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3.94 AVERAGE
3.94 AVERAGE
***3 stars***
I'm gonna start off by saying that I liked this book. Not so much in the beginning, but as I went on reading it got better, I guess.
The story is about a recently divorced 37 year old woman, who is seduced by a 25 year old guy and then later falls in love with him. She married her high school sweetheart, so she's only ever been with one guy her whole life and she also has a 19 year old son.
Enter Ford Donovan, the next door neighbor from her vacation house in Montauk, who used to babysit the above mentioned son. Ford is good looking, smart, successful and supposedly way more mature than other guys his age. They first meet through a dating app, only to realize later that they actually know each other from way back. I won't say more about the plot, since it's pretty standard romance novel baloney.
I had one major issue with this book though, hence my 3 star rating - it's that I am not a fan of romances where there's a big age difference between the main characters.
Reason: I think it's unrealistic to believe in a love story between a 37 year old woman and a 25 year old man. Why? Because I just can't believe that a young guy who falls in love with an older woman, would later actually marry her, much less stay faithful to her "till death do they part". I think (most) men would not be OK with a big age difference in the long run. Imagine he's 35 and she's 47. He's 40 and she's 52 and so on... I would bet money on it that the 35 year old guy who has a 47 year old wife at home would start screwing younger women at some point, because nature happens and said woman might not have the same perky boobs, nice ass and toned legs. You know?
I may come off as a bit judgemental here, but I would love to read about "real love stories" in romance novels for once. That in my book means for one: no bullshit perfect man. I wanna read about realistic men. Not these perfect guys who always look like they come straight out of a magazine cover, who are ALWAYS the best of the best in bed and have the hugest dicks **rolls eyes SO hard** (don't get me wrong, not that I want to read about guys who are bad or avergae in bed LOL). But these guys also HAVE to be successful and rich, and not to mention - preferably have some huuuuuge drama in their lives (e.g. someone abused them when they were young, a loved one died tragically, they're orphans or something along these lines). It's always THE. SAME. CRAP.
Anyhoo, the story has a few cute moments, it's a fast read and it has a happy ending.
So yeah.. meh.. 3 stars.
I'm gonna start off by saying that I liked this book. Not so much in the beginning, but as I went on reading it got better, I guess.
The story is about a recently divorced 37 year old woman, who is seduced by a 25 year old guy and then later falls in love with him. She married her high school sweetheart, so she's only ever been with one guy her whole life and she also has a 19 year old son.
Enter Ford Donovan, the next door neighbor from her vacation house in Montauk, who used to babysit the above mentioned son. Ford is good looking, smart, successful and supposedly way more mature than other guys his age. They first meet through a dating app, only to realize later that they actually know each other from way back. I won't say more about the plot, since it's pretty standard romance novel baloney.
I had one major issue with this book though, hence my 3 star rating - it's that I am not a fan of romances where there's a big age difference between the main characters.
Reason: I think it's unrealistic to believe in a love story between a 37 year old woman and a 25 year old man. Why? Because I just can't believe that a young guy who falls in love with an older woman, would later actually marry her, much less stay faithful to her "till death do they part". I think (most) men would not be OK with a big age difference in the long run. Imagine he's 35 and she's 47. He's 40 and she's 52 and so on... I would bet money on it that the 35 year old guy who has a 47 year old wife at home would start screwing younger women at some point, because nature happens and said woman might not have the same perky boobs, nice ass and toned legs. You know?
I may come off as a bit judgemental here, but I would love to read about "real love stories" in romance novels for once. That in my book means for one: no bullshit perfect man. I wanna read about realistic men. Not these perfect guys who always look like they come straight out of a magazine cover, who are ALWAYS the best of the best in bed and have the hugest dicks **rolls eyes SO hard** (don't get me wrong, not that I want to read about guys who are bad or avergae in bed LOL). But these guys also HAVE to be successful and rich, and not to mention - preferably have some huuuuuge drama in their lives (e.g. someone abused them when they were young, a loved one died tragically, they're orphans or something along these lines). It's always THE. SAME. CRAP.
Anyhoo, the story has a few cute moments, it's a fast read and it has a happy ending.
So yeah.. meh.. 3 stars.
emotional
lighthearted
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
I was expecting better.
So I read "British Bedmate" by Vi Keeland and Penelope Ward before this one and there were major similarities! Some aspects were in reverse/opposite and others were just blatantly the same . It's not necessarily a bad thing, but it's also just lazy.
Anyway, I was super disappointed that when they first meet we are cheated from their actual interaction. The end of the chapter is Valentina walking into the restaurant and stops, then the next chapter is a week or so later being like we can't do this. I don't know about anyone else but I was expecting something from the synopsis. That and just not being in the mood for romance made me postpone finishing it until now. And everything after was good and sexy.
Spoiler
Ford finds out his dead dad was having an affair and that pushes him away from Val vs Bridget finding out her husband was having an affair that caused his fatal accident which eliminated her guilt with her feelings towards SimonSpoiler
FMC has trouble having kids, but has one son, then at the very end has twin girls with MMCAnyway, I was super disappointed that when they first meet we are cheated from their actual interaction. The end of the chapter is Valentina walking into the restaurant and stops, then the next chapter is a week or so later being like we can't do this. I don't know about anyone else but I was expecting something from the synopsis. That and just not being in the mood for romance made me postpone finishing it until now. And everything after was good and sexy.
Spoiler
I did want to know how her trip to Italy was, but we got zip from that
As usual, this Vi Keeland creation was really really cute! I started it yesterday and finished it today. I couldn't put it down! I loved the chemistry between Valentina and Ford. You could tell that he wasn't the average 25 year old - given all that he's been through. Even though I absolutely love them together, even by the end of the book I was still stuck on the age thing. They aren't even that far apart in age, but the fact that he's so close in age to her son was kind of weird. Overall, you can't deny the chemistry that Val and Ford had together. At the end of the day, age is just a number (TO CONSENTING ADULTS LOL) and they made each other happy so that's really all that matters. I will say I'd enjoy a book about Bella and Ryan but that might make it too weird.
TLDR: Awesome summer read with lotsssss of chemistry.
TLDR: Awesome summer read with lotsssss of chemistry.
«L’età non equivale agli anni che abbiamo vissuto. Dovrebbe essere contata in base agli anni che ci restano. Bisogna guardare avanti, non indietro»
Valentina Di Giovanni ha 37 anni e ha passato gli ultimi vent’anni a prendersi cura del marito e del figlio. Ora che è divorziata da 18 mesi e il figlio è al collage si sente totalmente smarrita.
Però non si è persa d’animo: il suo sogno è sempre stato quello di insegnare e finalmente senza il suo ex marito è libera di farlo.
Per scuotere un po’ la sua vita, la sua migliore amica decide di iscriverla ad un sito d’incontri. Se Val sulle prime è titubante, si fa coraggio e conosce un ragazzo molto più giovane.
Tra tutte le persone di New York, si tratta proprio di Ford Donovan, il venticinquenne che possiede la casa vicino alla sua nella località balneare di Montauk.
Val esce di testa e scappa via terrorizzata, un po’ per gli anni che li separano un po’ per la sua inesperienza in campo sentimentale (ha avuto un solo uomo ed è stato il suo ex marito)
Ford è tenace e non molla, dopo un corteggiamento consistente la convince ad abbandonarsi ad un flirt estivo, una cosa innocente e senza impegno che sarebbe finita al termine dell’estate.
Se c’è una cosa che amo della Keeland è la caratterizzazione dei personaggi. Sono così reali, con i loro pregi e i loro innumerevoli difetti a incatenarti alla storia senza aver più voglia di uscire.
L’intesa con Ford scatta dal primo istante ma enormi dubbi attanagliano Val.
Ford è un personaggio meraviglioso, un uomo che è dovuto crescere in fretta dopo la morte dei suoi genitori, rilevare l’azienda immobiliare di famiglia e badare alla sorella allora quattordicenne
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️,5
Valentina Di Giovanni ha 37 anni e ha passato gli ultimi vent’anni a prendersi cura del marito e del figlio. Ora che è divorziata da 18 mesi e il figlio è al collage si sente totalmente smarrita.
Però non si è persa d’animo: il suo sogno è sempre stato quello di insegnare e finalmente senza il suo ex marito è libera di farlo.
Per scuotere un po’ la sua vita, la sua migliore amica decide di iscriverla ad un sito d’incontri. Se Val sulle prime è titubante, si fa coraggio e conosce un ragazzo molto più giovane.
Tra tutte le persone di New York, si tratta proprio di Ford Donovan, il venticinquenne che possiede la casa vicino alla sua nella località balneare di Montauk.
Val esce di testa e scappa via terrorizzata, un po’ per gli anni che li separano un po’ per la sua inesperienza in campo sentimentale (ha avuto un solo uomo ed è stato il suo ex marito)
Ford è tenace e non molla, dopo un corteggiamento consistente la convince ad abbandonarsi ad un flirt estivo, una cosa innocente e senza impegno che sarebbe finita al termine dell’estate.
Se c’è una cosa che amo della Keeland è la caratterizzazione dei personaggi. Sono così reali, con i loro pregi e i loro innumerevoli difetti a incatenarti alla storia senza aver più voglia di uscire.
L’intesa con Ford scatta dal primo istante ma enormi dubbi attanagliano Val.
Ford è un personaggio meraviglioso, un uomo che è dovuto crescere in fretta dopo la morte dei suoi genitori, rilevare l’azienda immobiliare di famiglia e badare alla sorella allora quattordicenne
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️,5
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
La pluma de [a: Vi Keeland|6887119|Vi Keeland|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1535888577p2/6887119.jpg] me sorprendió mucho la primera vez que la leí. Este tipo de libros suelen aburrirme mucho pero la manera de escribir de esta autora me atrapa desde el primer capítulo, es por ello que decidí darle una oportunidad a otro libro de ella y créanme que no me arrepiento.
Esta historia habla de Valentina y Ford, Valentina es mayor por 12 años y más que nada el libro habla sobre la evolución de su personaje para afrontar el hecho de que le gusta alguien menor que ella, aparte existen otros factores que tiene que superar y pues en sí Ford es el que está 100% decidido a que una relación con Val es lo que quiere.
Ford desde el principio enamora y Valentina igual, a pesar de las inseguridades que tiene la protagonista logras empatizar mucho con ella desde el primer renglón y por consecuente no la odias ni te desespera su inseguridad e indecisión. La pareja ha sido súper bonita y demuestra que el amor es natural e inesperado.
—
Esta historia habla de Valentina y Ford, Valentina es mayor por 12 años y más que nada el libro habla sobre la evolución de su personaje para afrontar el hecho de que le gusta alguien menor que ella, aparte existen otros factores que tiene que superar y pues en sí Ford es el que está 100% decidido a que una relación con Val es lo que quiere.
Ford desde el principio enamora y Valentina igual, a pesar de las inseguridades que tiene la protagonista logras empatizar mucho con ella desde el primer renglón y por consecuente no la odias ni te desespera su inseguridad e indecisión. La pareja ha sido súper bonita y demuestra que el amor es natural e inesperado.
—
This is a age gap romance where the woman is older and the man is younger. Chef's kiss, I like it.
Valentina isn't ready to get back into the dating scene. At 37 and even 2 years after her divorce she doesn't know where to start until her best friend Eve takes the first step by setting up an outrageous Match.com profile for her. That's where she strikes up a playful conversation with a 25 year old Donovan. It's easy to talk to him, he's smart and witty, that's until on their first date she realizes he's not just any Donovan, he's Ford Donovan, the neighbor boy from her beach house who played with her son.
I'm going to say the snarky thing to get it out of the way by saying I knew how unrealistic this was based on Ford being the president at a Real Estate company at 25. He inherited the position from his father and it seems like Valentina is also fairly rich from her alimony since she can afford to take college classes and chill at a summer house. Maybe it's their financial situations that makes the 12 year age gap a little less of an issue.
That said I really did enjoy the story. I'm not quite Valentina's age, but still after reading stories about 20-something girls finding their happily ever after it's good to see someone in their 30's getting that as well. I have the same issues that she does when it came to dating someone younger than me and thought it was really interesting to see it play out.
Ford is really mature for his age and while at the beginning of the book he was just ending his wild days, you could see they were still there under everything. It was good to see that he matured over the course of the book even though a certain passage early on suggested that there would be some serious relationship at the end of it. I didn't pay much attention to it.
The story was really believable, aside from the things that I touched on earlier on in my review. I can see how it would happen. Valentina and Ford had both grown up way too early and they complimented each other. It showed the obvious issues of the age gap, like how people would judge you in public, but it was really cute. I think this was my second Vi Keeland book and I'm going to be picking up more from her in the future.
I'm going to say the snarky thing to get it out of the way by saying I knew how unrealistic this was based on Ford being the president at a Real Estate company at 25. He inherited the position from his father and it seems like Valentina is also fairly rich from her alimony since she can afford to take college classes and chill at a summer house. Maybe it's their financial situations that makes the 12 year age gap a little less of an issue.
That said I really did enjoy the story. I'm not quite Valentina's age, but still after reading stories about 20-something girls finding their happily ever after it's good to see someone in their 30's getting that as well. I have the same issues that she does when it came to dating someone younger than me and thought it was really interesting to see it play out.
Ford is really mature for his age and while at the beginning of the book he was just ending his wild days, you could see they were still there under everything. It was good to see that he matured over the course of the book even though a certain passage early on suggested that there would be some serious relationship at the end of it. I didn't pay much attention to it.
The story was really believable, aside from the things that I touched on earlier on in my review. I can see how it would happen. Valentina and Ford had both grown up way too early and they complimented each other. It showed the obvious issues of the age gap, like how people would judge you in public, but it was really cute. I think this was my second Vi Keeland book and I'm going to be picking up more from her in the future.