About the book: Charlee Jensen had what she considered the idyllic childhood growing up in a town named for that most prized emotion of all, Loveland, Colorado. At seventeen, her teenage crush, a man eight years older than her, marries and she naively thinks this is the worst thing that would ever happen to her. Then her parents divorce and her world crumbles. She finds herself being whisked away from her beloved home and estranged from her father.
Now eight years later, with two degrees that she never wanted in hand, and no job prospects, her father offers her a position with his CPA firm. With no other options available, Charlee accepts his offer and returns to the hometown she loved. While rebuilding her relationship with her father, she discovers that perhaps a romantic relationship is in the cards for her, with her old teenage crush, Ryan Carter, who just happens to still live next door and is now a partner in her father’s CPA firm.
Newly divorced and single dad, Ryan Carter, isn’t quite sure what to make of the girl next door, who’s all woman now. He finds himself having a hard time resisting this beautiful yet annoyingly charming woman, but their age difference and his complicated relationship with his ex-wife cause quite a bit of trouble for the couple. Ryan finds himself torn between keeping the peace with his ex-wife and mother of his child and his feelings for Charlee.
Can they successfully overcome their troubles in Loveland? Find out in this clean romance filled with sparks, humor, and of course, a little bit of trouble.
My review: Jennifer Peel is one of my new favorite authors. I have loved every one of her books, so I was super excited when she offered to send me this book that just came out last week. I LOVED every word of it. Charlee is really an amazingly well-written character. For me she kind of just jumped off the page and became someone that I thought that I could know. Charlee has been through a lot with the way that her parents got divorced and living with her mom, so for her relationships are something she takes very seriously.
I loved that Charlee had a chance to date the man that she has had a crush on since she was a young girl, who gets to do that! And Ryan really is a great character too, he's handsome, but what's really important is that he cares for Charlee and is a gentleman. They have their ups and downs, but they really have a cute love story. But what was really sweet about this love story is the way that Charlee learns to care, almost instantly, for Ryan's young son, Josh. I loved the way that he is included in the story. The scenes between Charlee and Josh were some of my very favorite to read.
I also loved that she was able to give her dad a second chance and allow him to change and grow, even though she had been badly hurt by his actions. I also enjoyed that at the beginning it seems as though Charlee's dad was the only one really at fault and that had hurt her, but later in the story we see the layers of pain that she had, and that some of it had come from her mom as well.
I thought that the plot of this book was engaging and fun! And the ending was super cute. There were a few mild swear words in this book, but it is a clean romance and very cute! I highly recommend any of Jennifer Peel's books!
I was sent an e-copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.Labels: Clean Romance, Jennifer Peel
