A review by multicoloredbookreviews
Steady Now by Liberty Stowe

slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

Steady Now by Liberty Stowe was just... not good. The characters' motivations were iffy, the character development made no sense, both of the main characters' priorities were all scrambled, the writing was terrible, and the romance was the absolute worst part of it all.

I'm giving it a little grace and not dropping the rating all the way down to one star because with better execution, the premise could have worked quite well. Rich girl running from heartbreak and disappointment gets stranded in a charming, tiny, rural Texas town, where she meets the gruff mechanic trying to keep his head above water between battling his ex for custody of their kid and trying to keep a greedy, evil corporation from stealing his family's land. It's a Hallmark movie plot if I've ever heard one.

But, again, the execution failed at every single step.

Here's a quote from the 74% point:

We've never spoken about his private life or anything substantial.

And that was the romance plot in a nutshell. Wren and Hud DID NOT TALK. There was nothing to their relationship except the physical part. He refused to let her in, would not open up to her on anything—even if his life depended on it—but then went in search of her when he wanted sex. Awful, awful way to write a romantic male lead. It made him so unlikable.

Worst part is, beneath the hard-to-understand dialogues and clunky, off-putting prose, I could kinda see what the book was trying to do. It's just that it failed spectacularly.

Hud was supposed to be wary and closed off because he'd been screwed over once before. But his backstory could have been built so much better to explain his abandonment issues, tendency to not rely on other people emotionally, and fear of opening up and being vulnerable.

Similarly, Wren's motivations were also butchered. Dropping a few mentions of how she had a tense relationship with her dad was not enough to justify her actions and behavior by a long shot. The strain and emotional toll should have been shown to us in stark detail. And by that same token, her reasons for being on the run should have been what the book actually opened on instead of dragging out the reveal until nearly the end of the novel.

Show me why I should root and cheer for this spoiled rich girl. Show me what hurt her so badly to send her fleeing from her father and his law firm. Give me something solid to grasp onto. But there was nothing. 70% of her personality was "runs away from her problems", and yet we only really saw a single instance of this, which was not explained until it really didn't even matter anymore. Alternatively, Wren could have been the girl who strained to meet her father's ridiculous expectations, but always fell short. The girl starved for affection and connection, who put on a flirty, happy facade but was hurting deeply underneath. The pretty girl who was profoundly insecure because she'd never been enough. The girl could never take anything at face value because she'd been born and raised in a world of two-faced people.

It would have been so sweet to see that cautious girl finding community and affection in a small town setting, and connecting to an equally damaged man in a way that allowed them both to heal and fall in love. Instead, we got a bellicose "meet-cute" that felt beyond forced, story flow that was so bad it wrecked the relationship development, and a couple that had zero chemistry and didn't connect on a single level.

The "romance", with its painful lack of communication and annoying pining, was easily the least satisfying and most frustrating part of this book. With the confusing, convoluted thing about the company wanting to steal Hud's family land from under him being a close second. That could have been such a solid sublot, but again, the execution crashed and burned.

I feel like I've already ranted too much, but I can't not mention the emoji-heavy text convos. One, books are largely a monochromatic space; tiny colored drawings don't belong there because you can barely make them out. But two, how old were these characters supposed to be? 14? What adult human being texts like that?

Steady Now had the makings of a cozy, heartwarming Hallmark-style romance, but fumbled the ball at every turn. The premise sounded like a winner, but the awkward prose, flat characters, and a romance that felt more like a fling than a love story just didn’t deliver. Wren and Hud’s lack of real connection, paired with poorly crafted and explained motivations and a messy corporate subplot, left me frustrated. It gets 2 stars because the idea had potential, but the execution was a total miss. If you’re craving a small-town romance with heart, you’ll be better off looking elsewhere.

**I received an e-ARC of this book through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own. **