personality and penchant for letting loose when she could get away from her brother’s watchful eye. Kitty Claymore added a touch of sentiment with her head-in-the-clouds bordering on dementia. Brian and Patrick, locals that Willa meets on day while taking photographs, add great humor to the scenes they take part in.This was the perfect little break. Each time I put the book down, it was with a smile on my face, and that same smile picked up when I sat back down to read. It read as more of a new adult book than Tessa’s other books I’ve read, but it was a fun change and it worked for these characters.Thanks to Tessa Bailey and Entangled Publishing for providing me with a complimentary copy in exchange for an honest review.