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.

Review: First Love, Second Draft by Becca Kinzer

My rating: 5 stars / It was amazing

 

About the Book

She’s a romance writer burned out on love. He’s her famous baseball star ex-husband. The last man she wants to be forced to work with is the one who broke her heart.

Rom-com writer Gracie Parker hasn’t written a bestseller since she and her husband, a major league baseball star, divorced five years ago. On thin ice with her publisher—and with a looming deadline—Gracie couldn’t have picked a worse time for a painful injury that has her flat on her back. At this point, she’d accept help from anybody . . . except her first love and ex-husband, Noah Parker.

The baseball season has just ended in massive disappointment for Noah. He’s facing the stark reality that he gave up everything for a career that’s let him down and that it might be too late to get back the one person he should’ve held on to. So when Gracie’s nephew calls, saying Gracie’s looking for a tenant for her next-door rental, it feels like it’s meant to be.

All Gracie cares about is turning in her manuscript on time, which is directly at odds with Noah’s attempts to win her back, even if she is slightly charmed by his kindness. But can people ever really change? Then Noah throws a curveball that could give Gracie the extension she needs, but it will mean working directly with Noah, something she’s not sure she can face. With no other choice, and everything on the line, Gracie must decide if it is too late for a second draft of their own love story.

My Review

I'm proud of myself for trying a new-to-me author since it's so easy for me to stick with what I know. I found in this book so many of the things I enjoy in reading romance. Humor is one of the strongest features- and a variety of humors at that. Quirky, slapstick, sarcastic, subtle... it's all there and balanced well. Chemistry abounds with not just our main characters Gracie and Noah, but also Gracie's nephew Matt with his high school bestie Rachel who set him up with someone else then left town for five years. Even Gracie's abrasive sister Mona has a secret relationship that's softening her edges. Yearning is felt by Noah and Matt as they pine for their lost loves, and struggle to know how to move forward with their relationships. Gracie's injury and writing deadline have her sequestered to her house, which helps Noah's cause as he moves in next door to always be on hand to assist her, even when she claims she doesn't need it. The messy hard parts of their marriage come to the surface layer by layer, and we come to understand why Gracie and Noah came to an end. They have both been grieving in their own way, and their fighting masks how much they really care about each other. Mostly Gracie fighting against her reemerging feelings and attraction, and Noah teasing his way back into her good graces. Overall, it's a rich story exploring life, love, death, regrets, hope, and forgiveness. 

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.