Hop off the fast track. Buy a boat. Write the Great American Novel.Forty-four-year-old Susanna Walker knows the importance of taking risks and dreaming big.Mother of two grown kids. Former CEO of a Silicon Valley PR firm. Ex-wife of a still-present, former compulsive gambler. Susanna ignores their objections to her new life and refuses to accept she may be perimenopausal. As with all well-laid … refuses to accept she may be perimenopausal.
As with all well-laid plans, hers quickly derail when the hunk from the boat next door drops by and invites her to supper on his vessel Camelot. The boat’s name, his boyish appearance, and the medieval armor leave her a bit dazed
Yet, against all reason, Susanna agrees to inspect the armor more closely while he puts the finishing touches on fresh pasta, shrimp, and a cheeky Chardonnay.
When she wakes hung over the next morning, her clothes neatly folded on the chair next to her bed, she’s naked.
And mad. He suckered her in with his knight-in-shining armor disguise. But does he think he can steal her underwear without consequences?
Unfortunately, the Bold Knight, rejects the consequences and issues his own challenges …
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Charming romantic comedy – perfect for an afternoon in.
A rom-com with hidden depth
There’s a lot of humor in this quirky and slightly bittersweet older woman/younger man romance, and a lot of very authentic emotional interplay among the characters. Barbara Plum”s divorced, financially independent heroine is facing 45 candles on the next birthday cake when she buys a drug dealer’s luxury yacht at auction and moves aboard to write romance novels. Her neighbor is a devastatingly handsome young game developer who clunks around in (no kidding!) knightly armor in order to more realistically create his RPG characters. They’re both a little nuts, a lot likable, and absolutely magic together. They’re also surrounded by skeptics, doubting Thomases, hostile rivals and oppositional family members. It makes for highly improbable – and entertaining – scenarios, and some amazingly pithy observations by the smitten hero regarding his lady love’s astounding ability to get in the way of her own happiness (and his). But he’s not a knight errant for nothing, and HEA is his unwavering goal. From start to finish, the spice and the humor balance the intensity of emotion, and the combination makes Plum’s idiosyncratic and well-drawn characters endearingly and imperfectly human and real.
This was a fun quick read. Its setting is about the main character, Susanna, who is determined to live on a boat by herself. One basically harbored in a marina. As you can imagine her kids as well as her ex think she’s lost her marbles. I think this plot alone made me want to read it. It’s sweet and a little quirky and while it doesn’t capsize, it has its own moments of pitching and rolling (no pun intended).
I’ve said more times than people really want to hear that I’m not a romance “girl”. This just isn’t my genre. But this was a sweet story. The “romance” part of it was just that too. No more romance than the sweet part of romance; not embarrassing; not explicit. If there was a genre called “sweet romance” this would be a good description. The characters are well-defined. One of my favorite “characters” was Susanna’s alter ego, Senoba. Let me tell you…I have the same person trying to straighten me out and keep my mouth shut when I should, but she doesn’t always get through to me 🙂
Some parts of this story seemed realistic to me. Some people really do quit jobs or retire and want to run away. The characters seemed real in the sense that I think every type of personality could exist; actually does in today’s world. There were a few times I thought Susanna and Rex should just get on with it and then there were times I thought this scenario couldn’t really happen. But all of that is sort of a description of a fun read with quirky characters, isn’t it?
This is a book to make you feel good. Barbara Plum has several books published and I couldn’t find any without good reviews.
CRAZY DAZE AND A KNIGHT is a stand-alone contemporary romance with an older woman/younger man trope.
Because of Susanna’s hang-ups with her age, her reference to her superego as a separate entity named Zenoba, and boundary issues with her daughter and ex-husband, there was a lot to keep me frustrated in this story.
On the other hand, the story is humorous and sweet with beautiful descriptions throughout. The characters are each unique and the two main characters are multi-layered. The spark between them was instantaneous. I loved how Rex, aka The Bold Knight, had fallen head-over-heels for Susanna and was in it for the long haul from day one; He just had to convince the fair maiden that age was just a number. That took time, patience, and gentlemanly pursuit.
This was fun and funny, and I recommend it as a nice, light-hearted story to while away an afternoon.
Note: While I received this book as a gifted ARC, my opinions are my own and are given freely.
Title: CRAZY DAZE AND A KNIGHT
Series: N/A
Category /Genre: Contemporary Romance
Recommended for: 18+ due to sexual content
Grammar/editing: received as an unedited ARC
Received from: Barbara Plum
So much to appreciate about this romance. The heroine is older. The hero is younger. Susanna is torn between obligations and expectations from her family and ex when she meets Rex, a strong, independent, unusual younger man who isn’t bogged down by what anyone else thinks. He gently challenges Susanna to abandon her own emotional luggage, as well as finally setting boundaries with her family, for a future together.
Barbara Plum writes insightful, graceful prose balanced with straightforward storytelling for an easy to read, well paced story. I lost track of how many times I laughed out loud at humorous situations I never saw coming.
I grew frustrated with how Susanna allowed her snotty daughter to treat her, but that was part of Susanna’s character ARC. Great secondary story line with Bart and Nikki — the exes.
Highly recommend this story for readers who want an entertaining, uplifting, HEA escape from reality.
Susanna rejects the confines of the dream she once had – about building an image and family. Now that the children are grown, it is time for her to have a chance at a life, and time for her man child of a gambling addicted husband to grow up.
That means shaking up a lot of perceptions. Her daughter really seems to want Daddy and Mommy back together – baby an adult realizes and accepts imperfections in their parents. One who is not co-dependent lets Daddy make big boy choices and face consequences on his who – Darling Daughter doesn’t seem to be quite there yet.
Dashing Son seems to be open to tying off the wall choices, and the road he faces might be a bit bumpy. It is his to ride, and if all works out, he will not face his challenges alone. How ironic.
Daddy Dearest really needs to stop interfering with everyone else! Time to grow up mister! Perhaps in his next life he can really accept responsibility for his own messes!
One of the greatest ironies of this story is that the costume wearing young man on the boat next door is one of the most mature figures – and he pushes Susanna to test her limits. H may fall down sometimes, but he has the heart of a true knight and fights again and again for fair matron.
This is a KU book about intense passions and change – and exciting and unexpected choices and challenges. Jump in and enjoy the adventure – it sure reads like a fun, steamy and challenging ride!