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3.62 AVERAGE
3.62 AVERAGE
3.5 stars. What's up with all the cussing? I felt like I was in a New York subway. Other than that the book was good
3.5 stars for me.
Keri works for a very scandalous magazine. She's almost at the top of it like she had always wanted but then her boss wants her to talk to Joe who she hasn't seen in 18 years after she took her things and left her town and him heartbroken. Now she has to go back and figure a way for Joe to talk to her and get an exclusive interview for her magazine, but she's starting to realise that maybe those 18 years did nothing on her feelings.
I felt like the story really had potential and I really liked the characters but the ending was a bit rushed and Underdeveloped. Also the whole reason Keri left about trying to feel like someone on her own was left for dead by the end of the book, like *poof* it just stop being important and I was like??? What???
In general, this is a nice quick read and while I enjoyed it, I still had issues with it.
Keri works for a very scandalous magazine. She's almost at the top of it like she had always wanted but then her boss wants her to talk to Joe who she hasn't seen in 18 years after she took her things and left her town and him heartbroken. Now she has to go back and figure a way for Joe to talk to her and get an exclusive interview for her magazine, but she's starting to realise that maybe those 18 years did nothing on her feelings.
I felt like the story really had potential and I really liked the characters but the ending was a bit rushed and Underdeveloped. Also the whole reason Keri left about trying to feel like someone on her own was left for dead by the end of the book, like *poof* it just stop being important and I was like??? What???
In general, this is a nice quick read and while I enjoyed it, I still had issues with it.
I loved all the characters in this book and felt like I knew them personally. This book was funny and emotional but all in a very realistic way. I will definitely be reading the rest of the series!!
What it's about: High School sweethearts with different goals in life; Keri to see the world as a well-known journalist and Joseph, to become a novelist with roots in his hometown. Needless to say, they separated after graduation. Twenty years later, Keri is a journalist at a celebrity rag whose shark of a boss was intent on exposing all the dirty deets about a famous, recluse of a novelist, Joseph Kowalski. This is where Keri comes strolling in back to Joe's life in her Ferragamo pumps.
I really enjoyed this book. It was about how Joe tried to help his siblings' struggling relationships while he tried to salvage, and/or renew a former love whom he never forgot (even if her leaving drove him to drink). He blackmailed, tricked, cajoled her into going on a two-week camping trip with the intent of bringing out the simple girl out of the posh woman Keri grew up to be. I thought this would be an all cheese-fest but it wasn't at all. I absolutely love that the author did not write obligatory sex scenes for the hell of it. It was just the right mix.
I also adored Terry (Joe's twin sister) & Evan's side story. I really wanted to choke Evan for leaving her but I guess, being married for 12 years now, I kind of get where he was coming from. Sometimes, you have to leave to find out who you are and what you want (No he didn't cheat, but if he did, this book would not have rated 4 stars. Preference: I HATE STORIES WITH CHEATING SPOUSES and SPOUSES WHO TAKE THEM BACK).
I really enjoyed this book. It was about how Joe tried to help his siblings' struggling relationships while he tried to salvage, and/or renew a former love whom he never forgot (even if her leaving drove him to drink). He blackmailed, tricked, cajoled her into going on a two-week camping trip with the intent of bringing out the simple girl out of the posh woman Keri grew up to be. I thought this would be an all cheese-fest but it wasn't at all. I absolutely love that the author did not write obligatory sex scenes for the hell of it. It was just the right mix.
I also adored Terry (Joe's twin sister) & Evan's side story. I really wanted to choke Evan for leaving her but I guess, being married for 12 years now, I kind of get where he was coming from. Sometimes, you have to leave to find out who you are and what you want (No he didn't cheat, but if he did, this book would not have rated 4 stars. Preference: I HATE STORIES WITH CHEATING SPOUSES and SPOUSES WHO TAKE THEM BACK).
This was the first Shannon Stacey book I read and I have been playing catch up ever since, to read every book she has written. I loved this introduction to the Kowalski's, and cannot wait to read more. Fantastic.
Good book. Keri was really not happy to be stuck camping with Joe and his family. She is a city girl from California these days, and fresh air and bugs are no longer in her list of things to do. But if she wants to keep the job she has worked so hard for, she doesn't have a choice. Joe has given her a list of rules, and she has to follow them or lose the chance. Joe set this up, not so much for a chance to get even with Keri for leaving him, as to have a chance to spend some time with her. They quickly discover that their attraction hasn't diminished in 20 years. Keri quickly finds herself having lots of fun and enjoying being around Joe's family again. Joe also finds himself enjoying Keri the adult, and both realize that they have fallen back in love. They also discover that they still have the same problem - her job is in California and he doesn't want to leave New Hampshire. I really wasn't sure by the end how they were going to work everything out. I loved some of the situations with the kids, and there were some pretty funny things with the adults too. I enjoyed seeing the relationship issues with Joe's siblings also.
I think I wanted to like this book more than I actually did because I was really looking forward to reading. Even though I wasn't blown away by it, I still enjoyed the story.
I'm not sure what is was, but it felt like something was missing from the story. All of the characters were interesting and well developed, but something just seemed to fall short for me.
However, I did really enjoy the setting of the book. I think this was the first book I've read - at least an adult contemporary - that was set at a campground. It made me feel equally nostalgic for days past and sympathetic for contending with the bugs.
Joe is a famous author, who prefers to avoid the spotlight while Keri is a writer for a magazine. When Keri's editor discovers Joe and Keri's high school romance, Keri is told to get the scoop on Joe or find a new job, which is how she ends up spending two weeks camping with the colorful Kowalski family.
I think, even though the focus of the story was primarily meant to be on Joe and Keri, that Joe's family kind of stole the show. They each had their own issues that kept popping to the forefront of the story (and getting in Joe and Keri's way of private time).
However, that being said, I think without the rest of the family, I probably wouldn't have enjoyed the story as much as I did. It just felt like there was something missing in Joe and Keri's story, but I can't put my finger on what that was.
One thing I really loved about the story was how realistic is felt. A lot of the times when I'm reading a romance it feels like the author has gone out of their way to create some sort of issue that, while plausible, is somewhat over the top. That wasn't the case here at all. All of the couples seemed realistic in the marital issues they were having, and while they were worked through some of them, they weren't completely resolved in a snap. I really respect that aspect of the book.
I'm going to soldier on and read the rest of the books in the series because I did enjoy the family dynamic, and I want to see of them and find out how things play out for them.
I'm not sure what is was, but it felt like something was missing from the story. All of the characters were interesting and well developed, but something just seemed to fall short for me.
However, I did really enjoy the setting of the book. I think this was the first book I've read - at least an adult contemporary - that was set at a campground. It made me feel equally nostalgic for days past and sympathetic for contending with the bugs.
Joe is a famous author, who prefers to avoid the spotlight while Keri is a writer for a magazine. When Keri's editor discovers Joe and Keri's high school romance, Keri is told to get the scoop on Joe or find a new job, which is how she ends up spending two weeks camping with the colorful Kowalski family.
I think, even though the focus of the story was primarily meant to be on Joe and Keri, that Joe's family kind of stole the show. They each had their own issues that kept popping to the forefront of the story (and getting in Joe and Keri's way of private time).
However, that being said, I think without the rest of the family, I probably wouldn't have enjoyed the story as much as I did. It just felt like there was something missing in Joe and Keri's story, but I can't put my finger on what that was.
One thing I really loved about the story was how realistic is felt. A lot of the times when I'm reading a romance it feels like the author has gone out of their way to create some sort of issue that, while plausible, is somewhat over the top. That wasn't the case here at all. All of the couples seemed realistic in the marital issues they were having, and while they were worked through some of them, they weren't completely resolved in a snap. I really respect that aspect of the book.
I'm going to soldier on and read the rest of the books in the series because I did enjoy the family dynamic, and I want to see of them and find out how things play out for them.
It was a fast and enjoyable read. I'll always be a sucker for high school sweethearts ending up with each other despite complications.
Very nice book, light, romantic and complicated...