(book review)

Fiona’s life is a mess, not a masterpiece like her paintings. Her engagement ended in disaster. Even her career has gone down instead of up. She needs to take a break, and the best place to do is the quietest place she can imagine, her hometown. But the last thing she expects is to meet her aunt’s old love Alex at her aunt’s house.

Alex Fox is gorgeous and charming, but he also broke Fiona’s heart and she still can’t get over it. But she doesn’t know that he loved her too and always regretted ruining their relationship. Unfortunately, he can never tell her why he had to drive her away. Now, after a terrible divorce, he has a second chance to mend his relationship with Fiona and hopefully wins her heart.

Fiona isn’t sure she can just forgive and forget, but she also can’t deny that she’s still head over heels in love with him, and to make matters worse, he lives next door, so avoiding him is out of the question. Then Alex asks her for help with a fundraising project and Fiona can’t help but agree. The more time they spend together, the more sparks jump between them and Fiona and Alex can’t deny that they want each other.

Written from the perspective of Alex and Fiona, this book is a fun, light romance that would make a great weekend beach read. There were moments when it felt like the romance was moving very fast, but there was also a lot of history between the two main characters. They both had a lot of pent up feelings so when they finally met again it was easy for them to fall for each other. Alex definitely had a great redemption arc, making up for his bad choices in the past. Overall it was an enjoyable story, but it definitely lacked a level of tension that would have helped build the suspense. For me, it prevented me from really getting into the romance and the characters’ story. But that’s just my personal preference. For readers who want a sweet and clean romance where there is nothing explicit or graphic, this book is absolutely for you. But if you are someone who wants a little thrill, then this book is not for you. An astonishing addition to the story was the hunt for an extinct bird, so if you are a birder or like to watch birds, this is a book will catch your attention too.

My rating is 9.5/10.