Review: Ahh ... closure!
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 02 17, 2014
**WARNING--CONTAINS SPOILERS IF YOU HAVEN'T READ 'PLAYING FOR LOVE'**I needed this sequel to Tia Kelly's book Playing for Love. The protagonists in The Engagement Season, Paige and Kenneth are engaged and planning a wedding. Or at least they should be. But life intervenes in the form of a health issue for Paige and Kenneth's persistent concerns about his career and Paige's relationship with their mutual best friend Carlos. Add to that Paige's continuing insecurity about why a 'good guy' like Kenneth would even want her, and wedding planning very quickly takes second fiddle to working out their interpersonal issues.In her past, when men wanted Paige, it was often for reasons that had more to do with what she represented, than who she was. Two previous ill-considered marriages later, and a scandal-ridden past have her convinced that emotional intimacy is risky, particularly when, this time, her heart is very much on the line.I loved that this author revisited and put to rest some of the doubts about how suited Kenneth and Paige were for each other at the end of Playing for Love, and also gave us more scenes showing the couple in love, not just in conflict. I also appreciated that Paige and Carlos' relationship was explained a little more, so that I no longer worried that Carlos may in fact have been the right choice for Paige. The chemistry between them in this novella was much more muted, giving way for me to fall in love with Kenneth and Paige as a couple.And as always with Tia Kelly, I like that the drama is largely emotional and interpersonal, rather than external. It's about people figuring out who they are and whether (and how) to be together, rather than some contrived intrigue. Much of this novella occurs inside Paige and Kenneth's heads, exploring their thoughts and feelings, and for some that may not be appealing but for me it was perfect, because it filled in some of the emotional blanks from the previous book.For me this was a four rather than five-star read mostly because of the end, where it felt as though the reader was denied some of the detail about HOW Paige worked through her issues. It felt like we were simply told that she had. Kenneth on the other hand was pitch-perfect for me. I understood him better after this book, and liked him way more than I had after the first.I recommend this for those who have read 'Playing for Love', and for those who haven't, I recommend both books.