to hop on the Karen Tuft band wagon! I absolutely loved this book! Okay the beginning, . . Broke my heart! Nice work, I was endeared to Ross from the beginning! Although I wanted to smack him a few times.
. . Totally believable! Then sweet Natalie and her tap shoes, . . I was busting up and telling my hubby about it, . . Which I rarely do! It just took off from there! I was dying! I loved both characters and hated the ex's! Great story! I will recommend and snatch her other books right away!.
I don't always go for contemporary romance, first, But I really liked this story, The path to this romance wasn't a straight shot, She is a twice divorcee with abusive, cheating exes, He is an attorney that has spent all of his time building his career and locking up his heart.
This was an adorable read with a creative plot, lovely characters, and a set of trials and tribulations that had you rooting for the main characters the whole way through.
I loved this one. This was a cute nontraditional love story, I liked the characters, though I couldn't relate with Natalie very much, though I liked her, I just can't relate to being insecure and weak though with what she has
been through it is understandable, I thankfully haven't been through that.
The ex was a great bad guy, It shows how damaging verbal abuse can be, even though he never physically hurt her he did substantial damage.
I felt it was very well written, it added drama without being over the top and made it believable instead of unrealistic like some I've read.
Anyway, it was a perfect book to have available when I have time to read but usually wasn't hard to put down when I didn't have time.
LOVED IT!! It was a modern day Cinderalla tale and another success by Karen Tuft! Standard Mormon fare literature not great, but not bad.
It was a quick and light read, . . something I need on occasion! Instead of filing this under my "pretty cover" shelf, I'm tempted to create a new shelf called "yummy covers".
stars
I have to admit, I read a ton of Christian contemporary fiction, but it's been a while since I got my hands on some contemporary books written with a nod to my own Church.
Obviously it's not as available nationally, and it's a little harder to find but I recently decided to sign up for Deseret Bookshelf Plus, and see what I could discover.
I've read Karen's historical fiction, and loved it, Finding something a little different was fun, I will say although I enjoyed this book, I'm removing a star because of the way it dragged in parts.
The initial connection between the characters was so small and insignificant it didn't count as anything of real substance.
Waiting until you arein for the characters to finally get their first taster of proper interaction was way too far.
It was tedious, and I'm impatient There were many chunks of text I found myself skim reading, It was irrelevant to the story,
The plot was great, and clever, Unique in the fact that we are now dealing with main characters in their lates, For Natalie, Abandonment, Grief, Teenage children issues, Emotional baggage due to two previous bad relationships/marriage, Verbal abuse. Lack of proper care in the form of Child Support, For Ross, the heartbreak that ended all desire to seek out a real relationship, with an unwillingness to risk.
Cynicism. Grief. The demands of a high powered career in law,
The occasional Church references were appreciated, Sometimes LDS fiction comes across a little cheesy, This story tackled some serious issues and presented everything clearly and with grace, A kind of classy Cinderella story, There is something about Ms, Tuft's writing that gets me in the gut, She creates characters, crafts stories, conjures emotions that just resonate with me, Her characters are flawed but lovable, and I don't think I've gotten through one of her books without crying.
It's not like the situations she creates are devastating, but they get to me in a way that brings out my emotions.
This book was no exception, The story had potential but fell short, At the end I was supposed to believe everything fell into place, There was no depth. Too much dwelling on the past, I get it already! It's no secret that I am not a Mormon romance fan.
At all. This book had been on my shelf for at least a couple years and I finally gave it a shot.
I read it slowly, but I was always excited to come back to it, I loved how the story developed and got all the fun butterflies at the end, I will definitely seek out more books by Karen Tuft as Unexpected was perfectly distracting, but gave me a few things to ponder.
Like faith in the midst of hardship, No preachiness though. I can't believe it sat on my shelf for so long! This book was o, k. It was a quick clean read with good principles, which I liked, But it also had some spots that dragged and the extremely weak will of the main character bothered me.
Eleven years ago, Ross McConnell was devastated by the betrayal of the woman of his dreams, Time does not heal all wounds, and after more than a decade, Ross is no closer to finding love.
When his wellmeaning family attempts to play matchmaker, he concedes by creating a list detailing his perfect mate: A member of the Church.
Beautyqueen looks. College educated. Never married. Perhaps hell give love another try, if such perfection exists, . .
Natalie Forrester is no stranger to heartache, After two failed marriages, the beautiful single mother of three is determined to make it on her own, Without a college degree, she starts at the bottom: working as a housekeeper may not be glamorous, but its her first exhilarating step toward independence.
And Natalies most recent cleaning job is idealthe guy is always out of town, and the pay will go a long way toward supporting her missionary son.
Maybe luck is finally on her side,
And then Ross and Natalie meet, . . and meet again. And following a series of awkward encounters, Ross is shocked by his growing attraction for this woman, Natalie couldnt be farther from his ideal woman, and she is firm in her determination to keep her heart closed to love.
But as their tenuous friendship develops and deepens, will the unlikely pair have the courage to set aside the disappointments of the past to catch hold of a bright new future Definitely different than anything I've read before it was lent to me by a friend.
It was an LDS perspective, not geared toward general Christian readers, I felt like the book could have been shorter, It would rehash the issues that the main characters had, but without necessarily shedding new light on their emotions or experiences.
But it's a book that could give hope to divorced with children people hoping to get remarried to a wealthy, handsome, man.
Or give hope to an older single man looking for his soul mate I enjoyed this Christian contemporary fiction.
. . its nice to read a story where the characters are mormon but the story doesnt focus on religion, I got frustrated with the characters sometimes but of course it has a happy ending Much to my surprise I enjoyed this book.
I laughed. I cried. I had a difficult time putting it down, The main characters in this book are members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latterday Saints, There are a few references to prayer, missions, and celibacy before marriage, The writing seemed very clunky to me, It was a lot of tell and not a lot of show, I thought there was such potential but things fell short when some of the conflicts child support, visitation, sexual harassment were just glossed over in the end.
It felt like Ross rushed things way too much, I would have liked Natalie to have been more assertive with Ross too.
Kisses only mentions of drug use and teen pregnancynd ward book group, Fun, fast read. I read this book for thebooks inweeks reading challenge, I used Novembermini challenge prompt Lets party, Its a guilty pleasure hallmark style book, Despite the title, you can definately expect how it ends, still its an easy read and fun espically for this time of year, Man burned by love as a young student, Woman suffered a couple bad marriages and barely afloat supporting her daughters, Neither is looking for love, but the chemistry is undeniable, Quick, fun, clean love story with LDS undertones, EXCELLENT!!! Bravo!
This is my first read, by Karen Tuft and it will most definitely NOT be my last!
I really enjoy a clean romantic book, but this is next level.
The plot itself was a twist on a Cinderella story, but the true to real life dealings of a couple of heartbroken people, was what made this story excellent, in my opinion.
Her descriptions of how her characters interact on a romantic level really got me tingling! I almost fell in love with Ross myself!
If you like a good, clean romantic story, with not so typical, but realistic drama, youll love this book!.