Review: “A Fox For Faith”
I chose this book from an ARC program, because the preview sounded interesting and humorous.
The Premise
After his bravery got her son in trouble, Faith is in hiding, a long way from the home she left behind. There, her sketchy legal status means she can only get menial jobs — one of which is as a cleaner at Max’s — also known as “Pops” — bar. Despite their age difference of 11 years, he’s a hottie silver fox she can’t keep her eyes off of.
Max is instantly attracted to her and insists they will get together, but Faith resists. Being a single mom is a full time job, and their past may catch up to them. Even if the authorities sort out the drama back home, she also intends to go back once it’s safe. There’s no chance in hell she needs a man in her life. But Max isn’t taking no for an answer. He’s waited long enough to find love, and he knows she’s the one.
The Pros
This was a nice, lighthearted read with humour throughout. From the dirty jokes of Max’s “brothers”, Max’s daughter and her friends playing matchmaker, her teenage son driving her bonkers, and some witty dialogue sprinkled throughout, it made an enjoyable read overall. As a fourth in the series that can work as a standalone, I didn’t feel lost, and I became interested in the side characters to read their stories as well.
I loved the relationships we see throughout the book. There were a few hot-and-heavy sexy moments, which was just enough to whet the appetite without being gratuitous. I enjoyed the one-liners about motherhood (and a few with fatherhood) that opened each chapter. I also loved that this story featured older leads who deserve and receive love in their later years — much needed, in today’s romance book landscape!
The Cons
While I enjoyed this story, I admit I expected more. It was funny and sweet, but honestly… not much happened. All of the drama that brought Faith and her son to live there, fizzled away in the background… there was no actual action relating to this at all. It felt like a missed opportunity that could’ve been further developed.
Apart from that, it bothered me that the POV was not balanced. It was 90-95% Faith and 5-10% Max, which left it overall very, very unbalanced and seemed like the Max chapters were included as an afterthought, or to explain the parts of the narrative that Faith could not be present for. I wished these chapters were omitted entirely, or that the book was written with at least a 60/40 weighting.
The characters also often behaved much more immature than one would expect — a lot of repetition of Faith’s “dorkiness” was scatted throughout, but this didn’t explain away her naïveté as a forty-five-year-old woman, and even the teenage son acted like a much younger kid at times. It detracted from the love story a bit, particularly as the main characters are meant to be older and more mature.
Conclusion
Though I had some issues with the plot and writing style, I did enjoy the book overall. The author has a great talent for writing comedy, fleshing out characters and entire side narratives that don’t detract from the plot but fill it with so much heart. I really felt the entire family of characters in this novel, as they were all so well written that I could picture them. I would recommend this book to other readers, and would love to read others in the series.
