After her carefully ordered world imploded, Paige Taylor cracks up. On her tenth self-help book, it seemed like a good idea at the time to reinvent herself–move from Manhattan to the tiny beachside town of St. Clair–and take over the local bookstore. But instead of discovering her spiritual Nirvana, she’s neck-deep in a floundering business, the locals treat her like a plague victim, and her … victim, and her mom’s suddenly decided to visit–with no end in sight–and keeps coming home with one surprise after the next.
Added to that pot of crazy, the one guy who sets her pulse racing has sworn off women forever. He’s got a Samsonite filled with baggage, but damn he looks good hauling it down the street. And giving her those sexy half-smiles. And tempting her to take him for a test ride.
Soon Paige discovers that reinventing herself takes more than just a change of address and a pithy quote on Instagram. She needs to face the truth about her life, and that’s something she can’t do alone.
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Fun romantic comedy
On the advice of a bestselling, self-help guru’s book, thirty-something Paige Taylor decides to make a man-free, fresh start far, far away after her well-ordered life in Manhattan is shattered by the trauma of a cheating, longtime boyfriend. However, in the midst of drowning in anger and sadness at her ex’s betrayal, she is not thinking too clearly. As a result, it seems like a good idea to her to plow all her savings, sight unseen, and without any kind of standard property inspection, into a bookstore in St. Clair, a quaint, beachside, tourist destination on the West Coast. Her out-of-character impetuosity lands her in a heap of trouble when she discovers to her dismay that the bookstore is in shambles, and the locals are so unfriendly, she might as well be back in big, bad NYC. Worst of all, her mother has suddenly decided to become another millstone around poor Paige’s neck by moving in with her on what appears to be a permanent basis.
Luke Carmichael, a thirty-something St. Clair local, has also been burned by love and is committed to a woman-free existence. His self-sufficient existence consists of running his successful construction business, raising his young daughter as a single parent, and pursuing his hobby of writing and singing songs.
Unfortunately for their well laid plans of romantic indifference, when Luke and Paige meet, irresistible attraction blows apart their mutual vow to stay safely solo.
This entertaining romantic comedy offers lovably quirky, small-town characters alongside the attractive and sympathetic protagonists, Paige and Luke. Their amusingly rocky road to romance is a pleasure to experience, and the beachside setting in which the story action takes place is a unique and lovely backdrop.
Overall, this book is an excellent addition to the a new Entangled imprint which spotlights romantic protagonists in their thirties.
I rate this book as follows:
Heroine: 4 stars
Hero: 4 stars
Subcharacters: 4 stars
Setting: 4 stars
Romance Plot: 4 stars
Chick Lit Plot: 4 stars
Writing: 4 stars
Overall: 4 stars
It kept my interest. I good book to take my mind off my troubles.
Not interesting enough for me to finish last half
Too predictable romance.
The first in the “Belles of St. Clair” series is an utterly charming small-town romance. I thought that the set-up was a little slow, but once Paige opened the bookstore and started meeting the townspeople, it really took off. The town, like any small town, is filled with quirky characters; my favorites were Smith and Marlon (they reminded me of an old Carol Burnett sketch with Harvey Korman and Tim Conway). In fact, I wish there had been a little more of them. The romance between Luke and Paige is sweet and natural. It was an enjoyable read, and I can’t wait to read the rest in the series. These are characters I would not mind visiting again! Thank you to Entangled Publishing (via NetGalley) for the opportunity to read a complimentary digital ARC of this book.
Sounds like heaven to me, relocating and opening a bookstore. But it wasn’t an easy choice for Paige.
Paige has always been a “yes” girl, a pushover and pretty easy going. But after a disastrous relationship, she’s on a journey of self discovery, instead of “yes”, it’s going to be a “no” from Paige. And going to a small town to run a bookshop seems like an ideal solution, Paige intends to reinvent herself, and concentrate on her happiness and wellbeing.
Reading the book, was a lot of fun, so many mishaps and accidents. The internal dialogue she had with herself had me smiling at odd moments.
Her relationship with her mother was a nice touch (that parent who means well, but has no clue) the hostility that the town has for Paige at the beginning (a newcomer is always looked upon with suspicion) the bookshop that Paige pinned her new life on (not that easy to run when it’s not doing to good) and then we have Luke, the banter and chemistry was fun to read.
So will Paige find happiness in St. Clair ? And if not, can I buy her bookstore?
I gave this Book a rating of 5 ’s
Title: What Were You Thinking, Paige Taylor?
Series: Belles of St. Clair Book 1
Genre: Clean Contemporary Romance, Small town Romance
Author: Amanda Ashby
Format: Kindle Edition
Published on: November 12, 2018
I voluntarily received a Courtesy Copy of this book from AuthorsPal and am choosing to leave a review.
>-< >–< >–< >–< >–<>–< >–< >–< >–< >–< >–< >–< >–< What I liked/Didn’t Like: This was definitely a feels good warm fuzzies romance. The authors writing made it easy to read while keeping you laughing. I loved the characters in this one and they meshed well together. Overall a darn good read
Fun, tender and utterly captivating, Amanda Ashby’s WHAT WERE YOU THINKING, PAIGE TAYLOR? is guaranteed to give you all the feels!