Thursday, June 18, 2015

"Love in a Small Town" (The Soldier's Second Chance) (Pine Harbour Book 1) by Zoe York


Synopsis:

Six years. Two break ups. One divorce. They should be over each other.

Police officer and army reservist Rafe Minelli knows better than to tell his wife no, particularly since they aren't married anymore. She can’t hightail it out of town, though, not when they’ve finally broken through the post-divorce cold war status quo.

Olivia Minelli needs to leave Pine Harbour. It’s just too hard to see Rafe moving on without her—even if he says he doesn’t want to. But when a new and exciting job falls into her lap, she needs to choose: protect her heart, or take the new job and risk getting emotionally entangled with her ex-husband. Again.

Genre: Contemporary Romance
My Review:
This book ensnared me in from the very first chapter and kept me enraptured to the very last page. I really enjoyed that this book shows a unique look at a love story - two people who are already in love, have struggled through a marriage and divorce, and both don't want to admit that they still love each other but are unable to find a way to be together. They fight their feelings for each other throughout the entire book. Their marriage is truly one that can be described as "love isn't always enough" and it takes both of them a while to figure out what else they have to do to make their love work.

There are times the author flashes back to previous times in Rafe and Olivia's marriage and it helps the reader to gain insight into what has driven them apart. I loved Rafe in this book. He isn't hesitant to show - and tell - Olivia how he feels about her; he just struggles with the way to do so in a way that makes for a successful marriage. As they are rekindling their relationship, I like how each of them really seems to be trying to figure out what didn't work about their last marriage and try to change that for the better. I think Rafe comes to his realization quicker and I love how he starts courting Olivia again. It takes Olivia longer to figure out that what she needs out of her marriage she can only get from herself and not from Rafe.

This is truly a love story - because it shows that love and marriage is hard, and it shows two people who BOTH work to create a successful marriage. They rebuild their relationship on the love they both still have, and each make changes and efforts that addresses what they believe their shortcomings were in their previous marriage ,and it results in a stronger second relationship between the two of them. It is a feel-good story with a happy ending I was cheering for from the first page.

Links:

About the Author:
I’m a busy working mom of two young boys, and for as long as I can remember, I have been a voracious romance reader. In early 2012, I got an idea for a novel. Then another, and another. My Google Drive account exploded with outlines and chunks of text and character bibles.

Over Christmas, I started a holiday novella. By the end of January, it was clear I was going to wander past novella length, and the story wasn’t limited to the holiday season. And it wasn’t just one book, anymore – it was also an introduction to a small town, Wardham.

Two years later, I can’t believe how much my life has changed. I published my tenth book earlier this fall, and have been blessed to be involved in the bestselling SEALs of Summer and SEALs of Winter boxed sets with some of my favourite author friends.

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