E-Reading After Midnight: ARC Review Catch Up

Sunday, December 2, 2018

ARC Review Catch Up - December 2, 2018

It was honestly a crazy week here. There were a couple of books that were impacted by the craziness in the schedule, so here are the reviews.

Hope on the Horizon by Kathryn McNeill Crane

3.25 Stars - Slightly Above Average Read

Review Copy Provided by Author

This is a solid, sweet story that leads to romance.
Hailey and Walker are both strong and interesting characters that bring a little bit of baggage with them. The automatic give and take between them was refreshing and I appreciated the way they seemed to bring the best out of each other the longer they worked together.
The story surrounding Hailey and Walker was also entertaining. There were elements of mystery, intrigue, small town politics, and danger.
As much as I enjoyed this book, there were things that I struggled with. Ms Crane is a new to me author, so I am not sure if it's her style or something specific to this book. There were times when when the conversations between Hailey and Walker seemed to jump the track a bit. They'd be dealing with one issue, then go off on a tangent that while it added to the story, seemed a bit out of place. I also struggled a little bit with Hailey. For a character that was positioned to be very strong and independent, there were times when she seemed to flip flop between being very "little woman-ish" or too stubborn for her own good. It made it hard to know who she really was.
There were a couple of other things that made it seem like important information might have been left on the cutting room floor.
Overall, I enjoyed this story, but did feel like it could have stronger in specific areas. I am curious too read more from this author.

Amazon

Snap Decision by Jami Davenport

3.25 Stars - Slightly Above Average Read

Review Copy Provided by Author

3.25 stars for a good sports/bad boy romance
Tyler is a Super bowl winning quarterback who has lost his will to play when he inherits a run down mansion on a semi remote island in Washington State. Lavender is Tyler's new neighbor, she has her own emotional baggage and one big reason to not like football players.
To be honest, this is a book I didn't really like at first. Tyler was just too much, too over the top in the negative stereotypes for me to embrace him. I also was a little slower to warm up to Lavender. Prior experience with Ms. Davenport and her ability to reform a bad boy kept me going and I am glad that I did.
As the story moved on, I did find myself starting to like Tyler and appreciate the emotional evolution he went through. He seemed to grow up, even if it was reluctantly, and realize the more important things in life. Lavender dealt with her own baggage as well, but it seemed a bit less organic to her character's personality.
I think the big struggle for me with Snap Decision is that while I enjoyed it and I enjoyed the chemistry give and take between Tyler and Lavender, I didn't feel the emotional connection between the two them until incredibly late in the book. The story between these two was very sexy, but just seemed a little cold. That lack of connection isn't characteristic of my experience with Ms. Davenport's work, so I missed it.
My understanding is that this is an older book that was updated and rereleased, that might account for the differences in the experience here between my other Davenport readings. She is an author I will continue to follow.