This RITA® Reader Challenge 2016 review was written by Nita G. This story was nominated for the RITA® in the Mid-Length Contemporary category.
The summary:
In the latest novel from the New York Times bestselling author of Hope Burns, a woman discovers that the man she least expects is exactly what she needs…
High school math teacher Chelsea Gardner has the perfect plan. She’s tired of dating all the wrong men, and after years of frustration, she’s developed a foolproof list of requirements for finding “The One.”
Bar owner Sebastian “Bash” Palmer finds Chelsea beautiful, smart and fun, but he thinks her list is ridiculous and unnecessary. Intent on proving Chelsea is looking for love in all the wrong ways, he offers to help her find the “perfect” man.
Chelsea knows Bash isn’t the right guy for her—he barely meets one of her criteria—but there’s something about the charismatic man that has her yearning for things that are most definitely not list approved.
Because sometimes, a relationship that looks totally wrong on paper can turn out incredibly right…
Here is Nita G.'s review:
Maybe I shouldn’t have read the three books in this series that come before this book? But because I like to read series in order and the first book had been sitting on my bookshelf for months, I thought I would read the others before I read and reviewed this one. My main problems with this book are the same I had with the others in the series. But first let me tell you what I liked about this book.
The heroine. In fact, I liked the heroines from each of the books. Each was unique and had personality. I wasn’t too keen with Chelsea’s list of perfect man traits, but I liked her determination. The friendship the female characters had was great too.
The plot. It wasn’t overly complicated – in a good way. It was pleasant and kept my interest. I wanted Chelsea and Bash to get past her stupid perfect man list and his issues and find their happily ever after. Chelsea and Bash have been dancing around each other since the beginning of the series. It was obvious they were going to be paired up. And I was actually pretty happy I got to read their book.
The cover. Hot man and a dog. What more needs to be said?
Speaking of dogs, all the main characters in this series are dog lovers. Dogs are featured quite a bit. Bash ends up inheriting his dog, Lou, from a woman who only got the dog to impress him. Lou is part of what gets these two beyond the heated stares and light flirting. Good girl, Lou!
Here’s what I didn’t like about this book.
The hero. With this series, if felt like I was reading the same hero over and over again, just with different occupations. In the beginning of each book the hero is in the mind set that he will never be serious with a woman again because of first wife issues in three of the books and because of high school sweetheart issues in the other. Bash has first wife issues. His first marriage did not work out, so obviously the thing to do is not believe in serious relationships anymore and sleep with all the women. All four heroes are exactly the same. Very adamant that they are perfectly content to be in sex only relationships. Bash even admits at the beginning of the book that the no-strings relationships aren’t making him happy. But does he think to change how he does relationships? Nope. After what felt like reading the same character in four books, there just wasn’t much about Bash to be enamored with. Even if I hadn’t read the other three books, I still feel like I would have been pretty meh about him. He wasn’t awful, but he also wasn’t awesome.
The dialogue. The characters all talked the same. And to me, the dialogue felt very mundane and wooden. Maybe too formal is the right description? It didn’t feel natural, like how people talk in real life.
This was a C read for me. There were enough things I enjoyed in this book and series that I didn’t wonder what I had gotten myself into. But there were things that really annoyed me. I’m kind of tempted to read the fifth book in the series, just to see if the hero changes at all. And the cover has a dog again with the hero holding a long, big piece of wood. You know, because he is an architect.
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Man. I could deal with the same hero-ness even if that’s annoying, but awkward dialogue is disappointing
Architects draw not build. He should be holding a big, mechanical pencil. As I’m sure you know, but apparently a book cover designer didn’t. *eye roll*
Does anyone else think the cover of this book has a man with pretty large breasts? When describing the hero of a romance novel, I don’t think one should be able to use the word “buxom.”
I couldn’t agree with you more about the wooden dialogue. I tried another book of hers and couldn’t get through it the dialogue was so clunky.
@Nita G you’ve perfectly summed up why I like Jaci Burton books, but don’t love them. Thanks for the review.
I read this book and enjoyed it. However, I did not read any of the previous books in the series. Had I read them, I suspect I would have had the same criticisms because I simply hate it when an author takes what in my opinion is the lazy way out and writes to a formula.
Another thing I object to everywhere I find it is the hero burnt out on serious relationships because one woman done him wrong back in the day. Dude! Grow up! Deal with in a responsible manner and go for therapy. If we women turned off men this way, the human race would have died out long ago.
Am I the only one who’s noticing the dog is STARING adoringly at the hero’s erect nipple?
@Anne: The dog might think it’s a snausage.
Better his erect nipple than something else that might be erect.
@ Nita G. – your review expressed what I felt after the first two books in the series. I can’t resist a book with a pup on the cover and bought Hope Flames. Enjoyed it, so I bought the second and didn’t like it quite so much.
Nita G.’s review comments about the similar heroes in this series struck a chord with me. One of my favorite reading “events” is to read an entire series in straight nights, especially when I am reading all or most of the titles for the first time. However, doing so serves to highlight what I think of as author ticks — where each heroine has the same physical shape and hair color or every hero has the same nose and chin.
@jimthered YES. The man on the cover is pretty clearly breastfeeding a chihuahua