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julianne_naum 's review for:
As It Was
by Elle Rivers
adventurous
emotional
funny
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
ARC Review (all opinions are my own):
Mollie is a young professional working at her father's company in Nashville and engaged to a pretty horrible guy. She's unhappy in her job, in the big-city, and in her relationship. She learns that she inherited her grandfather's farm where she spent many happy summers in her childhood. Needing space and time to evaluate her next steps, she breaks off her engagement and heads back to Grandpa Bennie's farm.
Unbeknownst to Mollie, the farm isn't abandoned. Caine has been working on the farm since he was a teen, and has been managing it by himself since Grandpa Bennie passed away. The farm was a place of refuge when he was a teen in foster care - and gave him a sense of direction, purpose and hope during a difficult time. When he felt like everyone judged him and held him at arms length due to being a trouble teen - The farm offered him a home and a second chance. He has no need for "city folk", gossipy small town people, or close friends. He has all he (thinks he) needs with the farm and his nephew Eric who he now has guardianship of.
You'll have to read for yourself how Mollie and Caine navigate being in close quarters on the farm, dealing with small town drama and an ex-fiance who isn't willing to let Mollie out from under his thumb so easy.
Tropes:
Forced Proximity, Grumpy x Sunshine, Small-town romance, slow-burn, healing family relationships.
Trigger Warnings:
Domestic Violence (mostly discussed as past incidents), Emotional Abuse, Child endangerment.
Spice level: There are a few graphic spicy scenes. Which, frankly I don't think needed to be so in-your-face; It didn't seem to line up with the rest of the story or with the characters' personalities.
Thank you, Elle Rivers for writing a book featuring foster children (Eric) and former foster youth (Caine) as regular people who had traumatic experiences, but are dealing with them in a healthy way. Both Caine and Eric's characters are multi-dimensional, realistic, and bring so many positive things to their community of friends and found-family. As a foster parent to 18+ kids (mostly teens), I love seeing them shown in books, movies, etc. as just regular kids/regular people: because that's what they are.
Thank you, Elle and Literary Rising for ARC!
Mollie is a young professional working at her father's company in Nashville and engaged to a pretty horrible guy. She's unhappy in her job, in the big-city, and in her relationship. She learns that she inherited her grandfather's farm where she spent many happy summers in her childhood. Needing space and time to evaluate her next steps, she breaks off her engagement and heads back to Grandpa Bennie's farm.
Unbeknownst to Mollie, the farm isn't abandoned. Caine has been working on the farm since he was a teen, and has been managing it by himself since Grandpa Bennie passed away. The farm was a place of refuge when he was a teen in foster care - and gave him a sense of direction, purpose and hope during a difficult time. When he felt like everyone judged him and held him at arms length due to being a trouble teen - The farm offered him a home and a second chance. He has no need for "city folk", gossipy small town people, or close friends. He has all he (thinks he) needs with the farm and his nephew Eric who he now has guardianship of.
You'll have to read for yourself how Mollie and Caine navigate being in close quarters on the farm, dealing with small town drama and an ex-fiance who isn't willing to let Mollie out from under his thumb so easy.
Tropes:
Forced Proximity, Grumpy x Sunshine, Small-town romance, slow-burn, healing family relationships.
Trigger Warnings:
Domestic Violence (mostly discussed as past incidents), Emotional Abuse, Child endangerment.
Spice level: There are a few graphic spicy scenes. Which, frankly I don't think needed to be so in-your-face; It didn't seem to line up with the rest of the story or with the characters' personalities.
Thank you, Elle Rivers for writing a book featuring foster children (Eric) and former foster youth (Caine) as regular people who had traumatic experiences, but are dealing with them in a healthy way. Both Caine and Eric's characters are multi-dimensional, realistic, and bring so many positive things to their community of friends and found-family. As a foster parent to 18+ kids (mostly teens), I love seeing them shown in books, movies, etc. as just regular kids/regular people: because that's what they are.
Thank you, Elle and Literary Rising for ARC!