It was refreshing for me — after a litany of heavy-handed bad boy tropes and expletives in my recent reads — to dive into this sweet story.

Disclaimer: I was looking for a sweet romance story, in an effort to improve my own writing. I write “real-life romance” which has some very sweet elements with family and marriage relationships, and I wanted to see a good example of the difference between the raunchier stories and the sweet/clean elements.

The Premise

Marina has escaped an abusive relationship with the only thing that matters: a child… albeit a mute, terrified child who has no blood relation to her. Four-year-old Kellyn is the only thing that links her to her past: a righteous dick of a powerfully-connected man who doesn’t deserve to walk the face of the earth. Still, she’s stayed close to him despite a flimsy restraining order she knows won’t be enforced, because of the child’s therapy and wellbeing needs.

From the outset this strange arrangement is endearing, if a little odd — she’s well aware that he can find her in a heartbeat, which of course he soon does, particularly when he hears about the new man in her life: her next-door neighbour and the town sheriff, Aiden.

The Pros

Aiden was a breath of fresh air, and I thoroughly enjoyed how the writer focused on him building a relationship with the little girl, not just her mother. He fell in love with them both: “his girls”. The town was also a breezy idyllic love-zone that welcomed and facilitated Marina’s career, which was cute if a little saccharine-sweet.

There are a lot of themes to unpack here, but the basic one that came to mind was female empowerment. Though Aiden is a cop, he is not the alpha hero here to save the day. Marina is the one who kicks ass from the beginning to the end of this tale — as she should be. She is “a victor, not a victim” as she reminds herself constantly. I liked that she didn’t need to be rescued. This story could have easily gone another way… particularly with his profession as a cop.

Aiden’s purpose in her life is not to rescue her, but to rebuild her faith in love. I loved the overall premise, and even though the writing veered into the land of the flowery from time to time — literally: they bond over gardening! — the meaty chunks of a love story were nice enough to bite into. There is also a heart-burstingly, beautiful moment where Kellyn finds her voice, which was beautifully done.

The Cons

So why didn’t I score it higher? Well, I’m a picky reader, and some things bothered me.

Firstly, some of the dialogue was a little lacklustre, and dreamboat Aiden and survivor Marina didn’t seem to have any character flaws. He was a good guy, she was an abused woman. I kept hoping for more character development, but the most character development was in poor little Kellyn, who emerges out of her shell and finds her voice when it is most needed. But clearly (and unfortunately) the kid was the star here, not the two leads.

Finally, there was more than enough story without having them jumping each other’s bones. Like, at all. I’m no prude and I enjoy a good hay-romp read from time to time, but it felt misplaced here somehow. Coming out from physical and sexual abuse, it was just… jarring. I wasn’t hungry for those scenes. I could have easily have done without any of the sex until the very, very end, if at all. After Marina found her strength. After she gets rid of the loser ex. After Kellyn found her voice. Just… after.

Conclusion

Despite those key issues which combined to knock off a whole star for me, I did really enjoy the book, and I flew through it in just two days. The writing style and flow were great, and it is indeed heartwarming and very, very sweet. Totally worth the read, and I look forward to more from the author. I just hope there’s a wee bit more depth the next time around, because there was so much potential here for something really amazing.

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