It Seemed Like a Good Idea at the Time

4.5/5 STARS

What can I say, I love my Kylie Scott’s love stories, and IT SEEMED LIKE A GOOD IDEA AT THE TIME is no exception!
The author did an excellent job dealing with a topic that can be a “taboo” for some readers.
I loved everything in the story, with delicious Adele, that proved more often than not she was so much mature than the “adults” in her life, I mean, Pete may have needed a little more growing up /growing balls int the whole story, but I think it was necessary for the plot
And don’t let me start with Shanti, she is just amazing.
The Past / Present Day alternance was perfect too.
And like every Kylie Scott book I read, this romance was the perfect mix of angst and humor.
After several dark romances in the past weeks, I really needed my romcom fix, and this book was the perfectly angsty/steamy/funny read I needed.

***ARC kindly provided in exchange for an honest review***

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Je dois vous avouer que j’ai hésité à lire ce roman dans un premier temps car le sujet peut être parfois taboo et j’avais peur de ne pas aimer cette romance où la différence d’âge est importante entre les deux protagonistes . Mais étant donné que rien ne se passe tant que l’héroïne est mineure, cela n’a en aucun cas gêné ma lecture. It seemed like a good idea at the time c’est une romance dite de seconde chance mais peut être vraiment parler de seconde chance dans ce cas là car Adele a développé un crush énorme pour l’un des employés de son père, Peter Gallagher , et les années vont contribuer à ce qu’elle continue de s’enticher de lui. Adolescente , elle est parvenue à tisser un lien particulier avec lui car c’est un homme qui ne s’ouvre pas aux autres. Elle même pourra aborder avec lui de nombreux sujets et il lui permettra d’apprendre des tas de choses. Comme je vous le disais , leur relation n’a rien d’ambiguë puisque les choses sont très claires pour Pete.

Adele est désormais est une jeune femme de 25 ans qui doit revenir à Sydney pour le mariage de son père. Elle n’est plus jamais revenue depuis sept ans et a entretenu des relations assez distantes avec son père. Est ce que le remariage de ce dernier pose problème? Non car j’ai adoré découvrir Shanti qui est une sacrée belle mère. Même si Adele peut compter sur ses amies Maddie et Hazel, il est évident que Shanti va jouer un rôle clé dans le déroulé de l’intrigue. Au lieu d’être la sale mégère qui va accaparer son père, l’alchimie va immédiatement opérer entre elles et elle saura éteindre les étincelles en cas de nécessité absolue. Elle sera aussi un très bon tampon entre Adele et son père lors de moments tendus. Adele pensait donc être guérie et pouvoir revoir Pete le temps de la préparation du mariage mais elle s’est bercée d’illusions car les sentiments sont encore là et le temps des explications est définitivement révolue. Pourra t-elle de nouveau tisser des liens avec cet homme insaisissable? Saura t-elle le faire parler sur ses sentiments?

Les hommes de ce récit sont assez intéressants car contrairement aux personnages féminins, ils ne livrent pas facilement et nous n’avons d’ailleurs que des chapitres écrits du point de vue d’Adele , ce qui biaise forcément l’intrigue. Andrew est donc le père d’Adele. Elle est partie vivre chez sa mère après le divorce et seules les visites l’été ont permis de conserver un lien. Andrew semblait donc être un homme volage avant de rencontrer celle qui allait faire battre son coeur. Je dois avouer que ce personnage m’a bien fait rire car c’est un homme sanguin qui démarre au quart de tour et qui fera tout pour protéger sa fille du grand méchant loup. Il a confiance en elle et ses capacités professionnelles et c’est d’autant plus touchant qu’il veut l’intégrer à l’entreprise qu’il a fondé avec Pete. Saura t-il accepter la vérité et l’entendre? Shanti parviendra t-elle à apaiser son futur mari?

Peter Gallagher est une sacrée énigme. Il ne se livre pas facilement et on ne peut pas lire les sentiments sur son visage. Il est dans un certain sens réservé et même avec ses nombreuses conquêtes il ne semble pas capable de s’attacher et de nouer une relation stable. On en comprendra les raisons en premier lieu grâce aux flashbacks et au moment où il va se livrer à cette adolescente qui semble avoir pris une place importante dans sa vie. Pete est quelqu’un de solide qui s’est construit par lui même mais qui est au final un handicapé des sentiments. Il ne parviendra pas à exprimer ce qu’il ressent ou ce qu’il reproche à Adele et cela amènera des souffrances parfois inutiles. Cet ours mal léché va devoir apprendre à s’ouvrir à la femme qu’elle est devenue et surtout apprendre à lui parler franchement car les grognements ça va 5 minutes mais être un homme et s’exprimer c’est tout autre chose. Quand va t-il prendre le taureau par les cornes?

Bref, j’ai passé un bon moment avec ce nouveau roman VO de Kylie Scott. La différence d’âge passe très bien à la lecture et on prend plaisir à découvrir l’histoire de ces deux êtres qui ont tellement de mal à communiquer. C’est une lecture légère et fraîche comme on aime et parfaite pour se détendre.

I LOVE the way Kylie Scott writes romance and It Seemed Like A Good Idea at The Time certainly doesn’t disappoint! I find that whenever I pick up a book by Scott, they are always well written, steamy and full of fun. Since its mid-summer here in the States, I felt like this beachy book offered readers a great escape to South East Queensland and the location is one that isn’t overly exploit in books. Also, as a native Australian, I love that this time Scott chose to base a book in her homeland. Not that previously written work from Scott wasn’t richly colored and easily identifiable in US based cities, but I find it’s fun to read about places one may have yet to experience. I read It Seemed Like A Good Idea at The Time fairly quickly as the read wasn’t overly angsty and in fact sucked you right in. Although the story is told in the present, memories of events in Pete and Adele’s past are included to heighten the character’s relationship and give rise to the circumstances they find themselves in currently. Regardless of the nonlinear concept, it was very easy to follow the story. Its told strictly from Adele’s perspective as is Scott’s norm. While I love the duel perspectives that is largely utilized in modern romances, there is just something about the way that Kylie Scott writes her stories that you can’t help but love the signal voice.

I spent a good bit of time chuckling over Adele’s brazen personality and filter free mouth. She was really easy to enjoy, and her thoughts and actions written very concisely making it easy to see who she was. Regardless of the mystery that men believe surrounds the minds of most women, we can be just as uncomplicated as them! Although, I am relatively sure that Pete would argue that he was confounded at every turn by Adele… As easy as I found it to like Adele, it took a little bit for Pete to grow on me. His thoughts aren’t represented with the singular voice being Adele’s so I didn’t know whether he was playing her or finally realizing what had been right beneath his nose. He seemed to still hold a lot of anger towards her when the story first starts, and then BAM! He’s suddenly unable to control the desire he now feels. So, the Hot/Cold vibes from him left me wondering. That said, the more I delved into his character and the events that largely determined his phobia of commitment, I quickly realized I had judged him all wrong. Of course, he was nearly 15 years older than Adele, and their relationship was more geared towards best friends in the past. Even if Pete was also Adele’s unrequited first love and girls mature faster than boys, that is still a large age gap and I actually respected him more for not trying to nail the 18-year-old Adele. Another point in Pete’s favor was how damn sexy he was. He was very take charge when the tides turned and that alpha vibe that came along with the sex was hot!! The sexy times quickly left me needing a cold shower…

It Seemed Like a Good Idea at The Time was a FANTASTIC read and as a standalone, you can get a great feel for Kylie Scott’s writing style. My personal favorites remain Twist from her Dive Bar series and Play from her Stage Dive Series but It Seemed Like a Good Idea at The Time is still an outstanding story that will entertain you from start to finish and I would highly HIGHLY recommend it!

I haven’t read a Kylie Scott for such a long time. She is one of my favourite authors. She wrote one of ultimate favourite Rockstar romance, The Stage Dive series. I freaking adore that series and it made me fall in love with Rockstar romances. When I saw the blurb for It Seemed Like a Good Idea at the Time, I was so intrigued. When it included the words, “fifteen years older than the heroine”, I was sold. I adore age gap romance. This book screamed age gap. So, forbidden. So, taboo. I was pulled into an interesting romance that touched my heart immensely. I was drawn into a heartwarming and beautiful story that warmed my soul.

It Seemed Like a Good Idea at the Time is a sexy romance that will absolutely take you on a journey of true love, young love and forbidden love. It will ache in your heart. It will melt you. It will spellbind you. It will crush you with emotions. Heart Soaring. Page Turning. Heart Whelming. It Seemed Like a Good Idea at the Time is a perfect romance with low angst and sweet torment to paralyze your heart. Kylie Scott gives you a romance to give you tingles and sweet touches. Kylie Scott gives you a well written story that absolutely charms you. I fell madly in love with it. The writing cast a spell on me. I did struggle with the pace of the book. Started really slow for me. Once, I got to the middle, everything erupted and spilled into my heart.

Pete and Adele will make your heart swoon, cry, laugh, giddy and emotional. You feel their love. You feel their anguish. Your feel their connection. Your feel their soul on the page as it seeps into you. I drank every single concoction of their relationship. Adele was a bit immature in my eyes, However, she was strong. With her feelings. With her heart. Pete was an alpha who made my lady bits excited. Hahaha. Protective. Possessive. Commanding. He was a sexy man who had so much baggage to handle.

If you love taboo romance with some angst and emotion, I would definitely give It Seemed Like a Good Idea at the Time a chance. I fully enjoyed reading it.

It Seemed Like A Good Idea At The Time by Kylie Scott is all kinds of all kinds of sexy and the forbidden! Adele has crushed on her father’s friend and business associate for years, even if she is 15 years younger than him. She always felt there was a connection there. So when she decides to lays it all out for Pete when she is eighteen, let’s just say, thing did not go as planned.

Fast forward and Adele has spent the last seven years avoiding home and Pete. But when her father is about to get remarried, there is no staying away. But she is no longer that young and impressionable girl. She is a woman who knows what she wants and is worth. But she was not prepared to be hit with what she felt for Peter all these years later to be just as strong.

Peter was a puzzle. He seemed to care for Adele when she was younger, but knew he needed to keep a distance. But now that she is back and all grown up, can he still stay away? He was at odds with himself and her and seemed to push away a lot, even when he did not want too. Can he let her into her heart or will he push her away for the last time?

It Seemed Like A Good Idea At The Time by Kylie Scott was angsty and full of chemistry. If you love forbidden stories, than this one is for you.

Read and reviewed for Sultry Sirens Book Blog.

Happy reading!

This is my first book by this author and definitely won’t be my last. I had seen this book everywhere and was wanting to read it so bad, that I kept synching waiting for it to pop up on my kindle. Absolutely loved it. She hooked me from the first page until the last. The characters made me laugh the whole time. Seriously these characters in this book was all amazing and well developed. I didn’t want this book to end I wanted more of Adele and Pete. This book pulled me out of my book funk and kept me interested all the way through. The love these two had for each other was fun, crazy and angsty. Seriously everyone needs to pick this book up ASAP and fall in love with these characters because it will open from the beginning until the end. Maybe you’ll be like me and keep flipping the pages and praying for more words from this author.

Ironically, I ended up reading It Seemed Like a Good Idea at the Time right after I finished Respect by Jay Crownover. Both books featured May- December romances although the age difference in It Seemed Like a Good Idea at the Time was larger. Both books also had the characters reuniting after a time apart and that time apart was led up to by an attempted romantic overture by the heroine which needed badly. Pete and Adele were apart for seven years before being reunited at the beginning of this book. She was his boss’s daughter who would spend the summers hanging around with Pete. However, after the aforementioned overture, their friendship ended and it wasn’t until Adele’s father’s wedding that they meet again. Adele ends up staying with Pete during the wedding and their proximity leads to a physical relationship forming between them. Usually, I’m not the biggest fan of reuniting stories with flashbacks but It Seemed Like a Good Idea at the Time does an excellent job of not having the past overwhelm the present too much. Adele is on a trajectory of change in her life and her reunion with Pete comes at a good time. Despite that, they do have struggles to overcome. In addition to simply enjoying both Pete and Adele, I liked that this book took place in Australia. I will admit to look up some of the wildlife causally mentioned in this book and even threatened to show my sister a picture of the huntsman spider I looked up. Overall, I was a fan of this Kylie Scott standalone and highly recommend it.

-4.5 stars-

It Seemed Like a Good Idea at the Time is a standalone novel featuring an age-gap romance between the business partner and the boss’s daughter. I’ve been a fan of this author for years now and her books never fail to put me in a good mood. The streak continues with this title, in fact this book will rank among my favorites from her. There are plenty of comedic moments, banter between characters, and a fun, fresh vibe which worked perfectly with Miss Scott’s easy-going, effortless writing style that makes characters feel like old friends. The pacing was brisk and upbeat, and I found it incredibly hard to ever set this book down.

I’m partial to this author in general, but her snarky, take-no-prisoners heroines paired with the broody, closed-off hero are my absolute favorites. Adele and Peter fit those roles perfectly; I smiled at Adele’s sass, felt for her heartbreak, and rooted for these two to find their happily-ever-after. This was a couple and romance that simply made me happy. The timeline of this book jumps from the past (7-9 years ago) to the present, but it didn’t feel jarring in the least, with the transitions smooth, clearly marked, and pertinent to the storyline. I loved seeing the relationship between Peter and Adele blossom and enjoyed all the little snippets from the past and present that demonstrated how well-matched these two were. Though I didn’t think their chemistry was quite as palpable as some of this author’s couples, there is no denying these two generate plenty of heat. If you’re a fan of this author or just looking for a fun read guaranteed to pull you in and have you smiling, It Seemed Like a Good Idea at the Time isn’t one to be missed.

*eARC received via author’s ARC team/ PA. The author had no influence over this review*

It Seemed Like a Good Idea is not a typical Kylie Scott story, and I love that she took a risk to write a love story where there’s a forbidden aspect to the hero and heroine’s relationship as well as a significant age gap between them. It’s never easy to discuss topics or to create a storyline that readers could possibly take issue with due to their own personal beliefs and feelings. But, in my opinion, the 15 year age difference between Adele and Pete shouldn’t really be a point of contention for readers because Adele is of age when she acts on her feelings and ultimately gets shunned for them when she’s 18 and then when Adele and Pete finally take a chance on each other 7 years later, she’s a grown woman who should be able to choose how she lives her life and who she wants to be by her side.

Don’t get me wrong…I understand that it would be frowned upon for Adele and Pete to be together when she just graduated from high school and the fact that Pete was her father’s partner also adds to the awkwardness of the situation, but it’s clear since Adele started coming to her father’s house at the age of 16 during her summer vacations that she shared a special bond with Pete…that she became a confidante to him and that their friendship meant EVERYTHING to Adele.

Scott provides readers with flashbacks of Adele and Pete’s time together before one misinterpreted situation destroyed several friendships, so readers are shown the whys and hows of Adele’s forced departure and the reasons she stayed away for 7 years, and Scott also makes it clear that the only thing really stopping anything from finally happening between Adele and Pete is his fears and, at times, his obnoxious and immature behavior.

Pete’s words and actions are why I struggled to understand Adele’s infatuation with him and her determination to make things work between them. For much of the story, I didn’t like Pete and I actually didn’t want Adele to fight for him because I didn’t think he deserved her, and it was difficult for me to be happy for them when he finally does get his head out of his ass because of his previous reactions and missteps.

The biggest reason I think I struggled with Pete was because the story is only told through Adele’s perspective and what she shares with readers about her heartbreak and emotional state is difficult to see passed. If we were privy to Pete’s internal thoughts, it would have been easier to understand his frame of mind and give him the benefit of the doubt in some situations due to the circumstances that he had to deal with, but because we only get her side of things, I felt too much sympathy for what Adele had to go through and it made me angry with Pete and his inability to get it together.
Regardless of my issues with Pete, though, Kylie Scott crafted an emotional, angsty, and steamy read, and it was quite easy to mesh the flashbacks with the present day scenes because Scott provided smooth transitions between them and I really enjoyed the secondary characters, especially Adele’s stepmother, because they added humor and banter to Adele and Pete’s story, making the heavy issues not be so overwhelming.

4 Poison Apples

If Adele was real and pint sized, I’d stick the girl in my pocket and take her home with me!

Scott always writes her characters with some certain ‘thing’ that either makes me completely relate to them, or completely adore them – often, it’s both. Adele is not an exception. She’s blunt and rambling, a little awkward and absolutely all ‘her’.

But her insecurities are frayed at the edges as she returns home after years. After an embarrassing rejection and fully shattered heart. She’s only ever been in love with one man and avoiding him while home for her father’s wedding isn’t an option. He’s her dad’s best friend, business partner and neighbor.

Avoiding rekindling her love for him isn’t avoidable either. And…perhaps, another broken heart is the only thing guaranteed with this trip.

Pete. What to say about Pete?? Pete holds one of my favorite Book-Boyfriend qualities. He’s a man of few words. Tight lipped, cold, a bit of a total asshole. That’s how I like them. He delivered in a big way!

The interaction between Pete and Adele was really fun but layered with enough frustration and emotion to having you riding a full spectrum of feels.

For me, the only thing holding this back from a stellar 5 star read was the a lack of insight into Pete’s head. I mean, you get it, I just would have appreciated a little more of it, especially at the end. Otherwise it was a great, light and fun read.