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3.45 AVERAGE
3.45 AVERAGE
This was meh, as a romance and really no smut to speak of ..well a little smut, but barely. Certainly not the kind of smut the title suggests.
I liked the premise, it sounded fun. Kelley returns to a town she left behind after her heart was broken. Now raising her wild teenage sister who is a bit of handful she is surprised when she is called by the police to pick up said sister/troublemaker, but even more surprised when the sheriff turns out to Jack the guy who broke her heart 9 years ago Cute right?
Oh one thing though, nine years ago Kelly was 21 and Jack was 18. Well that’s ok a teensy bit older no biggie right?
Oh and one more thing Kelley was Jack's high school teacher, but its ok because Jack was much more emotionally mature then the rest of the students, he was “all man” very young.
Riiiiight.
Soooo anyway presently there is still a lot of feelings between these too and whatever, but I keep coming back to the fact that this was not a great premise for a romance novel it has a skeevy bit to it I am not enjoying .
But then the author pissed me off with everything else in the book so I got distracted. This may be vanity but I am joining the “30” club soon and this may be why I was pissed about the way Kelley acted and was treated as if she was broaching on her 50’s or something ? The woman is 31 years old and she acted like her life was over and she would just be happy to sit on the sidelines and watch the teenagers have fun. I fucking hate it when teenagers have fun. They can’t go to bars or clubs and buy alcohol so they end up out and loud and pukey at some park, probably the one next to my house, that I am going to want to be at the next day with my kid. Teenagers are the worst.Back to my issues with Kelley, did she want to go out? Nope just stay in her shitty apartment and think about missed opportunities now that there’s nothing really for her to do being so old and all and everyone else was like “yep seems right”. DEPRESSING and INSANE.
I liked the premise, it sounded fun. Kelley returns to a town she left behind after her heart was broken. Now raising her wild teenage sister who is a bit of handful she is surprised when she is called by the police to pick up said sister/troublemaker, but even more surprised when the sheriff turns out to Jack the guy who broke her heart 9 years ago Cute right?
Oh one thing though, nine years ago Kelly was 21 and Jack was 18. Well that’s ok a teensy bit older no biggie right?
Oh and one more thing Kelley was Jack's high school teacher, but its ok because Jack was much more emotionally mature then the rest of the students, he was “all man” very young.
Riiiiight.
Soooo anyway presently there is still a lot of feelings between these too and whatever, but I keep coming back to the fact that this was not a great premise for a romance novel it has a skeevy bit to it I am not enjoying .
But then the author pissed me off with everything else in the book so I got distracted. This may be vanity but I am joining the “30” club soon and this may be why I was pissed about the way Kelley acted and was treated as if she was broaching on her 50’s or something ? The woman is 31 years old and she acted like her life was over and she would just be happy to sit on the sidelines and watch the teenagers have fun. I fucking hate it when teenagers have fun. They can’t go to bars or clubs and buy alcohol so they end up out and loud and pukey at some park, probably the one next to my house, that I am going to want to be at the next day with my kid. Teenagers are the worst.Back to my issues with Kelley, did she want to go out? Nope just stay in her shitty apartment and think about missed opportunities now that there’s nothing really for her to do being so old and all and everyone else was like “yep seems right”. DEPRESSING and INSANE.
emotional
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Heroine equals frustrating 😤 😑
This my 2nd attempt at reading this book was more successful. The other was a 1 star rated dnf, from earlier this year. I gave up around the 30% mark then due to intolerance of the h. This time I had more patience with the way the story line unfolded and the last 25% was were the action was all at. It picked up the tempo at that point but too much was crammed into too little time. The h was still my least favourite character but I began to have a sympathetic view of why she was the way she was.
This my 2nd attempt at reading this book was more successful. The other was a 1 star rated dnf, from earlier this year. I gave up around the 30% mark then due to intolerance of the h. This time I had more patience with the way the story line unfolded and the last 25% was were the action was all at. It picked up the tempo at that point but too much was crammed into too little time. The h was still my least favourite character but I began to have a sympathetic view of why she was the way she was.
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Hard Lovin' Man is the 1st book in the Contemporary Duo series by this author. I have had this one so long on my TBR. As I was looking through the backlist of Lorraine Heath, I realized that I haven't read this author's contemporaries. I have become highly intrigued by this one here. I will say that this one was a very typical older contemporary. Nothing significant on this one popped out to me, but it was still a definitely solid read and I am excited to read the companion novel to it! I do think Heath's best talent is in her historical context, but you definitely feel her voice within this story.
I found Hard Lovin' Man to be an endearing romance and if you love a good small town romance, then you definitely need to pick this one up. Now it definitely has a secret involved but thank goodness it wasn't abortion or secret baby or not secret baby that you would expect. I do think that Lorraine Heath took a unique take on this. I really enjoyed seeing these two come back together as they do. And I do like the kids aspects of this story as we have a mix of a young child with a teenager and the dynamic was pretty good.
I do think that this one just had the a typical conflict that you normally expect in these older contemporaries, but I was fine with it as Lorraine Heath always delivers. But I wouldn't say this is her best work either. But it was a great delivery and had a fun time with these characters.
I found Hard Lovin' Man to be an endearing romance and if you love a good small town romance, then you definitely need to pick this one up. Now it definitely has a secret involved but thank goodness it wasn't abortion or secret baby or not secret baby that you would expect. I do think that Lorraine Heath took a unique take on this. I really enjoyed seeing these two come back together as they do. And I do like the kids aspects of this story as we have a mix of a young child with a teenager and the dynamic was pretty good.
I do think that this one just had the a typical conflict that you normally expect in these older contemporaries, but I was fine with it as Lorraine Heath always delivers. But I wouldn't say this is her best work either. But it was a great delivery and had a fun time with these characters.
emotional
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
medium-paced
Loved it. One sitting read. Cried a couple times too. A Lorraine Heath’s contemporary just as good as her historicals.
(Lovers of the single dad’s trope... Must Read!)
(Lovers of the single dad’s trope... Must Read!)
Kelley Spencer was 22 years old and had recently graduated from college when she accepted a teaching position in the small community of Hopeful, Texas. Jack Morgan was nineteen years old and a senior -he had been held back one year- when he considered dropping out of school. He was living in a trashy trailer and his mother had abandoned him. He let his conscious be his guide but he was by no means perfect. When they met in her classroom the first day, an attraction of sorts developed. Kelley knew it was unethical but Jack continually pursued her through the school year.
[b:Hard Lovin' Man|1814634|Hard Lovin' Man (Contemporary Duo, #1)|Lorraine Heath|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1188707429s/1814634.jpg|1814113] was told in flashbacks and nine years later, when they unexpectedly meet again. It was about youthful indiscretions, immature choices and letting go. They succumbed to the temptation the day he graduated. Both were adults but guilty secrets couldn’t keep them together.
Lorraine Heath challenged herself when she wrote this romance. Like other readers, I had a difficult time getting past the issue of teacher/student even though they were, agewise, adults. When they met almost a decade later, Jack was a police chief, single parent and homeowner. Kelley was guardian of her sixteen year old half-sister and had moved back, hoping for some stability. She was unaware that Jack was living there until they met again.
The style of writing reminded me of Linda Howard’s older contemporary romances. Alpha male, intense chemistry and some suspension of disbelief. I am giving the story three stars.
[b:Hard Lovin' Man|1814634|Hard Lovin' Man (Contemporary Duo, #1)|Lorraine Heath|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1188707429s/1814634.jpg|1814113] was told in flashbacks and nine years later, when they unexpectedly meet again. It was about youthful indiscretions, immature choices and letting go. They succumbed to the temptation the day he graduated. Both were adults but guilty secrets couldn’t keep them together.
Lorraine Heath challenged herself when she wrote this romance. Like other readers, I had a difficult time getting past the issue of teacher/student even though they were, agewise, adults. When they met almost a decade later, Jack was a police chief, single parent and homeowner. Kelley was guardian of her sixteen year old half-sister and had moved back, hoping for some stability. She was unaware that Jack was living there until they met again.
The style of writing reminded me of Linda Howard’s older contemporary romances. Alpha male, intense chemistry and some suspension of disbelief. I am giving the story three stars.