Review: Really fun read!
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 03 23, 2014
Lovers with a past--one of my favorite troupes--is given an "and competitors since birth" (practically) twist in Her Summer with the Marine. I loved the fact that Ellie and Finn had been competing for--well, just about everything, really--for most of their childhood, and that it continued into the present when Ellie moves back to her hometown to take care of the family business for her ailing father. Their one-upmanship led to some really funny moments.The past keeps coming back to get Ellie and Finn in this book, over and over. Ellie resented the townspeople whose gossiping made her growing up years so difficult, but now she needs to play nice to gain their trust and business to get her father the help he needs. Finn's family hid an awful truth for years, and now he needs to use his (hopefully) successful business to finally make things right for his mother. Both Ellie and Finn shared a moment at the end of high school--a moment that didn't exactly end well, though neither one of them completely understood, then or now, everything that had been going on with the other at the time--and every time they're together now it gets harder and harder to ignore the chemistry that still exists between them....They decide that a no-strings relationship, completely apart from their business competition, is the way to go. They'll just have a summer fling, and when one of them drives the other one out of business (because, let's face it...a small town really only needs the services of one funeral director. At least until that zombie apocalypse arrives) they'll go their separate ways.Yeah. Apparently it's only obvious to the readers how that plan's going to work out.I loved the characters Susan Meier has written here--not just Ellie and Finn, but their family, friends, co-workers, and the townspeople--they all seem so three-dimensional, and make the story really fun to read. (Plus, Finn's got hot brothers who are also in town to try and help their mother--total sequel bait!) The dialogue is snappy, the chemistry is steamy (and the door is open here, taking the book a few steps beyond the usual Bliss title, which was also fun), and their competition was inspired.Plus, there's an absolutely fantastic I-need-to-suck-up-because-I'm-an-idiot / proposal scene. Just loved it--talk about inspired...I'll definitely be picking up more from Susan Meier in the future--this series, and beyond. This feel-good small-town contemporary romance was a great way to spend a happy weekend reading.(The only thing that bothered me about this book was the title--Finn's been retired from the Marines for some time before the novel even begins, so it seems a bit misleading. Though I suppose Her Summer with the Funeral Director just doesn't have the same feeling to it, does it? ;) )Rating: 4 stars / A-I received a complimentary copy in exchange for an honest review.