Feels Like The First Time

Destiny Bay, Book #2

By Marina Adair

ISBN: 9781455562282

Author Website: http://www.MarinaAdair.com

 

Brought to you by OBS Reviewer jerjen

Synopsis:

What’s wrong with a little white lie?

There are a lot of things Ali Marshal doesn’t do: pink anything, a day without chocolate, and Hawk, her sister’s ex-husband. Sure, he’s a sexy former NHL star who can make her pulse pound with just a wink. But he belonged to Bridget first. And no matter how long she’s had a crush on him, how great he’s always been to her dad, or that her sister is engaged to someone else now and Ali needs a date to their engagement party, she can’t give in to temptation. Can she?

It’s been years since his disastrous marriage crashed and burned, and Bradley Hawk has finally moved on. So when Bridget blows back into town with her new fiancé, throwing the engagement party of the year, he could care less . . . until Ali tells one little lie that lands him smack dab in a fake relationship. After one promise to be Ali’s date and two of the hottest kisses he’s ever had, Hawk can’t deny how much he wants her. But what happens when this fauxmance starts to feel very, very real?  (Goodreads)

Review:

Ali is one tough woman who is not afraid of very much.  She knows how to handle manly tools, she loves beer and knows her way around a pool table.  What she does not have a handle are the things concerning her family: her dad’s illness and his refusal to do take his doctor’s advice, her mom’s desertion since she was young and her sister Bridget’s need to be the center of attention. When it comes to all of these things, she is at a lost.  When her sister comes home and announces that she is getting married again, she knows how hard it will be for one of her best friends to handle it.  You see, one of her best friend is Hawk, her sister’s ex-husband. She has secretly had a crush on him forever.

Hawk is one of the good guys.  He is friendly, caring and loyal. Everyone in town thinks very highly of him and knows he will always do what is right.  So he is having a tough time dealing with the feelings that he is developing for Ali.  He has always cared about her but since she was her sister-in-law, he knew she was off limits.  He has been struggling with his feelings for his ex-wife, he knows he will always love her but has realized that he wants his future to be with Ali, not Bridget.  Now all he has to do is convince her that they have a future together.

The characters are well rounded and well developed.  There is a lot of family dynamics going on, a lot of which are not good.  All of the characters are flawed, which made them seem more realistic to me.  They have a lot to work on, a lot to forgive and a lot to figure out.  I really liked all of the family drama involved.  I also liked the bickering and banter between Ali and Hawk, it had me laughing out loud at times.

The writing style flows smoothly and the book is an easy read.

The author is very talented in writing an emotional book and bringing those emotions out in the reader.  I laughed, I had tears in my eyes, I shook my head and wanted to scream a few times. Being taken on an emotional roller-coaster by an author does not happen all that often, but this author managed to do just that and do it well..

I highly recommend this book to anyone who enjoys a well written women’s contemporary.  I have read the first book in this series and I really liked that one too.  I am looking forward to reading book three when it is released.