Please welcome Ang, who brings you today’s Guest Review of…
Carolina HomeAuthor: Virginia Kantra
Release Date: July 3, 2012
Publisher: Berkley
Dare Island #1
ISBN: #978-0425250938
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Format(s): Paperback (304 pgs), e-book
Book Source: Publisher
About the book: |
Home to the Fletcher family for generations, Dare Island is a fishing village rocked by changing times—its traditions slipping away like the sands of the North Carolina coast. Single dad and fishing boat captain Matt Fletcher deferred his own dreams to support his innkeeper parents and build a future for his sixteen-year-old son. Matt has learned to weather life’s storms by steering a steady emotional course…and keeping a commitment-free approach to love.
Newcomer Allison Carter came to Dare Island to escape the emotional demands of her wealthy family. The young teacher aims to build a life here, to make a lasting place for herself. She doesn’t want to be another in the long line of Women Who Once Dated Matt Fletcher. It’s both tempting and dangerous to believe she can be something more.
Then Matt’s brother Luke makes a sudden return home, with a child of his own—and a request that will change all their lives. With a child’s welfare at stake, Matt must turn to Allison to teach him to let go of the past, open his eyes…and follow his heart.
What Ang is talking about: |
Anyone who has read my earlier reviews knows that I value a good story, even in a romance novel. I want good characters and a sold plot line. Steamy sex scenes are a bonus but can’t carry the book. Carolina Home has the bones to be a really great novel and the opening to a great series but it missed the mark in a few areas for me. For starters we are introduced to so many characters and given so much information on these characters that I had a difficult time remembering who’s story I was reading. For example, I became so involved in Dawn’s back story and Tess’s story that when I went to tell a friend about the book I couldn’t even remember the main character’s name. He became Josh’s dad and Allison’s love interest but I couldn’t for the life of me remember that his name was Matt.
I can tell you about Matt’s Dad and Mom, Tess and Tom and what they do and the struggles they are dealing with in the novel. I can tell you about Luke and his daughter Dawn and what is going on with both of them in the novel and even guess as to what we will be dealing with in future books with both of these sets of characters but when it came to Allison and Matt I could only tell you that there is an age difference, that Allison is Josh, Matt’s son, teacher and that they have some pretty steamy scenes between them. Allison has parent issues, think Loralie and Emily Gilmore if you are familiar with the show Gilmore Girls. But Matt is completely forgettable and that makes me sad. I want to like him. I want to know him and I get that his character is guarded and carrying some pretty massive baggage but at some point he has to learn to trust somebody and that should be Allison. I believe he gets there by the end of the book but I’m not positive of that fact and feel like I may have to wait until further books to be certain they live happily ever after.
All of this being said I must admit the family dynamics are interesting. The tight-knit “back to back to back” attitude that you see through out Carolina Home makes me wonder if this will all for one attitude will continue throughout the other novels. The characters are multi-dimensional, strong and pull you in. The setting is beautiful and the bedroom scenes steamy and emotion-filled. All of which help to pull my overall rating up. So although I had issues, many of which may not be resolved until the end of the series, the book earned a solid B from me and I think if you are looking for series with some longevity you may have just found it.
Ang’s Rating: |
Liked it, but I had some issues – recommend (B)
Purchase Info:
