2.5 Stars. I found it a little tough to swallow a present day twenty-four year old basically thinking of herself as an old maid but Katie’s feelings of failure regarding an ex and her fledgling business worked well as far as believable motivation as to why a character who is at first presented as timid would take some chances.

Holding Matt back from admitting he’s interested in more than fake dating or sex with Katie is a whole bunch of messy baggage with an ex, which although understandably scarring for Matt and the ex, I found Matt’s rocky rapport with his dad and the few moments they shared in the story far more intriguing than the scenes with the ex and I really wish the father-son dynamic had received more focus here.

The pacing of the romance happened a bit faster than I would have liked, it seemed like Katie and Matt had really only shared a handful of moments together before each believed they were in love. Also, I definitely prefer more subtle physical attraction, I don’t mean closed door, a steamy sex scene is fine, it’s more when every other page the hero’s having overtly sexual thoughts, constantly undressing the heroine with his eyes, frequently reminding the reader how much he wants her and where he wants her (his thoughts even quickly go there immediately after thinking of a dead child), maybe that’s true to the way guys think, I wouldn’t know, it just seems like a bit much, like the book is trying way too hard to convince me of their attraction rather than just trusting in the characters’ natural chemistry.

But my issues with Matt’s lust-fueled thoughts are a personal preference thing, as are pretty much all the other reasons my rating on this one is kind of low, if you feel the opposite about these things in your reading life than I do, try this one for yourself, it may be a better fit for you than it was for me. ( )