Beth KendrickReseñas
Autor de Nearlyweds
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I like that the sisters rediscovered a relationship as a result. I like that Linnie begins to realize that second place does not mean "first loser".
I didn't like some of the cutthroat methods used by the competitor's to sabotage the others. What's wrong with doing your best and letting the others do their best? (And I don't mean something simple like you needed 4 eggs for your recipe and you took the last 4 eggs there were so another team that dropped theirs had none--no, this is things like substituting salt for sugar or trying to incapacitate another competitor by putting drops in their coffee!)
There's a bit of a twist in that in the end, the winners end up sabotaging themselves unknowingly.
We follow flight attendant Summer Benson after she survives a plane crash and her boyfriend (who she thought was going to propose) dumping her once she's in the hospital. She hightails it to Black Dog Bay in Delaware to lick her wounds after remembering the brochure being on the plane and mentioning that it was a place for those single and heart broken to recover. Once Summer arrives in Black Dog Bay she meets the year long residents, the summer residents, and the mayor and his sister who she finds herself attracted to and wanting to take care of in that order.
I found Summer to be hilarious from beginning to end. When she first arrives in Black Dog Bay she is beaten down, and as a reader I was surprised that she was honestly. She didn't seem keen on marrying her hot nice guy pilot boyfriend. And for her to take things as she did felt weird. We figure out why, but it was a long meandering road to get there, and once we did it made sense, but I wish that we had, had some sort of resolution to Summer and her parents in some way. That whole thing hung over the book and honestly was one of the reasons why I didn't give this five stars.
The book was funny and sad in parts, but mostly funny. Reading about Summer and the other women in Black Dog Bay trying to get over their exes sounded like my friends and I in our 20s when we would burn our exes pictures. I have no idea why women do this, we just do. I thought adding in the little wrinkle with Summer trying to deal with Black Dog Bay's orneriest resident also made things interesting. But, another reason why I didn't give this book five stars, was the choice that Summer was forced to make. I felt like for a second this book had switched over to a regency romance since those are the only books that have set-ups like this. It really didn't work for me at all in a contemporary romance.
I have been to Delaware many many times, and I did laugh a bit that Black Dog Bay Delaware was super popular with summer residents and had people living there who had million dollar homes. If this was a place a little closer to D.C. maybe I could buy it, but other than that the fictional little town sounded cute and I wish that it existed. The book store, the Whinery, the hair salon and other places sounded like every single women who has been dumped fantasy.
The chemistry between Summer and the mayor, Dutch Jansen was believable and actually made sense. With Dutch and Summer both thinking that she is only there for a set point in time, it made a lot of sense that they would get together thinking that there would be no strings attached.
I thought the ending was very cute and I promptly went and bough the second book in the series after I finished this.
The main character Lila Anders is reeling from a divorce and her father's death. Having no money after an 18 month contentious divorce, she returns home to Black Dog Bay to her mother who finds it hard to cope without her father. Once she is home, Lila realizes that though she thought her parents had a golden marriage and everything was perfect, she finds out that her family was left bankrupt after the recession with her father not telling her mother how bad things were before he died. Now Lila is forced to decided what she and her mother can do in order to find enough money to pay off the family's debts.
Lila is a tough woman and one wonders how she got to be that way when you read about how spoiled she and her mother were by her father. A former prom queen, Lila dated the prom king throughout high school with everyone thinking that she would go off to be a big success someday. Readers find out that Lila's life while married was not perfect at all and her realizing that she didn't do enough thinking for herself while growing up.
Lila's mother at first was annoying as anything. But when you realize that this former model is doing her best to survive without the man who was the love of her life you start to feel sorry for her. Her snappy comebacks to Lila and others cracked me up. And reading about what she knew about couture and fashion in general was wonderful. I found out a lot of things about how to tell fake bags apart from the real ones.
We have the re-appearance of Summer from the first book in the series, and though I love that character, her step/sister in law or whatever she is supposed to be drove me crazy. I was well and sick and tired of this character and her bossing Summer around and acting like a jerk about Summer and Dutch getting married. I wish those parts could have been shortened or taken out all together.
What was really great was the way the book was Lila realizing that she didn't really need her old boyfriends to help her get up and get things done. Instead of relying on a man like her mother wanted her to, it was great to see Lila doing whatever was possible to get her new business with her mom up and running.
There are some hilarious moments with Lila dealing with her possessed all terrain vehicle she bought out of spite when she realized that her husband was divorcing her. After a while you start to think that the car is really out to get Lila.
I really wish that Beth Kendrick would actually show love scenes in these books. It is so strange to read up to almost the deed and skip over it and have the main character reflect how awesome it was. She did this in book #1 as well and I remember scratching my head at it. I don't need all of the down and dirty details, but it be nice to get some visuals here and there.
The writing was just as funny as book #1 and the flow did work except for the parts that incorporated too much of Summer's sister in law. I wish that we had been given a point of view showcasing Lila's mom since she was loads more interesting than any of the other secondary characters.
I do want to say that I was not totally in love with the ending which is why I gave it four stars for the most part. I really wish that we had gotten more of Lila and her mother working together.
We have a hero, Jake Sorenson long time readers know as the hot guy who helps out the sad and newly women in Black Dog Bay with getting over their exes by getting under him, and heroine, Brighton Smith.
Brighton's perfect world comes crashing down when her fiancee demands the engagement ring back after a car ride to work (for that alone I would have punched the guy in the face) and after a blast from her past calls her, decides to go to Black Dog Bay to visit her old friend from college. When Brighton's ex calls her to let her know that he just got married to a woman he just met, she gets drunk and gets even by running off to get married to Jake Sorenson.
So the plot is pretty much Brighton doing everything she can to get past Jake's walls with her constantly saying how she just plans on staying married to him for two weeks (how long her vacation time is) with the understanding that they will divorce and or get an annulment. Only problem is, is that Brighton finds herself carrying for Jake and falling for him while having wild passionate sex (that by the way we never get to read about, we either get the before or after no actual sex scenes) and we have Jake with all of the personality of beige wallpaper so one wonders what the heck did Brighton see in him.
I don't know. I get that most contemporary romances are going to just have hero heroine together in the end with some obstacles thrown in along the way. But seriously, this book from beginning to end makes no sense. It was super frustrating.
Brighton we know came from an unstable childhood because her aging hippie mother didn't get money and now that Brighton is older, she gave up her dream to be a jeweler designer to become an actuary. Instead of Brighton embracing the time off that she in Black Dog Bay by working with Lila (New Uses for Old Boyfriends) she keeps going on and on about things being temporary and just acting put upon the whole time. She drove me crazy. You marry a guy who you know for not even 24 hours, you can't just sit and moan about how he is not opening up to you. We also don't see any changes with regards to Brighton and her mom at all. Instead it looks like she will keep bailing her out for the rest of her life.
Jake had an interesting backstory and honestly I think that Beth Kendrick would have been better served to make him the sole focus of this book. Why in the world was this book told from Brighton's point of view? Readers know Jake and it would have been awesome to get to know what made him tick. Instead we had a whole cloak and dagger thing going on with regards to his past (and which makes everyone around him seem like the most self interested people ever) and I found myself getting more intrigued by him. He still has the personality of beige wallpaper when he has interactions with Brighton, but I like to think based on his past there was a flashy lavender stripe in the wallpaper barely visible unless you stood up close. What I thought made Jake suck more is his open acknowledgement of why he let someone from his past lead him around by his nose. It was not cute or attractive. I can see why he was referred to as John Gatsby from The Great Gatsby at that point.
The secondary characters were just bad in this one. I mean I loved Lila and Malcolm in New Uses for Old Boyfriends and still loved them here, but Lila feels paper thin and not even like the same woman she was in book #2. We get a reappearance by Summer (Cure for the Common Breakup) and man oh man I hated her in this one. She acted like a jerky valley girl. We also get some new characters introduced and can I just say they were pretty terrible.
The writing is the same from the previous two books. I think just the dull characters and lack of progression within the book is what tripped me up. I got tired of reading about how hot Jake was or the Jake Sorenson smolder. Reading about how they both liked to drink orange Gatorade (disgusting) after having sex was not a cute little tidbit I had to keep reading over and over again. In fact the whole book felt repetitive. There is no real obstacles here except emotional ones.
The ending will make some readers go awww. It did not make me go awww.
I think my biggest problem is that this whole thing was so far fetched and not believable. A woman (Cammie) is called to help by her cousin (Kat) when her aunt Ginger) buys a winery on a whim in Delaware. Cammie is still reeling from being dumped by her ex and being left bankrupt by him when their restaurant failed. Running back to Delaware where she left her last serious boyfriend is not what she wants to do. They of course have an awkward meet up and then she of course needs the ex's help while trying to keep her aunt's winery afloat.
I really wanted to like Cammie, but felt meh on her. I outright got really tired of the character of Kat who is going through a mid-life crisis and acts like a jerk towards her husband through the whole book and then magically resolves things. Ginger was just frustrating since she refuses to see what her being a winery without any idea how to run it causes problems to her daughter and niece.
I guess I needed some real life tension in this book to be included. It just felt like everything related to this installment was going through the motions.
Suddenly, Allardyce dies, and Jocelyn is named legal guardian to the dogs, as well as a huge inheritance that comes along with their care. This includes her living in his incredible mansion - correction - her mansion. When she learns this while at the reading of the will, she isn't the only one shocked. After all, she was a glorified dogsitter. Among the people outraged is Liam, who claims that Allardyce was his father and that he was robbed of his inheritance.
Jocelyn has been fighting her entire life. Raised without a father, she is blessed with a very strong mother and has learned quite a lot in her life. One thing for certain is that she is not going to back down easily. If Liam wants a fight, he's got one. Meanwhile, Jocelyn has been dating Chris, who happens to be the same man that almost ran her and the dogs over. More than once, Jocelyn wonders if she is good enough for a rich man like Chris. What social faux pas does she chance making?
Minor things that bothered me in the book. For example, Jocelyn was very comfortable riding with Chris, a perfect stranger, but not Liam, who she had been around much more. Minor inconsistencies like this offset my rating. Then, I wasn't too keen on certain issues she took her mother.
Despite those concern, I found this to be an enjoyable read, and I loved the storyline. There were quite a few humorous moments in the story, especially when it came to the antics of the dogs. Although women's fiction, I am someone who enjoys happily ever after, and I do love how the author played this out. We got to see Jocelyn's growth throughout this entire process. And, needless to say, all of the dogs were a delight! I definitely want to grab this entire series to-date as well as any future titles.
The series consists of Cure for the Common Breakup, New Uses for Old Boyfriends, Put a Ring On It and Once Upon a Wine. Despite the fact that I haven't yet had the chance to read them, In Dog We Trust did quite well as a standalone.
Many thanks to Berkley and to NetGalley for this ARC to review in exchange for my honest opinion.
Please see all of my reviews on my blog at www.robinlovesreading.com.
The tourist season is beginning in Black Dog Bay. The wealthy who ‘summer’ here are filtering in, which means Jocelyn Hillier, who runs a laundry service for the tourists is busy, especially now that her mother is recovering from surgery.
But, it’s Jocelyn’s other job as a dog walker and sitter for Mr. Allardyce which unexpectedly turns her life upside down.
When Mr. Allardyce suddenly dies, he leaves his fortune to his dogs, and names Jocelyn as their guardian, propelling her into a life of ease. But Mr. Allardyce’ estranged son, Liam, has decided to contest the will. However, he never counted on Jocelyn’s determination to honor Mr. Allardyce’s will or her will to fight for a new way of life.
If things weren’t complicated enough, Jocelyn and Liam discover that although they are legal adversaries, they happen to like one another- a lot!!
This is a sweet, light, and mildly fluffy story about family, class distinctions, and compromise. There is heartbreak along the way, but ultimately this is a book that will lift your spirits and leave you feeling upbeat, which is something we could all use a lot more of. The romance is sweet, with only a mild angst, despite the circumstances. Also, there are dogs- and who doesn’t love a story that features dogs?
Jocelyn is a terrific character, and I cheered for her from start to finish. The supporting cast is outstanding, each pulling their share of the load, and adding something special or important to the story.
When I close a book with a big goofy grin on my face, I owe the author a debt of gratitude for cheering me up and sending me a few much- needed positive vibes. Some will scoff and claim it is not realistic, but lets look at it a little closer-
The feel -good ending here didn’t just magically work out on its own. The characters each had to concede something or contribute something. They all had to consider the viewpoint of others involved, which requires work, patience, and maturity. Things don’t always turn out like we hope they will in life, but when people work together the results are often better than one could have thought possible.
I’d say it paid off nicely for them. Their example is one we could all learn from. The message is just as important as those presented with a heavier tone or in a more dramatic way. So, to say it isn't possible for people to settle disputes, or conflict in a civil manner, or that love doesn't factor in it, sells us all short, in my opinion.
You may notice this is a part of a series, but this book can be read as a stand-alone. However, I think it would be fun to read the previous installments and of course I will be sure to catch any future chapters in this series, especially since Black Dog Bay is the best place to recover from a heartbreak. You may arrive with a frown, but you’ll leave with a smile- and that’s good enough for me!
The stars of the book of course are the dogs. I am a dog lover. They had so much personalities to help keep this book entertaining and funny. The romance between Jocelyn and Liam was there. However, I would call it more "sweet" than "spicy". There were times when I hit some speed bumps along my reading way but this was I stated had to do with the character connection. Overall, I would still read this book and if you have not checked out this series, do so now.
Jocelyn Hillier and her mother live in an expensive, beachside summer vacation town in Delaware. They're not rich, though. They're locals, and run a laundry service for summer visitors.
And one day, Jocelyn is out for a run, and winds up saving a Labrador from getting hit by a car and killed. In the process, she meets both Peter Allardyce, owner of Carmen whom she has just rescued, and three other very expensive Labs, all of whom have prestigious pedigrees, and Christopher Cantor the Third, a young man both handsome and rich, as well as very charming.
Despite her mother's warnings against having anything to do with summer people, or rich people generally, Jocelyn is soon exercising Allardyce's dogs, and dating Chris.
Chris isn't the prize he seems, but on the other hand, elderly, misanthropic, and tightfisted, turns out to have a higher opinion of her than she had any basis for suspecting. She finds out when he dies suddenly.
What follows is a wild summer of sudden wealth, a custody fight over the dogs, a struggle with Allardyce's estranged son over ownership of the beach house, and revelations about old friends, her own estranged father, and the stranger aspects of the dog show world. Frozen sperm! Unacceptable colors! The huge stakes for high-ranked dogs competing with other high-ranked dogs! Puppy contracts!
Not to mention friends who turn out to have real fortune-telling gifts, and an "ugly" painting gifted to her from her estranged father that turns out to be something a great deal more.
It's a lot of fun. The dogs are great, the people are likable and interesting, and the oddities of the dog show world and purebred dog breeding are displayed without being mocked.
Did I mention the dogs are great? And that Jocelyn is a great dog owner?
Oh, and there's a good romance included, though it isn't with Chris.
Recommended.
I received a free electronic galley of this book from the publisher via NetGalley, and am reviewing it voluntarily.
Beth Kendrick, Author of "In Dog We Trust" has written an enjoyable, amusing, entertaining, lovable story. If you love animals, this book will definitely make you smile. The Genres for this book are Fiction, Women's Fiction, and Romance. The timeline for this story is in the present, and only goes to the past when it pertains to the characters or events in the story. The colorful characters in the story each have their own personalities, and problems, including the dogs.
Jocelyn Hillier is an ambitious, honest young women, who is extremely hardworking, and loves animals. Jocelyn helps her Mom do the laundry for the renters of the community. These would be the wealthy seasonable visitors that reside in the seaside community. Joscelyn's mother has warned her to stay away from any possible romantic entanglements with the wealthy visitors.
Jocelyn finds herself helping wealthy and obnoxious Mr. Allardyce with his highly pedigreed dogs. She walks them and gives them love. When Mr. Allardyce dies, Jocelyn finds herself in the position of being legal guardian of his dogs, and living in his mansion with a tremendous amount of money that she is able to spend. Instead of being a seasonal resident, Jocelyn is now living in the wealthy tourist style, which she is not used to at all. Of course this new arrangement has irritated some people who believe that Jocelyn has no right to anything Mr. Allardyce's will stated. One of those who will fight her is Liam, Mr. Allardyce's son.
In addition to possibly fighting the will, can it be possible that Liam is cute and a nice guy as well? Of course, Jocelyn takes note that her dogs require a tremendous amount of maintenance, and some of the most lovable moments center around the dogs. The most important stipulation of the will is that Jocelyn must be guardian of the dogs. Yet, there are some people who question that as well. What does one do? Is it love or money? Which is more important?
I had a good time reading this book, and had some chuckles. This is a heartwarming story, and I highly recommend this to readers who love animal stories with romance. I received an ARC from NetGalley for my honest review. Happy Reading!!
Brighton's fiance has asked for the engagement ring back. For him, their argument about the efficiency of the zipper merge during their morning commute was the last straw. Feigning sickness to leave work once she realizes that Colin isn't going to call and repair things between them, Brighton, a buttoned up insurance actuary who carefully weighs the pros and cons of everything, calls an old friend and invites herself to stay. What she doesn't know is that her old friend has just relocated to Black Dog Bay, Delaware, the break-up and broken hearts capital of the country. Once there, Brighton acts impulsively and also rediscovers her creative side through her love for jewelry design. First, she meets Jake Sorensen, who would be the perfect rebound relationship. He'd be perfect, except they actually end up married after former fiance Colin calls Brighton and tells her that he's married a woman he just met. Her spontaneous revenge marriage to Jake is just tit for tat. And in her case, Jake knows the score. They'll stay married for two weeks to allow Brighton to cut loose in ways she never dreamed (not too loose though as two weeks is all the vacation time she has from work). But what if the life she's living is the one she wants to keep? And what if the cons she uncharacteristically didn't take time to consider could derail this happiness?
Although this novel is the third in the series, it stands alone just fine. Characters from previous books do make appearances but not knowing their back stories is no detriment to the reader. Brighton has allowed fear to dictate who she's become in life. She's too financially scared to do what she loves and feed her creative side and so she subsumes all of that to the boring and measured practicality of being an actuary. Going to Black Dog Bay and acting so incredibly out of character allows her to reconnect with the person she's hidden inside herself for so long. Learning who she wants to be and how she wants to live her life brings her happiness as well as insecurity and it is in the acceptance and embracing of that insecurity that she really starts to live. Jake is drawn as a sexy, stoic character whose past history, while not entirely secret, is not mentioned until it threatens the budding relationship he and Brighton are building. It turns out that the pasts that shaped both of them have a very similar base, even if they've reacted to that base in wildly different ways.
As in the previous books in the series, Kendrick has written a frothy, cute romantic story that just happens to have a woman who is finally being empowered to be who she wants to be, one who finds happiness and success and love because she is determined to follow her own heart. This is light and fun escape reading with an ending that won't disappoint.
The first thing that reeled me in was the adorable cover. Who can resist a sweet little fur-baby face?? As I was standing there perusing the shelves I noticed that practically all of the author's books have covers that make you want to toss them your cart and take them home with you. Being a total cover-snob, this is a powerful thing!
After I got the book home, I realized that it was actually part of a series called Black Dog Bay. I believe it is the third book. Apparently though, the books can be read individually as I did not feel that I was missing out on anything by not reading the two prior books.
The story is set in a picturesque resort town called Black Dog Bay, and is the perfect location for this entertaining beach read. The main character is Brighton Smith, who has a basically mundane insurance job and suddenly finds herself jilted by a fiance who calls to tell her he just married someone else! So she heads out to Black Dog Bay to visit a friend and get away from her sudden predicament. And this is where the story pretty much begins.
I really enjoyed this sweet, romantic comedy. It is perfect for those times when you just need something that is uncomplicated, easy to read, and gives you a reason to smile. I will definitely be looking for more by Beth Kendrick. I find her writing to be charming, and her characters are all engaging and fun.
Enlaces
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I enjoyed that Summer was a flight attendant--this could be a really fun premise and I'm surprised it's not a more common trope. At the beginning, she's in a plane accident which causes her and her boyfriend of the time to really take another look at life.
The town of Black Dog Bay was fantastically imagined. The bar is the Whinery; the boutique is Retail Therapy; and so forth. It was all very clever and I feel like it should be an actual place as I can imagine a lot of people wanting to go there.
I enjoyed how Summer communicated with her best friend from before Black Dog and how she made friendships with the other girls in town. I was surprised there weren't many people who were also going through breakups that Summer interacted with, but I loved Hattie and Mimi and the character that the various townsfolk brought to the book.
The one thing that I found hard to buy was how Summer got her first date--with so many rebounding girls around, I thought it'd be a little bit harder. Also, it didn't seem like she really wanted to marry Aaron, so I didn't quite buy her all of a sudden needing to go to heal her broken heart--there was definitely more to her emotional state that could have been explored.
Ingrid was my absolute favourite and I loved seeing her change and evolve alongside Summer. She was very blunt and added an interesting element to the story, something more unique than a child.
This book drew me in and captivated me completely, and as such I recommend it for a great escape and for optimistic light reading.