Series: N/A
Traits & Tropes: grumpy/sunshine; hero falls first; small town
Publication Date: 06.21.22
Genre/Setting: Contemporary; Kinship, Idaho, USA
Heat Level: 3
Rating: 4/5
Narration Rating: 5/5
YouTube famous house flipper Maggie Nichols is always eager to move on to her next project. This one, in the tiny town of Kinship, Idaho, is her biggest yet, a neglected Victorian mansion that she hopes to rehab in no more than four months. She has everything she needs to get it done and that means she has no spare time for insanely attractive, happy go lucky landscaper Silas Wright.
He’s an outrageous flirt and it doesn’t help that he’s frequently on the job site in various states of undress thanks to the antics of his therapy-school dropout dog. But Maggie’s fans are there to see her travel around flipping houses across the country and she’s not someone who puts down roots. Though, she may be willing to pencil a fling into her schedule.
With his thoughtfulness and irresistible charm, Silas begins to wear down Maggie’s walls, which makes her fearful as he threatens all of her careful planning. The project will be over soon, and Maggie is beginning to rethink everything she thought she wanted, leaving her with a huge decision to make about staying or moving on yet again.
I’ve never read this author before so I had no idea what to expect of this story, but I can now say it definitely won’t be my last time reading her work. This book had a cutesy, small-town vibe but also dealt with some pretty heavily emotional themes at times, but not so heavy as to make it depressing, and it also brought the steam and dirty talk in the best way. Silas is one of my new favorite heroes. I just really enjoyed how wholesome and cheerful he was. He was like a modern-day alpha, allowing Maggie her independence but stepping in to make her relax and take care of herself when that was needed. Maggie’s need to do everything herself definitely got annoying, but once we got her backstory, it made sense that she was the way she was. However, since this backstory wasn’t revealed till later, I spent quite a bit of the book being irritated by her neuroses and cheering on Silas for not taking it. This book was great fun, but Maggie’s behavior did give me some anxiety there for a wall that had me not necessarily looking forward to my next chance to listen. I’m definitely glad I had the audiobook because I think the narrator did a great job of imbuing the dialogue with emotion and that kept me invested in the story. Maggie just frustrated me with her insistence on no one making decisions for her, which is totally fair to want, but I wanted her to at least consider other peoples’ feelings and how she could affect them. Thankfully, she did realize this eventually and when she set about putting down roots, she did it right. There were also plenty of lovely side characters to keep me occupied during the times when she was just a bit too much and I think they definitely helped the story as well. Silas was a heartbreakingly romantic hero, and I loved that he took the time to realize and notice what Maggie needed and how she communicates and she also wound-up meeting him in the middle with a lovely romantic gesture. Silas may have been the one who realized they belonged together at first, but I loved that instantaneous connection between them and his refusal to let it slip away. This one also had a super cute epilogue and I adored how everything wrapped up in the end, both with Silas and Maggie and with their delightful cast of supporting characters.
I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book and its audiobook. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
https://www.bookbub.com/reviews/3738745348
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/4810866618
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