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greystory 's review for:
A Blue Ribbon Romance
by C.M. Nascosta
lighthearted
slow-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
I was really looking forward to this and was hyped!!
I LOVE the cover and the other artwork of Rourke and Violet made for this book. I much prefer it over the Morning Glory Milking Farm cover. Even though it's stunning and richly beautiful in its own way, this cover feels more real, more down to earth, more tangible and I love that. Also Rourke is just so cute and I love Violet's hair. My favorite parts of this book were the humorous bits here and there and Rourke's friendship with Lurielle and Khash.
Once this was finally in my hands? I enjoyed it, I did, but not as much as I thought I would. Part of that may be my own expectations doing me in, not sure. I knew going in this was a retelling and CM Nascosta warned there's a lot of moping, but I still finished the book and felt like it was lacking, that I had expected something more. I know some others have mentioned that they were hoping for new content, and I get that, but I don't think that's the issue for me. It felt like, for having just read 250 pages of Rourke's view, I didn't get nearly as much insight as I thought I would.
The first 25% of the book is prior to Rourke's first appointment with Violet. OK, makes sense, get a sense of Rourke's character and where he's at with life and relationships prior to meeting. However, it felt like forever before they have their first date at 70% of the way through the book. After that, we get a mix of Rourke's POV and his own internal musings for the rest of the book following the same events as MGMF and I think that's where some of my disappointment lies.
It felt rushed and I didn't feel like I was actually getting much of anything new *from Rourke* about those events. I would have thought the retelling would have been the larger meat of the book rather than the final climax. I was also disappointed to realize how much of Rourke's thoughts had solely to do with this physical and sexual attraction to Violet, even after they started to get to know each other and date. It was THAT, the emotional attraction and buildup from Rourke's POV, that I had been craving all along, and there was barely anything in my opinion.
We see him be thoughtful about taking her to see the one old public house in Cambric Creek so she can indulge her passion over the architecture, but we already knew that from MGMF. We didn't get extra insight about that experience from Rourke's POV. We didn't get Rourke looking at Violet in her moment of excitement over the staircase or whatever and get his thoughts and feelings in the moment. We didn't get him catching himself gazing at her with a soft smile on his face as she lovingly runs her fingers over century old carved wood pieces in the house. In fact, we didn't even get it in the moment - Rourke recounts this all as having already happened and is just remembering having taken her there. Okay, I guess?
Where I can agree with some other reviewers is the messy feeling of the journey we're taken with this book. I'm purely guessing this is intentional, a meandering recount of Rourke's life from his memory interspersed with fantasy and real-life events. The problem is, it was still very confusing to the reader. One moment we'd be reading about a sexual fantasy he's having while being milked at the farm, and the combination of his fantasy and the reality of the farm are already blurred and a little unclear, but it's even more confusing because - who on earth is he fantasizing about? It's not a character we're introduced to for another few pages. Stuff like that happened ALL THE TIME. The number of times I had to reread a passage or search back in the previous pages to make sure I wasn't missing something and no, we really are just suddenly changing scenery and finding out that was something happening weeks ago, not right now, was jarring and made the read kind of a slog.
Last and actually kind of least, I was surprised at the number of errors. One or two? Sure, it happens, stuff slips through the cracks. But knowing this was ARC read and the release date was pushed back, I was especially surprised to see more than a handful. It added to the messy, rushed feeling of the book overall.
I LOVE the cover and the other artwork of Rourke and Violet made for this book. I much prefer it over the Morning Glory Milking Farm cover. Even though it's stunning and richly beautiful in its own way, this cover feels more real, more down to earth, more tangible and I love that. Also Rourke is just so cute and I love Violet's hair. My favorite parts of this book were the humorous bits here and there and Rourke's friendship with Lurielle and Khash.
Once this was finally in my hands? I enjoyed it, I did, but not as much as I thought I would. Part of that may be my own expectations doing me in, not sure. I knew going in this was a retelling and CM Nascosta warned there's a lot of moping, but I still finished the book and felt like it was lacking, that I had expected something more. I know some others have mentioned that they were hoping for new content, and I get that, but I don't think that's the issue for me. It felt like, for having just read 250 pages of Rourke's view, I didn't get nearly as much insight as I thought I would.
The first 25% of the book is prior to Rourke's first appointment with Violet. OK, makes sense, get a sense of Rourke's character and where he's at with life and relationships prior to meeting. However, it felt like forever before they have their first date at 70% of the way through the book. After that, we get a mix of Rourke's POV and his own internal musings for the rest of the book following the same events as MGMF and I think that's where some of my disappointment lies.
It felt rushed and I didn't feel like I was actually getting much of anything new *from Rourke* about those events. I would have thought the retelling would have been the larger meat of the book rather than the final climax. I was also disappointed to realize how much of Rourke's thoughts had solely to do with this physical and sexual attraction to Violet, even after they started to get to know each other and date. It was THAT, the emotional attraction and buildup from Rourke's POV, that I had been craving all along, and there was barely anything in my opinion.
We see him be thoughtful about taking her to see the one old public house in Cambric Creek so she can indulge her passion over the architecture, but we already knew that from MGMF. We didn't get extra insight about that experience from Rourke's POV. We didn't get Rourke looking at Violet in her moment of excitement over the staircase or whatever and get his thoughts and feelings in the moment. We didn't get him catching himself gazing at her with a soft smile on his face as she lovingly runs her fingers over century old carved wood pieces in the house. In fact, we didn't even get it in the moment - Rourke recounts this all as having already happened and is just remembering having taken her there. Okay, I guess?
Where I can agree with some other reviewers is the messy feeling of the journey we're taken with this book. I'm purely guessing this is intentional, a meandering recount of Rourke's life from his memory interspersed with fantasy and real-life events. The problem is, it was still very confusing to the reader. One moment we'd be reading about a sexual fantasy he's having while being milked at the farm, and the combination of his fantasy and the reality of the farm are already blurred and a little unclear, but it's even more confusing because - who on earth is he fantasizing about? It's not a character we're introduced to for another few pages. Stuff like that happened ALL THE TIME. The number of times I had to reread a passage or search back in the previous pages to make sure I wasn't missing something and no, we really are just suddenly changing scenery and finding out that was something happening weeks ago, not right now, was jarring and made the read kind of a slog.
Last and actually kind of least, I was surprised at the number of errors. One or two? Sure, it happens, stuff slips through the cracks. But knowing this was ARC read and the release date was pushed back, I was especially surprised to see more than a handful. It added to the messy, rushed feeling of the book overall.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content
Minor: Death