Home Sweet Home
~Bella Riley
Mass Market Paperback: 368 pages
Publisher: Forever
Publish Date: October 1, 2011
ISBN-10: 0446584215
ISBN-13: 978-0446584210
ASIN: B004QZ9PB0
From Goodreads:
Ten years and two hundred miles. That's what separates Andi Powell from quiet, secluded Emerald Lake-and that's exactly how she likes it. But now her job brings her back to the hometown she's tried so hard to forget . . . and to Nate Duncan, the man she's never been able to.
Nate once looked at Andi with love in his eyes. But that was before she left him in the dust to pursue her big-city dreams. Now he's the town's ruggedly handsome mayor with the power to break Andi's career like she broke his heart. As the two clash over the future of Emerald Lake, the sparks that fly between them rekindle a passion neither of them can deny.
Andi may have left town looking for the life she thought she wanted. But could everything she needs have been in Emerald Lake all along?
After 10 years, Andi Powell has returned to picturesque Emerald Lake. Not because she's homesick, but to save her job. She's got to convince the townsfolk of Emerald Lake that they'd like new vacation condos on the lake for rich out-of-towners.
Nate Duncan was the love of Andi's life, until things went horribly wrong when they were teens. He's never seriously dated anyone since Andi, and he can't believe she's back in town. Nate is now the town mayor, and while he's having mixed feelings about seeing Andi again, he's wholeheartedly opposed to the condo idea.
When they're together, it's like the years never happened, until reality sets in and they're on opposite sides of the condo issue. How can they make a relationship work if Andi doesn't want to live in Emerald Lake and Nate doesn't want to leave?
My thoughts:
I just couldn't get into this story. Andi and Nate were nice enough, but that's part of the problem, I think...they were so nice...no fiery passion or exciting action, and I really couldn't get excited about their story. Andi's father was a politician who was gone a lot while she and her mother stayed home, and she's terrified this will be her future as well, so she leaves Emerald Lake as soon as she can and doesn't look back.
For about the first third of the story I kept thinking I had already read this book; I actually checked the publish date to make sure this was the book I was supposed to be reviewing. The quaint lakeside town, the knitting shop on Main Street, the three generations of women, it all felt very familiar. There was also a storyline involving Andi's grandmother as a young girl and a mysterious stranger she was in love with at that time. This plot did not interest me at all and I skipped over those portions.
Nate's backstory was very sad and I found myself judging Andi, which may have been part of my issue with enjoying Home Sweet Home. Was it a sweet story? Sure. It just didn't grab and keep my attention.
My Rating:
I've read another review that made my hackles rise. He gave her the full blame for not staying with him at age 18 and pursuing her own dreams, and she just gives in in the end to everything he says?
ReplyDeleteAurian: LOL, my reaction was "how could she leave him in that situation" but also "how could she stay". It was a rough situation and a huge misunderstanding made it worse... but, even with all that, not enough "spark" between them for me :(
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