Review: Not What We Pictured Becca Kinzer

My rating: 2 stars / It was okay

(Did Not Finish) 

About the Book

This is absolutely not how they pictured their summer going.

McKenna Boston is feeling stuck. She’s spent years growing her photography skills only for her career to hit a wall. She’s ready to move on, and she will, just as soon as she helps her sister’s boyfriend stage the perfect proposal. But when her best laid plans go awry and a handsome stranger accidentally ends up with the heirloom ring, McKenna hops on a flight to retrieve it. Piece of cake, right?

Nate Lambert was hoping to enjoy a relaxing summer before starting his new job as a literature professor, but he arrives in Tennessee to discover his mom’s bed and breakfast is struggling and there’s a long list of repairs to be tackled. The last thing he needs is a gorgeous, determined photographer searching for a ring he doesn’t have since the airline lost his luggage somewhere on his route from Nebraska.

With the ring nowhere to be found, all McKenna can do is wait and use the time to build her portfolio and plan her next career move. But she also can’t help getting swept up in Nate’s bed and breakfast renovations and in planning a community concert with the townsfolk. As both await news of Nate’s suitcase, it begins to seem their serendipitous meeting, and the proposal gone wrong, could actually be everything going right . . . and that this may be their chance at a love neither could have pictured.

My Review

This is not how I pictured this book going. I loved another book by this author and was ready to love this one too, but it just wasn't for me. I skimmed through several pages of wacky yet boring meetings with locals. McKenna was way too over the top, she came across as a caricature. Nate is understandably baffled by her. I was baffled by her. I have no idea why he suddenly is drawn to her tornado of chaos and it seemed out of character for him. I felt zero emotional connection to the characters or even between them. The humor in the scenes was either too slapstick or trying too hard to be quirky, but lacking any charm. DNF at 43%. Could be enjoyed by readers who are fans of the community members of Stars Hollow from Gilmore Girls.

Disclosure statement: A complimentary copy of this book was provided from a tour group, publisher, publicist, or author, including NetGalley, OR was borrowed from the library, including OverDrive, OR borrowed from Kindle Unlimited, OR purchased. A review was not required and all views and opinions expressed are unbiased and my own.