You can’t always get what you want.In the space of five months, Alex Blakely has gone from party-girl traveler who never wanted to settle down, to house-owner and guardian to seven-year-old Libby. The responsibility terrifies her, she never wanted this.In the course of a year, Kat Stein has gone from happily married second-grade teacher, to divorced, broke and hanging onto her job by a thread. … onto her job by a thread. The loss of her perfect life is devastating, she never wanted this.
And when travel-crazed hippy meets disciplined, strait-laced teacher, it’s hate at first sight. Alex and Kat couldn’t be more different, and neither is exactly living her best life. Until a rigged school election, a painful accident in the woods, and the re-appearance of Libby’s mysterious father mean that the two are reluctantly bound together…
Getting everything you ever wanted is hard enough. But getting everything you never wanted? That’s a whole lot trickier…
Everything We Never Wanted is a new stand-alone lesbian romance from Sienna Waters, the author of the Oakview and Monday’s Child lesfic series.
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Yet another wonderful romance from Sienna Waters. It is a beautifully written story of two women who start off loathing each other, but end up in love, with the usual bumps in the road until there is a HEA. It’s also a story of personal growth for both Kat and Alex, with my only concern for the couple being their relationship is continually marred by assumptions and a lack of open communication. This is usually resolved, I find, in this genre yet there they both were on the final page, both assuming the worst was going to happen again. Gah! I loved the story and the other characters within. I was fortunate to have a Sunday all to myself to be able to read it in one sitting and I can’t wait for Sienna’s next work.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
I liked this book quite a lot. The two main characters, Kat and Alex, are absolute opposites and their romance starts from a mutual dislike and distrust of one another, centering around Alex doing her best to raise her 7 year-old niece, Libby. As the story progresses, Kat, the uptight prim school teacher becomes more spontaneous; while Alex, the free-spirited world traveler, accepts responsibility and stops running away. Of course love blossoms as each woman learns to compromise with the other and we get a nice HEA.
Off-putting Elements
I so wanted to like this book. I thought it had an interesting premise, including the promise of two very opposite, but interesting characters attracting. Unfortunately, I didn’t really feel like I connected with any of the characters in this book. The book felt like such a downer at the beginning that I couldn’t ever quite cast that off. I didn’t really feel any chemistry between the two characters. The author also employed some unusual storytelling techniques that added to the distance thing. All in all, I didn’t like this book.
Alex and Kat were by far my favorite couple probably in all of your books I am a sucker for a child being involved in the plot and not a lot of authors like writing children so I was pleasantly surprised to see that they had a hand in moving the story forward in a great way! I actually would like a sequel I want to see how their lives continue like what comes next for them.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
Ms. Stein is a young woman with a very dedicated attitude towards teaching. From a German family, they immigrated to the US 20 years ago. Recently divorced, she is having difficulty adapting to a single income and is pretty strict in her second grade classroom
Unlike Kat, Alex was a wandering single for many years – until the sudden death of her sister Claire brings her back to the US to care for Claire’s daughter Libby.
Claire had sole custody of Libby, no father in the picture or on the birth certificate. Claire worked as a highly paid lawyer, and had a very hands on live in nanny, until Alex let the nanny go – there was plenty of money to pay her, but Alex couldn’t stomach paying an executive salary for someone else to care for her niece.
Libby is a creative and independent child, and wanted very much to ride the school bus and go to the local school, so Auntie Alex complied
The rule loving teacher and free spirited Aunt were likely to clash from the beginning, especially as the critical teacher didn’t fully read the background on Libby, and didn’t realize the details of the car crash death of her biological mother, and her freedom to refer to Alex by name was not a liberal mother thing, but the only name the child had ever called her aunt.
Bumps are inevitable when a teacher does not realize that a child who has lost a parent to sudden unexpected death has the topic of death more present and real to them, whereas other children of a similar age might have a more video game, more “my gerbil or grandmother died but I didn’t really know her” relationship to death. Normal grief can easily be misread as a sign of aggression or worse
Could these two adults be a romantic match? Opposites do seem to attract, but can they live together?
When the birth father appears on the scene, will a critical assessment push the uptight teacher and the free spirited auntie apart for good?
Intensely dramatic and introspective romance with several extra twists.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
A reluctant but caring guardian who has to take care of her niece and a strict second-grade teacher butt heads, they fight continually because the guardian is a free spirit who travelled and never stayed long with one person or location and was now tied down by a child she loves. As usual love and hate are closely related, Lots of twists and turns abound and throw in an absent father comes and wants custody of his daughter just to complicate matters. More fights and the characters have to ask what do they want and with whom? There are several frustrating plot twists and many places you want to yell at the characters what are you doing? They become more like friends rather than characters because of Sienna Waters writing. This is a can’t put down this novel because you want to find out what happens next. Spoiler alert there is a HEA (this is a romance novel after all)
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
This story has a very high emotional content and was so well written. Alex has always lived a carefree life, but when needed she steps up and takes on a huge responsibility. She does everything to make sure her niece Libby is happy and taken care of. Ms. Kat Stein is the complete opposite of Alex. Kat seems perfectly put together on the surface and it drives Alex crazy. Kat however has to rebuild her life after her divorce. It’s by chance that Alex and Kat strike up a flirtatious banter on a dating app. Imagine how surprised they are when they realize they actually like each other. Thought some very difficult times Alex and Kat manage to build something special. Sienna has out did herself with this book. It is a realistic and touching story that is worth reading.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
This book is about Alex who becomes guardian of her niece, after her sister dies. She gives up her globetrotting life to settle down and bring up her niece. She meets Kat, her nieces teacher and they hate each other instantly.
This book moves at a lovely pace and is wonderfully descriptive about Alex & Kat’s feelings for each other. It has low aghast and a good ending – would highly recommend.