I made a sexy mistake a decade ago… And I won’t regret repeating it! I shouldn’t have left her behind in my hometown. Now every part of me wants to touch her… to own her.I need to make her mine again. Being a successful sports photographer has its perks. But I’d never been rejected by a woman. Much less the only woman I obsess over. I know I’m playing with fire. Eventually it’s time for me to … with fire.
Eventually it’s time for me to leave town again.
But this time I’m not leaving without her.
…And her little secret that won’t stay little for long.
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An angsty second chance romance, Picture Perfect follows a pair of high school sweethearts who come face to face after several years apart. While there is nothing inherently wrong with the story, it definitely felt incomplete. Our hero even says himself that they haven’t spent enough time together to know if what they’re feeling is just leftover emotion from their past love, or a hint of a spark that remains. That really sums up my thoughts about the book – there is so little time devoted to our couple together that I have no idea how to feel about them.
The story follows Alanna and Bradley, who were first loves that thought they’d spend their lives together. When Alanna’s father became ill at the end of high school, she asked Bradley to put his dreams on hold to stay in their hometown with her… and he declined. He said some pretty harsh things and broke her heart, leaving town without looking back. Now that he’s returned for a few days, taking photos of a sports team, Bradley sees Alanna for the first time in years. They think they need to hash things out to get closure, but it also opens up all of that old emotion.
The last book I read by Annie J. Rose was great, so I had high hopes for this, and while there was nothing bad about it, I certainly didn’t love it. The story feels so incomplete that I couldn’t really root for these two to find love again. I’m not even sure how their lives fit together, and I don’t think that they do either. All in all, it felt both drawn out (the drama) and rushed (the romance), so I never truly got into the story. I received a free copy via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
The premise is good if not drawn out and the characters annoyed me but, there is a happy ending. High school sweethearts Alanna and Bradley had a horrible breakup. Terrible things were said and Bradley left for college without Alanna and without saying goodbye. Regrets are still lingering after ten years when they run into each other again. The attraction, chemistry and love is still there but, they don’t know how to be around each other any more so, it’s awkward and still painful. This goes back and forth for several encounters. They both have no problem sitting down and telling the other people in their lives what they are thinking and feeling but, they can’t do that for themselves. It only makes things more uncomfortable and neither can forward with their lives. It goes on for too long until it becomes imperative that they act like adults and have a serious discussion to fix the pains of the past so they may have a future. Even though I struggled with the book, it is good romance.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.