Stranded on the Beach

An okay read. The story could have been a much better one if it didn't seem to just be rushed to sex scenes without really giving you the feel for the characters or presenting the story itself. While lots of us love to enjoy a good sexy romance, this one seemed to be lacking in bringing you into the world of the characters and a disappointment all around.

When Rebecca’s sisters leave her stranded at a forced vacation on the beach, the last thing she thought would happen was she would run into Phil who had broken her young heart. There is a lot of history between their families and Phil’s ultimate reaction to it had been to force her to make an impossible decision and then he just left. Now they have the opportunity to find closure and they begin to work toward that end. However, this closure is looking a lot like involvement and it’s possible that Rebecca’s heart is going to get broken all over again when her vacation is over. This couple reunites with lots of anger and the story has a great enemies to lovers vibe going on. However, it doesn’t take long for them to quickly move into a more comfortable position of friends. I enjoyed watching as they both struggled through their awkwardness at wanting more but knowing that wasn’t what this was about. Rebecca is a heroine who simply isn’t sure what she wants out of life and I could actually understand her because not every woman is meant to have a power career. Some just want to be a wife and mother. It was really kind of nice watching her as she learned to reach for what she wanted. The fact that Phil was the one to help her do that reaching was awesome. He helped to direct her on that path and I do love a hero who recognizes what the heroine needs and sets out to do what they can to help her. There is a bit of angst as they must once more face the past and their decisions from that time as well as the decisions they will make now. The pace of this book is very easy and it can be read within a short afternoon. Rebecca’s and Phil’s chemistry is quite sizzling and interestingly, it is Phil’s additional determination that she take what she needs that helps to ignite the smexy scenes. I am excited about what the rest of these sisters will face as they each find their heroes.

3 stars — Well bummer. I was kind of disappointed in the writing for this one. I mean, it was super quick and easy to devour…but it was also kind of flat and shallow. Like something in the writing felt forced instead of natural or something. I noticed it the most in the steamy scenes — like maybe a really talented audiobook narrator could have acted it out better, but when I tried saying some of the sexytimes dialogue out loud, I literally cringed. It was…well not realistic in my mind. But maybe it’s just me. I think I wanted to like this one more than I did. I remember reading book 2 in this series as part of a Christmas anthology and really loving it, and thus wanting to read all the Holiday sisters stories. But this one just didn’t have the same magic for me. Or maybe, just 2.5 years on, I’m that much of a different person? I don’t know. I’ll give the other stories a try since they’re short. Rebecca and Phil were both solid characters, if a little flat. I kind of wish I’d learned a bit more about Phil’s past with his father and family. We get strong hints, but not enough to really understand his level of disconnectedness and fear. He ended up feeling pretty emotionally stunted…which, is reasonable. But. I don’t know. I really don’t know why it was sort of meh for me. I think the same can be said for Rebecca — we got hints of depth, but not enough to satisfy me. I just had a harder time connecting with her. As I said, the steamy scenes kind of put me off. Phil’s constant talking about how Rebecca was so hot and fiery for a quiet girl just…I don’t know…for some stupid reason it rubbed me wrong. I seriously can’t articulate why though, so take it with a grain of salt. I’m really hoping that the writing just improved as the series went on, and so I’ll enjoy the 3rd and 4th books more. But maybe it’s partly just the kind of characters? Ah well.