⭐⭐⭐☆
This one has left us a little
confused. The good is very good and the non-so-good is, well, just beige. There
is unrealised promise and unexplored potential. But a fairly good read,
nevertheless.
Jannika Peterson, a “tall Nordic
goddess” has been ruthlessly dumped by her cheating girlfriend. She has now
found her niche as the manager of a used bookstore. Her passion and talent is
in matching people to books. Lee (Leslie) Thompson has lost her wife in an
accident and is now the new park ranger in the same area. The two had met eighteen
years ago when Lee was a summer camp counsellor and Jannika was a
counsellor-in-training with the most massive crush on Leslie.
Though this book is positioned as
a second chances tale, nothing really happened between the two in the summer
camp. That was a plot line which should have been developed better to actually
make their meeting again more edgy. Maybe being star crossed lovers would have
worked. But no, their shared past, though often harked back on is actually a
nothing.
The chemistry and attraction
between Jannika and Lee when they are together is excellent. But the rest of
the times, their relationship and romance is muted and tame. Jannika’s passion
for books is more exciting. We really like the moments when the author adds
playful colours to Jannika’s character.
There is a possible future book
with Jannika’s best friend Marcey and Amy. That chemistry and story sounds
really, really intense, fraught and interesting. We look forward to that book.
Don’t get thrown by our nit-picking…this
book is a pleasant enough read.
⭐⭐⭐☆
