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vixdag's review against another edition
5.0
For me, Kris Bryant’s Breakthrough is the perfect romance. The characters are vividly brought to life, the setting is gorgeous, and the plot is exactly what I want in a romance.
Celebrity journalist, Kennedy Wells is relegated to Alaska to do a piece on deep-sea fishing for an outdoors magazine as a result of a past indiscretion. She is all gorgeous and glamorous and looking to get in and out of Alaska as quickly as possible. On her first day she meets Ranger Brynn Coleman who is the quintessential tall, dark and handsome leading lady. Brynn is capable and gallant. The only things she is missing is the suit of armor and white horse. Kennedy is completely out of her element in Alaska, but Brynn comes to her aide time and again and introduces Kennedy to the beauty and contentment of a simpler life in rural Alaska. Kennedy is immediately drawn to Brynn, but Brynn tries to keep things platonic until she can’t. The question is, can this city girl find her happiness north of the lower 48?
The descriptive prose Bryan conjures up paints an Alaska that this city girl is dying to explore. The book is full of supporting characters that are each distinctive, which isn’t always the case. The dialogue is natural while making both Kennedy and Brynn very relatable despite the fact that they are almost polar opposites. Oh, and there is the best pet I have ever found in the pages of a romance.
The book is told in the first person, past tense from Kennedy’s point of view. I generally don’t care for first person narration, but Bryant made this feel natural and I didn’t feel like I was shorted on learning about Brynn’s character. There is something about this pair that transcends most characters I have encountered. They are perfectly imperfect, but they make a wonderful matched set.
I love this book and highly recommend it. I plan on reading everything in this author’s body of work.
I was given an ARC of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for a fair and honest review.
Celebrity journalist, Kennedy Wells is relegated to Alaska to do a piece on deep-sea fishing for an outdoors magazine as a result of a past indiscretion. She is all gorgeous and glamorous and looking to get in and out of Alaska as quickly as possible. On her first day she meets Ranger Brynn Coleman who is the quintessential tall, dark and handsome leading lady. Brynn is capable and gallant. The only things she is missing is the suit of armor and white horse. Kennedy is completely out of her element in Alaska, but Brynn comes to her aide time and again and introduces Kennedy to the beauty and contentment of a simpler life in rural Alaska. Kennedy is immediately drawn to Brynn, but Brynn tries to keep things platonic until she can’t. The question is, can this city girl find her happiness north of the lower 48?
The descriptive prose Bryan conjures up paints an Alaska that this city girl is dying to explore. The book is full of supporting characters that are each distinctive, which isn’t always the case. The dialogue is natural while making both Kennedy and Brynn very relatable despite the fact that they are almost polar opposites. Oh, and there is the best pet I have ever found in the pages of a romance.
The book is told in the first person, past tense from Kennedy’s point of view. I generally don’t care for first person narration, but Bryant made this feel natural and I didn’t feel like I was shorted on learning about Brynn’s character. There is something about this pair that transcends most characters I have encountered. They are perfectly imperfect, but they make a wonderful matched set.
I love this book and highly recommend it. I plan on reading everything in this author’s body of work.
I was given an ARC of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for a fair and honest review.
lesbianmerle's review against another edition
4.0
Still not sold on romance-focused novels, so I appreciated that it had a serious non-romantic plot tied through. Definitely appreciated the escapist fantasy of running away to Alaska and meeting an animal-loving butch
lezreviewbooks's review
4.0
Romance story with the beautiful setting of Alaska. Kennedy Wells is an LA based showbiz journalist sent to Alaska to write an article on fishing after a scandal almost finished her career. Feeling completely out of her comfort zone, she gets into trouble almost immediately and is saved by sexy ranger Brynn Coleman who introduces Kennedy to the vibrant wildlife and breathtaking landscape of the 49th state. Kennedy slowly falls for both Brynn and Alaska but her home and career are back in LA. Will they have a happily ever after?
Written in first person from the point of view of Kennedy, Brynn appears as the epitome of the stoic butch and enigmatic knight in shining armour ready to save Kennedy from her blunders but at the same time, unwilling to open up to her. Ms. Bryant plays well with a few contrasts such as butch - femme, outdoors girl - city girl, hot LA - cold Alaska, all done with wittiness, humour and sizzling chemistry. Nature takes a big role in this book sometimes acting as a beautiful background of the romance, other times at the forefront raising issues such as illegal hunting, wildlife conservation or environment protection. Even though this is mainly a romance novel, there is a mystery subplot that adds a bit of fast-paced action that keeps the reader turning pages. Add a cute atypical "puppy" to the mix and the result is a very enjoyable story.
Overall, a very entertaining romance with a bit of fast-paced action. 4.5 stars.
ARC provided by Netgalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
See all my reviews at
www.lezreviewbooks.wordpress.com
Written in first person from the point of view of Kennedy, Brynn appears as the epitome of the stoic butch and enigmatic knight in shining armour ready to save Kennedy from her blunders but at the same time, unwilling to open up to her. Ms. Bryant plays well with a few contrasts such as butch - femme, outdoors girl - city girl, hot LA - cold Alaska, all done with wittiness, humour and sizzling chemistry. Nature takes a big role in this book sometimes acting as a beautiful background of the romance, other times at the forefront raising issues such as illegal hunting, wildlife conservation or environment protection. Even though this is mainly a romance novel, there is a mystery subplot that adds a bit of fast-paced action that keeps the reader turning pages. Add a cute atypical "puppy" to the mix and the result is a very enjoyable story.
Overall, a very entertaining romance with a bit of fast-paced action. 4.5 stars.
ARC provided by Netgalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
See all my reviews at
www.lezreviewbooks.wordpress.com
synth's review
1.0
Overall pretty bland and stereotypical, if not entirely formulaic.
Two things made me hate it with all my heart though:
- a few bits of the sex scenes wherein the LI is forceful with the MC going down on her, which she loves apparently, but read as degrading imo;
- and the completely absent commentary, let alone judgment, on the (borderline but not really) pedophilia of the LI's father.
See "She was my girlfriend and I had paraded her around our house for years in just a bikini and why wouldn’t my father be tempted?” The LI is being bitter about her family's reaction in this quote, but this is the extent of it, with zero implication of this being pedophilic and exploitative (especially since he was her coach). They were girlfriends from age 16 to 19, and it is implied the "affair" started as soon as they started university. Note that the LI is 30-something when she recounts those events and passes that judgment on her ex-girlfriend, and nothing in the writing shows any nuance regarding that topic.
Two things made me hate it with all my heart though:
- a few bits of the sex scenes wherein the LI is forceful with the MC going down on her, which she loves apparently, but read as degrading imo;
- and the completely absent commentary, let alone judgment, on the (borderline but not really) pedophilia of the LI's father.
See "She was my girlfriend and I had paraded her around our house for years in just a bikini and why wouldn’t my father be tempted?” The LI is being bitter about her family's reaction in this quote, but this is the extent of it, with zero implication of this being pedophilic and exploitative (especially since he was her coach). They were girlfriends from age 16 to 19, and it is implied the "affair" started as soon as they started university. Note that the LI is 30-something when she recounts those events and passes that judgment on her ex-girlfriend, and nothing in the writing shows any nuance regarding that topic.
thereadingduck's review
3.0
It's my first read of Kris Bryant's work and all in all I enjoyed it, but I couldn't get 100% into it. I felt like the characters missed depth sometimes, and that the writing wasn't as fluid as it could have been.
It still enjoyed it, but it's definitely not my favorite read.
It still enjoyed it, but it's definitely not my favorite read.
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