Publication Date: March 12th 2019 by Montlake Romance
Pages: 329
Source: ARC from Publisher
About the book:
From New York Times bestselling author Catherine Bybee comes a new First Wives novel about wanting a family…and finding love.
Shannon Wentworth’s biological clock is ticking, and she isn’t going to let her single status keep her from having a baby. When her wedding-photography business takes her to Mexico, she has every intention of finding a willing baby daddy to help her out. Until the bride goes AWOL, leaving Shannon to coddle the arrogant fiancĂ© who has accused her of sabotaging his wedding.
Victor Brooks never could have imagined that he’d be on a honeymoon for one. Only here he is, taking a hard look at his life after the younger women he thought he loved walked out. The woman who volunteers to help him reflect is the last person he expects to be attracted to. Between the tequila, the sun, and one earth-shattering kiss, Victor finds Shannon a distraction too sexy to ignore.
They strike a deal: wait three months, cool off, and see if their tropical beach attraction is worth taking up when they go back home. Unfortunately, that’s just enough time for the past to come calling. All their best-laid plans are at risk. So is the last thing Shannon expected to matter the most: her heart.
My Thoughts:
Shannon’s been the most subdued character in this series, kind
of in the background, not outspoken at all.
We’ve got hints that she’s sad over the breakup of her marriage. It was a business arrangement, but Shannon fell
in love with her husband, and hoped he felt the same. Instead, he served her divorce
papers the day after the agreed upon date was up. Now that Shannon’s turning thirty-five her
biological clock is ticking, and she’s determined to have a baby even though
she doesn’t have a man. Her latest photo shoot job, a destination wedding, fits
in nicely with her plans as she intends to stay after the job finishes, and find
a man to father her baby, someone she’ll never see again. She never thought the annoying groom-to-be would
put a wrench into the works.
On the plane ride over to the wedding site, Shannon meets
Victor and is immediately irritated by his rude behavior and lets him know, something
that’s out of character for her. She has
no idea he’s the groom of the wedding she’s supposed to shoot, but they knock
heads even after she learns who he is. A
fun push and pull! The bride takes off leaving Victor at the altar, and Shannon
and Victor end up spending a lot more time together, not that they’re happy about
it, at first.
I was a little worried about Victor, because he was supposed
to be marrying another woman, and the romance develops with Shannon happens
while he was to have been on his honeymoon. However, it’s quickly apparent that
Victor and his intended bride were never really in love. Shannon and Victor do
try and put off dating for a time to make sure they’re not a rebound sort of
romance, but that only works for a little while because they can’t stay away
from each other.
This is a classic hate-to-love romance; a slow burn situation
as Victor and Shannon get to know each other. They spent a lot of time
platonically while the heat turns up between them, falling a little harder each
day. It was lovely! There are some insecurities on both sides, a
little bit of drama from exes, but nothing exasperating or over-the-top, just the
type of real-life bumps you run into while falling in love.
The cherry on top was the HEA epilogue that not only
featured Shannon and Victor in the future, but also the other previous couples
in the series!
4.5 Suns
Enemies to lovers with a slow burn romance, awesome. I never knew of this one before now. Thanks for sharing.
ReplyDeleteI love a hate-to-love romance! :)
DeleteDifferent beginning, but sure if it works
ReplyDeleteIt totally did! :)
DeleteI think that it is interesting that they are both coming out of really intense relationships at the start of the book. Glad this one worked out for you.
ReplyDeleteI guess I should've said that Shannon's marriage was a few years back and I felt that Victor's relationship was just ticking a box? On both sides, so it didn't really factor in for me. Thanks, Carole. :)
DeleteI read one of her books a few years ago and didn't care for it, but I think I'd like to give her stuff another go. A rebound romance is tricky, but I'm glad it was written in a way that you could get into it and believe the romance.
ReplyDeleteYeah, the first book I read by her was just okay for me, but I'm glad I tried another. I've really loved books 3 & 4 of the series, book 2 was just okay, and I haven't read the first one yet. I will continue to read her though. Hope it works out if you decide to give her another chance. :)
DeleteI'm not familiar with Bybee but this sounds like a good one! And I just love it when characters cross over books and we get a peek at their lives. :)
ReplyDeleteIt was! Me too, it's like an extra epilogue for beloved characters. :)
DeleteI loved their meet-cute, which was more like a meet-argument. It was fun being in Mexico, and I loved the countdown to courting. The wrap up ending was nice too, especially because I knew Shannon from the last series.
ReplyDeleteI love when an epilogue gives us a HEA and previous couples from the series! This sounds like a great read with the enemies to lovers trope, slow burn romance, and realistic small bumps in the relationship. Great Review Rachel!
ReplyDeleteLindy@ A Bookish Escape