I read these two romances back in March, and for both, I enjoyed them while also not loving them. It mostly felt like nitpicky character reason that did make sense in context but also maybe just went a bit further than needed?
4 weekends and a funeral
Alison and Sam dated briefly but ended things on good terms shortly before he died in an accident. At the funeral, Alison discovers that Sam’s parents think she is still the girlfriend and goes along with it at Sam’s sister’s request. After all, it’s one funeral. But being a bit of a people pleaser, Alison ends up volunteering to help clear out Sam’s apartment so that his parents can sell it (turns out it is much easier to live the life of a carefree adventure influencer when your parents bought you an apartment/condo). Adam, Sam’s best friend, has also volunteered so even Adam clearly doesn’t want to deal with Alison, this is now a joint project between the two of them, to be completed over several weekends (Adam lives in Duluth so has to drive down).
This novel is told from first person perspective so it only gives Alison’s perspective of their story; they quickly feel an attraction for each other and fortunately, the novel doesn’t drag out the “best friend’s girl” angle too long, quickly letting Adam in on that white lie. Instead, the obstacles to Alison and Adam’s long term happiness are their own insecurities, and need to deal with some of their own fears that have been holding them back. For Alison, there are a few things – concerns about meeting expectations and what she should do vs what she wants, but ultimately so much of it is related to her mom’s breast cancer diagnosis and her own positive test for the breast cancer gene. She has had a mastectomy and now feels like she has to live her life to the fullest – this is what attracted her to Sam, this is why she is struggling with whether to take a promotion that would remove her from a job she loves, and why a woman that hates hiking is obsessively planning a week long hike in Chile despite everyone trying to gently tell her that she doesn’t need to prove her life worthwhile.
Basically, while her obsession with hiking was very understandable, it was also a bit irritating how she just wouldn’t let it go, and kept narrowing in on it throughout the book. As I said, a little nit-picky. Besides that, I quite like Adam and Alison, and how they really are regular, good and kind people.
In a Jam
I really liked The Worst Guy but made the mistake of thinking I should start at the beginning of that series (Vital Signs though Vital Signs is also related to an earlier series). And I did not like Before Girl – it was as basically an insta-love story from the MMC’s side and just didn’t work for me.
But the reviews for the novels in this series (Friendship, Rhode Island) have been really good, so I figured it was time to try again. After Shay’s fiancé calls off their wedding the morning of the wedding, Shay is ready for a change so when she finds out she inherited her step-grandmother’s tulip farm, she ends up deciding it is the perfect place to get away. Who cares if the terms of the will state she has to be married within a year to keep the farm, she just needs a change for a little bit, and then can leave again. Shay’s upbringing was a bit scattered – parents with money, lots of moving so she remembers Friendship fondly in retrospect as a time of stability.
Once there, she quickly runs into her high school friend from those days, Noah – he seems to hate her but that’s because he was in love with her and hurt by some of her actions after they left town, and how quickly they lost touch. Noah returned home to his family farm a few years ago, after following his dream of being a New York lawyer. Now, he has turned the family farm around, and is guardian to his young, chaotic, precocious and troubled niece. Since Shay is a kindergarten teacher, she becomes a helpful influence on the girl.
Noah and Shay quickly end up in a “marriage of convenience” though Shay doesn’t realize that it has nothing to do with convenience for Noah, and much of the novel deals with her lack of self worth/belief that he might actually love her. It all just took a little bit too long for her to accept the obvious signs.
My main issue with this one was that Shay’s insecurities dragged out too long. My other small nitpick for this is something I have been struggling with lately with romances and it’s unfair. But with capitalism the way it is lately, I do occasionally keep doing the math/wondering how anyone is affording anything. The nice thing is that Canterbary didn’t turn her characters into incredibly rich people but I still had my doubts on how much money a family farm could be making, even with all the jam sold, especially when considering all the expenses Noah seemed to have.