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A review by scriptamortalia
Steady Now by Liberty Stowe
4.0
This was my Camp NetGalley ARC pick for July~ I'm revising this to 4 stars.
I actually think this was very well structured as a story and paced very well.
It's a modern romance with a big city rich girl x small town blue collar hunky single dad. A hallmark movie with a bowtie ending.
The romance is basically insta-attraction/ insta-like, but they do grow to love. The characters were like magnets toward each other in a medium-burn set-up because they have one "lose all control" moment about third of the way in and then no other firework interactions.
I was tapping my pages mumbling "okay when when when" because there was definitely tension!
I was pretty happy there was no serious misunderstanding/miscommunication trope. There was a hint of "omg talk to each other!!" but it was just a second because each character's thought processes were logical. They actually arrived at sensible conclusions even in the face of some uncertainty. We love to see it. Adults being sensible is good in romances!
I also loved the setting. It all took place basically at an intersection, but I was really transported there and to the lakeside home, the pool, the diner.
What made me take one star away is:
One - it's a somewhat generic story. Didn't rock my world and it won't stick with me too too long, but still a great time and better than many.
Two - Connor's storyline resolution gets brushed off a bit too quickly & then I genuinely did not understand FMCs beef with her father. It was hinted at but never fully explained. He was written as a shrewd almost evil corporate rich man, but actually turned out to be kind of stand up guy? Was the whole gripe that he just never prioritized her and didn't want her to date her co-worker? That doesn't quite justify FMCs reaction..
Finally, three - the book needs editing. This is an arc so I won't remove a star for this, but it does.
I actually think this was very well structured as a story and paced very well.
It's a modern romance with a big city rich girl x small town blue collar hunky single dad. A hallmark movie with a bowtie ending.
The romance is basically insta-attraction/ insta-like, but they do grow to love. The characters were like magnets toward each other in a medium-burn set-up because they have one "lose all control" moment about third of the way in and then no other firework interactions.
I was tapping my pages mumbling "okay when when when" because there was definitely tension!
I was pretty happy there was no serious misunderstanding/miscommunication trope. There was a hint of "omg talk to each other!!" but it was just a second because each character's thought processes were logical. They actually arrived at sensible conclusions even in the face of some uncertainty. We love to see it. Adults being sensible is good in romances!
I also loved the setting. It all took place basically at an intersection, but I was really transported there and to the lakeside home, the pool, the diner.
What made me take one star away is:
One - it's a somewhat generic story. Didn't rock my world and it won't stick with me too too long, but still a great time and better than many.
Two - Connor's storyline resolution gets brushed off a bit too quickly & then I genuinely did not understand FMCs beef with her father. It was hinted at but never fully explained. He was written as a shrewd almost evil corporate rich man, but actually turned out to be kind of stand up guy? Was the whole gripe that he just never prioritized her and didn't want her to date her co-worker? That doesn't quite justify FMCs reaction..
Finally, three - the book needs editing. This is an arc so I won't remove a star for this, but it does.