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ratetheromance 's review for:
My Beautiful Neighbor
by Piper Rayne
MY BEAUTIFUL NEIGHBOR was a good read, but I can't seem to connect with this author's writing after my much-loved reading of her series, "The Baileys".
This book is set in small town in Alaska and has all of the quirky characters and small-town gossip that you would expect. I like small-town romances for this reason. This book was a very emotional read. There are a lot of twists and turns and ALL THE FEELS. It's heartbreaking in parts, but funny in others.
Presley is a really good lead female. I like her thick skin, work ethic, and I really enjoyed that she wasn't quite sure where her passion lay. We get to see her coming into her own as she "starts over" in a new town with a new secret recently exposed. I like how strong and stubborn she was once she decided what she wanted.
Cade was a bit harder for me to like as a lead male. He's had heartbreak in the past and the theme of this story is entirely Cade not being willing to open himself up to love again. Honestly, I am not a fan of this conflict in romances. Yes, it's human nature to be gun-shy about loving again after heartbreak, but I never feel like it's quite enough to build an entire book around. To a certain extent this is every single person entering a relationship. There's nothing new about this idea that opening yourself to love is a risk. So, when I read it as the only conflict in a book it feels a bit ridiculous.
MY BEAUTIFUL NEIGHBOR also had a decent amount of steam, BUT the descriptions of that steam were oddly skimpy. For example, the build up to the first kiss between these characters is significant and when they FINALLY kiss there is no description of that kiss. As a romance reader I expect the play-by-play. We are aware that they are kissing, but that's it. No description of lips, feelings, internal monolog, nothing. It was really anticlimactic. This happened a few times in this book.
Overall, this book tackles some tough topics and pulls at the heartstrings, but it was a fairly mediocre read for me.
I was gifted an advanced copy of this title in exchange for my honest review.
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This book is set in small town in Alaska and has all of the quirky characters and small-town gossip that you would expect. I like small-town romances for this reason. This book was a very emotional read. There are a lot of twists and turns and ALL THE FEELS. It's heartbreaking in parts, but funny in others.
Presley is a really good lead female. I like her thick skin, work ethic, and I really enjoyed that she wasn't quite sure where her passion lay. We get to see her coming into her own as she "starts over" in a new town with a new secret recently exposed. I like how strong and stubborn she was once she decided what she wanted.
Cade was a bit harder for me to like as a lead male. He's had heartbreak in the past and the theme of this story is entirely Cade not being willing to open himself up to love again. Honestly, I am not a fan of this conflict in romances. Yes, it's human nature to be gun-shy about loving again after heartbreak, but I never feel like it's quite enough to build an entire book around. To a certain extent this is every single person entering a relationship. There's nothing new about this idea that opening yourself to love is a risk. So, when I read it as the only conflict in a book it feels a bit ridiculous.
MY BEAUTIFUL NEIGHBOR also had a decent amount of steam, BUT the descriptions of that steam were oddly skimpy. For example, the build up to the first kiss between these characters is significant and when they FINALLY kiss there is no description of that kiss. As a romance reader I expect the play-by-play. We are aware that they are kissing, but that's it. No description of lips, feelings, internal monolog, nothing. It was really anticlimactic. This happened a few times in this book.
Overall, this book tackles some tough topics and pulls at the heartstrings, but it was a fairly mediocre read for me.
I was gifted an advanced copy of this title in exchange for my honest review.
INSTAGRAM | TWITTER | YEAR OF SMUT CHALLENGE