Just Jilted

4 stars — This one was much closer to women’s fiction than I usually read, but I really enjoyed watching Dakota grow on her journey after being jilted. My heart ached right from the prologue, I could just picture her on that beach with all the tourists walking by her. I wanted to cry. She was an intriguing character, b/c she had this “must not show emotions” thing going on, meanwhile she’s going through something really painful. It was interesting how it ended up being the final straw and had her dealing with a lot of things she never dealt with before. I appreciated all the little things that she went through on her journey, from losing her verve for weddings (losing the hopefulness, the joy, the faith in love), to her anger management classes (that while she was totally opposed to, really ended up doing some good…and damn, I loved her odd friendship with Wild Bill). She had a lot of very weird dynamics going on in her life, between her need for control with her wedding planning business, to dealing with split parents who both seemed a bit out of touch, to a very interesting BFF who provided some good advice, but was also so drastically different that it didn’t always work. And all the while she’s trying to figure out how to move on from Grant, or if she wants to. Her struggles in the romance department were very real and I could really see how someone would move through all of those emotions. Even as I wanted to rail at her for giving Grant a try, I understood why she was sucked in, why she was confused, all that stuff…you know? I liked that while it wasn’t right, it wasn’t that she didn’t love him at all…she just didn’t show him her whole self. It was the same with Brendan. That relationship had my tummy feeling ill sometimes because I was so worried that it was going to get screwed up, but they just ended up going through those bumps, and I got it, but I appreciated that nothing got blown too out of proportion. They had stumbling blocks, but nothing unreasonable and nothing they couldn’t overcome. And OMG, while the romance was a bit of a side plot, the two of them together were just adorable and I really felt their chemistry, from friendship to more! I wanted them to work so desperately. I loved seeing Dakota have someone she could be her whole self with, because those are the kinds of loves that I love the most. They were best friends and then more. And holy cow did I get tummy tingles and butterflies from their relationship!! Brendan made me swoon! Sometimes I wish I understood why he was so against relationships before, and then changed now, but whatever…it was more Dakota’s story anyways. I enjoyed how the articles she wrote ended up playing out in the narrative afterwards…usually just in the background, but I appreciated how that all tied in. All in all a totally cute read that left me feeling swoony and happy.

Oop