Secure Cant Hurry Love (Crooked Creek Ranch, #2) Generated By Molly OKeefe Edition
think I liked this one a bit more than the first, I can't quite put my finger on why, I think it might have to do with the fact the Tori and Eli have known each other a while, It could also be that I felt like they took more time to fall in love with each other, I also liked that there was an epilogue of sorts that gave me a greater sense of closure for the couple that I didn't get in the first one.
Both Tori and Eli have abandonment issues, This makes it harder for them to trust each other and trust in their feelings, Tori's dead husband was involved in a Ponzi scheme that isolated her from everyone when he died, She feels responsible and takes a long time to get over her guilt, I have to say, I loved how she stands up for herself in the end, Eli and Tori were great together and I was really rooting for them, There is also a very sweet side romance involving Luc's mother, Celeste and a very handsome contractor, Thanks to Goodreads first read and Random House for the GOOD READ!
What can I sayfor this one, Victoria Baker is a women who has allowed men to walk all over her all her life she has taken over the running of the family ranch after hers fathers death.
Victoria is seeking a new life for herself and son Jacob after her husbands horrific and disgraceful death,
Unfortunately , Victoria knows nothing about ranching, Victoria finds herself relying on Eli Turnball her fathers ranch Forman to teach her,however he has a hidden agenda of gaining the ranch for himself,
Through the head butting between the two them a sexual tension and relationship develops, each of them drawing out parts of the other that they never expected.
Victoria grows stronger and Eli opens up emotionally !
Multiple sub plots with supporting characters weave this story all together,
I almost DNFed this a couple of times, The MCs had so many issues, Wow, the growth and the difference in the characters from the start of this story until the end was simply breathtaking! Victoria and Eli have a million very valid reasons for how they feel and what they do because of those feelings, but what they cant deny is that, though they should be enemies, are enemies because of their family roots, they have a connection.
Not just a physical attraction, but an emotional one, And by seeing the cracks the other, they are able to heal the cracks in themselves, By being there and supporting the other, they are building up and releasing their own inner strength, Out of sync, and in denial for most of the story, when they finally let everything fall into place, they are beautiful with the perfectness of them being together! The review originally appeared on Clear Eyes, Full Shelves.
I have a a tough time reading the romance genre, Renegade is our Official Romance Correspondent, and she is so shrewd with her observations of what works an what doesnt, and really articulating that in the context of the genre.
And, I think that romance is a very important genre, Yep. People who know me are often shocked by this, Thats because romance is the only genre thats largely dominated by female readers and writers, This is a significant thing,
However, I often find myself distracted by the tried and true character types and story structures, Theres nothing wrong with those things, its just they often dont work for me, I like books that push the limits and take characters in unexpected directions, And more than anything, I want an emotionally authentic story,
This is why I appreciate the two novels Ive read by Molly OKeefe so muchthey work for me because theyre emotionally complex and the characters surprise me.
Cant Buy Me Love was remarkable in how challenging the characters were, pushing all sorts of boundaries in terms character motivation and development, Cant Hurry Love, the companion novel featuring different characters but set in the same Texas ranch, featured similarly challenging characters, one of whom was simply unlikable in the previous novel.
But also as in the previous novel Cant Hurry Love explores damaged people finding a path forward and coming to terms with their own pasts and figuring out a future together.
Victoria is the sister of Luc, the ailing hockey player in Cant Buy Me Love, In that novel, we learn that shes recently widowed, following the suicide of her husband who had orchestrated a Ponzi scheme that bilked the couples friends in New York out of much of their money.
She and her son and alone in the world, as all of her former friends have turned their backs on her, Marooned at her late fathers Texas ranch, she really has no means to take care of herself and support her sonshe was always taken care of,
In the previous book Victoria came across as, well, pretty much a colossal bitch, Which is why Id held off on buying Cant Hurry Love, to be honest, But, in this novel, the reason for her hostility and insular behavior is revealed, My heart sort of broke of Victoria when I understood more about her character, Shed always been taken care of, filling a certain role in New York society, but she never really worked out why she is and what she wanted out of life.
Then theres Eli, who lived his entire life on the Crooked Creek ranch, and who knows exactly what he wants: to live on the ranch and start his horse breeding business.
Hes happy being a loner and has built of very carefully lines of demarcation around his life, The terms of Victoria and Lucs fathers will left him a portion of the herd of cattle, so Will finds himself suddenly able to finance his dream.
Except Victoria throws a bit of a wrench into his plans to buy the ranch when she announces that shes finally figured out a plan to support herself by converting the ranch into a luxury spa catering to the sort of people she left behind in New York.
Enter an interesting push and pull between the two, as they each dig in their heels and challenge each other, Whats unexpected to both is how the other rises to the occasion, When Victoria mucks out the horse stalls for Eli, she also sprinkles them with potpourri, This push and pull is interesting, because each reacts to it extremely different,
Victoria embraces pushing back as a rejection of her old self, the person who spent all of her time playing a role, Its freeing.
On the other hand, for Eli, this dynamic makes him feel like an ass, Its this element that makes Cant Hurry Love work so well for me, If you were to read the blurb for the novel, it sounds like the two characters are tried and true archetypes, However, almost immediately its clear that both Eli and Victoria are wearing masks, letting people only see what they want them to see, As the grow closer, they each let the other see a bit more of the “real” person behind that carefullyconstruction facade, Its quite moving.
There are also some intriguing sidestories in Cant Hurry Love,
My favorite of which is the transformation of Victoria and CelesteLucs mother whom Victorias father cheated on with Victorias mother, Celeste is a former model, gorgeous and a selfmade success, Yet, aging preoccupies her. Shes invigorated by her new partnership with Victoria, and she also gets involved with a contractor working on the spa project, For me, this was a satisfying direction for Celestes story to head, as I viewed her as symbolic of Victorias possible future had she not given herself permission to get involved with Eli.
I know not everyone loves this sort of veering from the main story, but I adore it when its done well, and it was in this case.
A lot of Elis family history as he knew it unravels
as his relationship with Victoria grows into something real, This is brought on by the presence of Elis mother, whos an accomplished architect that Victoria and Celeste hire to work on the spa project, Lots of things that Eli thought were true about his family and the circumstances of his childhood come to light and, like Victorias character, his behavior makes far more sense with this context.
I love that theres resolution to the family issues, but its not “fixed,” the groundworks simply laid for Eli to be able to move forward,
The one significant annoyance in Cant Hurry Love occurs near the end of Eli and Victorias story, While I cant say what it is, because that would be too much of a spoiler even though its a minor plot point, I addressed it in the spoiler below and in the sitelinkspoiler discussion area on the blog.
Id love to hear your thoughts on this topic,
Despite that one frustration, Cant Hurry Love proved, much like its companion, to be an emotionally authentic and fresh novel that should appeal to readers who dont usually pick up a romance.
The journey that the main characters take together, as well as their individual growth rang as realistic and compelling, Its messy and difficult, just like real life,
FNL Character Rating: Tim and Lyla
Disclosure: I received a copy of this book from the authorwhich now has my favorite inscription on any book ever.
sitelink
Initial reaction:
I read and really liked Molly O'Keefe's Can't Buy Me Love, so when she sent me a copy of the second book in this series about interconnected characters on a Texas ranch, promising a Tim and Lylatype story, I was pretty excited.
Despite the yuck waxed man chest cover, And I really, really liked this one too, Like CBML, this one is one that should appeal to folks who don't read a lot of romance and people who like complex, emotional stories that are as much about the characters' personal growth as their relationship with one another.
I was pretty impressed with how sympathetic both characters were, since Eli and Victoria both annoyed me in CBML, This would be a solidfor me it's probably around,, but I rounded up, because that plot point is more of a personal bugaboo for me if it weren't for the epilogue and tiny epiloguerelated storyline at the end of the novel.
FWIW, I don't think the book description does a very good job of really explaining what CHL is about, Both of these characters have had really tough experiences, so they're prickly, but the description makes it sound like the two are warring throughout the novel, and that's not really how it goes down.
It's more of a negotiation for middle ground with these twoit's more realistic,
I'll write a longer review for the blog, but in general I recommend CHL to anyone looking for a different, emotionally authentic romance,
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