I read the first of Ms. Bowen’s new True North series earlier this year, Bittersweet. It was okay. I skipped her second in the series because recovering drug addicts getting together with ex-girlfriend, whose brother he just happened to kill, aren’t exactly my thing. But I was looking forward to book three, Zachariah, the lovable, quiet farmhand. What a disappointment it was.
Zachariah was thrown out from a cult 4 years ago, and has been since living in Vermont as a farmhand. He’s sweet and lovable, and has minimal real world experience, even now. Lark (seriously Lark, the forced whimsy is palpable) is a “Wild Child” of rich university professors in Boston. She ends up coming to Vermont for apple picking season, because she’s recovering from PTSD after being kidnapped while working in Guatemala. Lark is BFFs with one of the farm’s daughters. There’s our instant connection between Lark and Zach, but due to them each clearly having boatloads of issues things progress a little strangely.
So the one main thing I did like was that love didn’t magically fix everything. Lark at a point is overwhelmed by her demons and must seek professional help. Baring that brief stint of professional help though love did magically fix everything. For both of them. These are two seriously troubled people, and they really really should not be getting into a relationship at the moment, but here we are. We’re reading romance. Of course they’re going to get into a relationship. It just left me feeling icky, and that these kids should not be living together less than a year into dating.
Also, and this is just me, there was not nearly enough sexy times in this one. I generally fall more on the “prudish” side of my romance friends, but this one was a lot light for me. I need more steam. Especially after the first in the series, this was highly lacking on that front.
Anywho this is all to say meh. I read it, I’ll keep reading Ms. Bowen for now, but she continues to walk towards I’m no longer interested line.