Guest Reviewed by Ami
Title: Find My Way Home
Author: Michele Summers
Series: Harmony Homecomings #1
Heroine/Hero: Bertie Anderson/Keith Morgan
Genre: M/F Contemporary Romance
Length: 352 pages
Publisher: Sourcebooks Casablanca
Release Date: July 1, 2014
Available at: Sourcebooks Casablanca, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Kobo
Add it to your shelf: Goodreads
Blurb: She’s just the kind of drama
Interior designer Bertie Anderson has big dreams for her career, and they don’t include being stuck in her hometown of Harmony, North Carolina. One last client, and Bertie is packing up her high heels and heading for her dream job in Atlanta. But her plans are derailed by the gorgeous new owner of that big old Victorian she’s always wanted to renovate…
He’s vowed to avoid
For retired tennis pro Keith Morgan, Harmony is a far cry from fast-paced Miami-which is exactly the point. Keith is starting a new life for himself and his daughter Maddie, and he’s left the bright lights and hot women far behind. Bertie’s exactly the kind of curvaceous temptation he doesn’t need, and Keith refuses to let their sizzling attraction distract him from his goals. Keith and Bertie both have to learn that there’s more than one kind of escape, and it takes more than wallpaper to turn a house into a home.
Review:
Based on the blurb, I was really expecting a sizzling romance where the heroine and hero fight off their attraction because of their clash of personality and different goals in life.
Alas, that I didn’t get.
In fact, throughout the book I was battling with the kind of stereotypes that just rubbed me the wrong way. Especially because I really, really, didn’t like the characters, especially Keith. The story started nicely … well, what I mean by ‘started’ was basically chapter 1. Then it just went downhill for me when Keith described Bertie as “Betty Boop, the crazy interior decorator who thought he was gay” or “hair like Jessica Rabbit, but she’s short and curvy like Betty Boop, with round, green eyes and exaggerated, curly eyelashes” but then ended up kissing her. Basically in those first few chapters.
And I didn’t really love Bertie as well … not when she thought that interior designer was one level above ‘decorator’ simply because ‘decorator implied a bored housewife who only dabbled’. Truthfully I didn’t really see her as a smart designer *shrugs*. I was also not amused with the fact that Bertie staying in Harmony to work on Keith’s house was basically because she was offered a huge amount of money by Keith’s aunt. It was not mentioned in the blurb, of course, but again it rubbed me the wrong way because it was the kind of manipulation that I didn’t enjoy.
Throughout the book, the attraction between these two was basically ruled by lust. I swear, I was having a conniption every time I read Keith thinking about Bertie’s “world-class cleavage” or “voluptuous breasts.” Then, I gritted my teeth because Keith was choosing to be with “someone plain, simple, and sweet. Someone who liked to clean, bake cookies, and watch Disney movies with his daughter” because of course that is what ‘plain woman’ is good for, is it?
Basically the whole storyline just made me feel annoyed. It was hard to stay interested when I really dislike the main characters. I didn’t even think they both redeemed themselves in the end. Truthfully, I was more interested with Bertie’s friend-turned-enemy, Liza Palmer.
Overall Impression: It was okay, but not good
*I received a copy of this book from the publisher in return for a fair and honest review.*
The Blogger Girls 