Release Date: June 21, 2022
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Blurb:
Can these opposites turn up the heat… without burning down the house?
House-flipping sensation and YouTube star Maggie Nichols can’t wait to dig into her next challenge. Arriving in tiny Kinship, Idaho, with only a cot and a coffeemaker, Maggie is prepared to restore a crumbling Victorian mansion in four months or less. She has her to-do lists, her blueprints, and her team. What she doesn’t have is time for sexy, laid-back landscaper Silas Wright.
The man takes flirtation to a whole new level. And he does it shirtless…sometimes pants-less. He and his service school-dropout dog are impressively persistent. But she’s not interested in putting down roots. Not when fans tune in to watch her travel the country turning dilapidated houses into dream homes. A short-term fling on the other hand could fit nicely into her calendar. After all, Maggie remembers what fun is like. Vaguely.
As their summer gets downright steamy, Silas manages to demolish the emotional walls she’s spent years building, sending Maggie into a panic. He’s the wrench in her carefully constructed plans. With the end of the project looming, she has a decision to make. But how can she stay when her entire career is built on moving on?
Review:
Thank you to Lucy Score and NetGalley for a copy of this ARC. All opinions are my own.
Alright, first off. I LOVED THIS BOOK. I had no idea what to expect when going into this, in all honesty, I didn’t even really pay attention to the blurb… the cover caught my eye, so I said “what the hell” and requested a copy. I got it and here’s another truth bomb, it sat on my Kindle for a WHILE. Joke’s on me for waiting so long to read this book because I am absolutely in love with it.
When I get really excited about a book it’s hard for me to type what’s going through my head fast enough, so I’m going to break it down in sections with points to help myself out.
Characters:
Silas: Ladies, when I say this, listen up… He’s MINE and has charmed his way to the top of my book boyfriends list. It’s still hard to say who I would choose between him and Brendan Taggert, but let me tell you…. this man is so swoon worthy. I found myselfing highlighting part after part where he was concerned, either because it was so sweet, funny, or just showed what a great character he is. He has an amazing sense of humor and flat out tells Maggie right from the start how he feels about her.
“Maggie Nichols, I don’t mean to scare you off, but I think you just might be the girl of my dreams.”
“What I hear you saying is that there’s a twenty percent chance that you’ll fall in love with this place and your handsome landscaper,”
Maggie: At first Maggie struck me as the bubbly, always optimistic type and I was a little nervous because FMC like that can be hit or miss. I’m happy to say that while yes, she is optimistic, she’s also a realist and driven. She has a wonderful work ethic and it was fun to watch her losen up with Silas. She had her own fair share of laugh out loud moments that I enjoyed and I thought she was the perfect partner for Silas.
“Oh, and Cody?’ she called. He turned around. ‘If your sucky friends ask, tell them I cut off your pinkie toe with a hatchet and buried it in the basement.”
There were so many wonderful side characters in this story, I can’t help but want to suggest reading this book solely for their parts and interactions in it. Silas’s family was just perfect and I’d like to be adopted by them, Maggie’s non traditional family and even the town of Kinship were all a huge part of this story.
Storyline:
A house flipper falls for the landscaper, basic yet so much fun the way Lucy Score did it. She made a superficial idea into a deeper story with a little mystery thrown in. I liked that while the house flipping was featured and played pivotal roles, the story was character driven. Ultimately, we had a love story, small mystery, found/adoptive family, hero falls first story that just worked.
Steam:
There were some steamy parts, yay no fade to black, but it was not a book I would recommend if you’re looking for scorching hot smut. The scenes were more explicit than fade to black, but definitely didn’t make me blush. If I had one thing I could change, it would be this aspect. Maybe I’ve just been so immersed in steamy books, but I could have done with a little more on the chili pepper scale. Still not complaining though and it doesn’t take away from the book at all!
Dialogue/Writing:
All I’m going to say about this category is that I am not a person who usually highlights parts of a book. On average, I’ll have 1-2 (MAYBE) highlights per book. I found myself highlighting so many parts, I actually had to stop myself for fear that the entire page would end up yellow. So many parts I just wanted to remember and even looking back now, I can’t help but smile, swoon, or crack up over the portions I saved.
Do yourself a favor and read this book, it’s now one of my favorite books and I’ll be getting a copy as soon as I can. Warning for those who like shorter books, this one is on the longer side for a romance, coming in at over 400 pages, but I still finished it in a day because I was sucked in. I’m so glad I requested and got a copy, I’ll likely even listen to it when the audiobook comes out also. It’s just one of those books you want to remain stuck in for as long as possible.
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