I read and loved “The Hating Game” based on many great reviews from fellow Cannonballers. I snatched this one up as soon as I saw it on the new book shelves at the library. It’s the perfect summer book and I devoured it in a few sittings out in my garden.
Darcy and her twin brother, Jamie “adopted” the boy who lived across the street, Tom, when they were eight years old. Their close friendship has lasted into adulthood with Tom providing a much needed buffer between the two fairly pig headed siblings. Out of undying gratitude for providing him stability and opportunities that his struggling single mother could not, Tom tries keep them both happy.
Enter the steamy romance portion. Darcy has been in love with Tom since she was a kid. Thinking that he is too good and decent of a person for her, she runs away the first time that the possibility of a relationship between them flickers to life. Years later when Tom is engaged to someone else, Jamie and Darcy have inherited their grandmother’s cottage and hire Tom to renovate it to sell. Tied down by the memory of her grandmother, Darcy isn’t happy with her brother’s plans to “modernize” the little cottage and strip it of its character. Having Tom traipsing around in a tool belt and work boots tearing the place apart with his bare hands is also causing her a different kind of problem.
Like her first book, Thorne creates a bunch of relatable people doing relatable things. While the will they or won’t they can get a teeny bit taxing, it’s refreshing to dip a toe in the water of mostly well adjusted folks trying to figure their stuff out without the added drama of higher stake issues like murder or abuse or mental illness. Sometimes I need a break from the heavy, and Thorne delivered.