Review: Great dialogue, quirky older H/h romance that needs some reno on the structure of the story
Rating: 3 out of 5
Date: 02 7, 2014
**ARC provided by Escape Publishing - Harlequin Enterprises, Australia Pty Ltd from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review**The PremiseLesley returns to her old hometown, where her family still resides, to flip a house and along the way, she runs into Dominic, her former brother-in-law, who runs a hardware store.  Lesley has a long, twisted and uncomfortable history with the Brennan family and would be more than happy to never see another one of them again.  The feeling’s mutual with Dominic, who believes that Lesley ruined his little brother’s life.  Now that she’s back in town, Dominic’s afraid she’ll drag up the past, the secrets, and the pain. They clash immediately, but mix in a teenage boy, a puppy, some white paint, and some loud music, and what starts as cold fury transforms into a nuclear attraction. This basic renovation becomes a major life refurbishment for them both.The GoodI loved the fantastic dialogue - some really funny, witty stuff.  I especially love Lesley’s wit and the banter between Lesley and everyone around her.  This is an older romance, where the H/h are in their 40s, so this isn’t about the first bloom of love, but two people who have been around the block.  It was a nice change of pace from all the NA books that are out now.  When the focus was on Lesley and Dominic, I definitely enjoyed their chemistry.  Seeing Dominic's relationship with his son was lovely, and slowly learning what happened years ago between Lesley, Dominic, his brother and Dominic's ex was telegraphed early but still well done.The BadWhen the focus wasn’t on Lesley and Dominic, I felt the story was a bit disjointed. The start is rough, and it took me a little bit of time to get into the swing of the story.  The times when the focus veered too much onto Lesley’s grandpa’s love life (which BTW, I enjoy older romance but I don’t need to know about nonagenarian sex, ever), failed to keep my attention, and I wanted to skim through those parts.  I stuck it out, but I think the romance between Lesley and Dominic should have been the focal point, and it rambled on about the renovation more than I would have liked.  I also had a problem with Dominic’s instinct to always blame Lesley - I hated it but I understood it, even if I wanted to punch him sometimes.The Bottom LineLoved the mature H/h romance when the book was focused on it, not so much when it wasn’t.  I would be willing to read more from this author though - I liked her “voice.”