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3.42 AVERAGE
3.42 AVERAGE
Shane Abbott has returned to her small town home after four years teaching in Baltimore. She's determined to convert her late grandmother's home into a combined museum and antiques shop. Believing her new neighbor, Vance Banning, is an unemployed construction worker, she offers to hire him for the remodeling.
Vance is in construction, but as the head of a successful corporation that his mother started when he was young. He had come to the Sharpsburg region to get away from painful memories of his failed marriage, the murder of his estranged wife, and the stresses of being chained behind a desk. Wanting to work with his hands again, he takes a leave of absence and buys a fire-gutted house to remodel.
Shane immediately recognizes Vance as the man she was been looking for, but Vance is not willing to allow himself to trust any woman despite the attraction he feels. He won't be made a fool of again.
Roberts allows the relationship to grow and deepen, only the occasional strikes of passionate kisses disrupting the flow. But before there can be a happy ending, the truth of who Vance really is and the return of Shane's greedy mother must be dealt with.
A truly delightful read with interesting and well-defined characters, even secondary ones such as Donna and Pat. My only quibble is that there is no way in hell that Shane's mother will stay away now that she knows how wealthy her daughter's boyfriend is. No matter what Vance does, other than paying the woman off, she will continue to hurt Shane. But, this isn't that thick a book. Might've been interesting if it had been explored, either in this book or a sequel. 4.5 out of 5.
Vance is in construction, but as the head of a successful corporation that his mother started when he was young. He had come to the Sharpsburg region to get away from painful memories of his failed marriage, the murder of his estranged wife, and the stresses of being chained behind a desk. Wanting to work with his hands again, he takes a leave of absence and buys a fire-gutted house to remodel.
Shane immediately recognizes Vance as the man she was been looking for, but Vance is not willing to allow himself to trust any woman despite the attraction he feels. He won't be made a fool of again.
Roberts allows the relationship to grow and deepen, only the occasional strikes of passionate kisses disrupting the flow. But before there can be a happy ending, the truth of who Vance really is and the return of Shane's greedy mother must be dealt with.
A truly delightful read with interesting and well-defined characters, even secondary ones such as Donna and Pat. My only quibble is that there is no way in hell that Shane's mother will stay away now that she knows how wealthy her daughter's boyfriend is. No matter what Vance does, other than paying the woman off, she will continue to hurt Shane. But, this isn't that thick a book. Might've been interesting if it had been explored, either in this book or a sequel. 4.5 out of 5.
DNF. Typical 80's NR fare, which I don't have much patience for these days. Besides, from the cover and the letter from the editors, I expected a Christmas story, which is why I waited until December to read it. The action starts in late summer. Disappointment.
I'm hoping that this is an early book of Nora Roberts. While eminently listenable, it contains a prototypical nineties Alpha male. Vance Banning is trying to get away from it all. When Shane Abbott (the ubiquitous sunny heroine who's trying to making it on her own and fix the world around her) mistakes him for a carpenter, he decides to go along with the charade. He helps her fix up her grandmother's old house, weathers the emotionally-charged scenes with her cold, emotionless mother, but neglects to tell her that he's really a very wealthy business man who was hurt by (who else?) his first wife.
Not the best of stories but nowhere near being a wall-thumper.
Not the best of stories but nowhere near being a wall-thumper.
emotional
fast-paced
Officially DNFing this one. The insta love is too much but I could have looked past it. What I couldn’t look past were the scenes where the male protagonist, Vance, totally disregards the female character as she struggles against him during a kiss scene. He goes on like nothing is happening and after a while the main character, Shane, gives in to his advances. She also overlooks his moodiness and bad treatment because she instantly knew he was “the one”.
Do not recommend!
Do not recommend!
Die Sexszenen und manche Aktionen seinerseits sind einfach zu disgusting und abstoßend für mich.
Random library find, of the "hmm, I recognise the name, don't think I've ever read anything by her" type. Turns out to be a romance, verging on porn in some scenes. Light, fluffy, not particularly successful as erotica, but then I think I'm not the target demographic. I like the protagonist, I found the world building/scene setting delightful (in particular, the references to antiques -- Yes, the protagonist is a war nut and an antiques expert. No, I didn't feel like the point of the story was to describe the scenery).
Other than that, I have little to say. Young woman moves back to her home town when her (great-) grandmother dies and leaves her the farm. Older man tries to escape the details of a busy life. Misunderstandings happen, mutual attraction happens and is denied; they fall in to bed together. Cue Christmas carols (it is billed as "A Christmas tale from the #1 New york Times bestselling author."). According to the blurb, this is a 'classic, hard to find' novel by this author. Meh.
Other than that, I have little to say. Young woman moves back to her home town when her (great-) grandmother dies and leaves her the farm. Older man tries to escape the details of a busy life. Misunderstandings happen, mutual attraction happens and is denied; they fall in to bed together. Cue Christmas carols (it is billed as "A Christmas tale from the #1 New york Times bestselling author."). According to the blurb, this is a 'classic, hard to find' novel by this author. Meh.