Sally Thorne

“I always thought that love would feel like something gentle, but this isn’t. I feel a clawing, desperate need to hold his heart in my hand and to fend off anything that might damage it. The world outside Providence is a chaotic, restless thing, full of disappointments and pain. I am the only one careful enough to hold on to something so precious” (272).

This is a sweet story about our role in relationships and seeks to answer this question: In relationships, how much should we expect to give and how much she we expect to take? The plot and setting of this story provide the laugh-out-loud moments in this rom-com where youthful (but old lady-acting) Ruthie, impulsively childish (but brilliant and wealthy)
Teddy, and nosy temp agent (but wise and caring) Melanie live and/or work at this retirement villa appropriately named Providence (as it provides all the safety and security Ruthie is looking for).

While I enjoyed the comedic plot and setting, the characters are where the book fell a little short for me. I really loved the potential here, but in the end, they were a bit like caricatures. Ruthie was too old ladyish; Teddy was too childish. Their relatability ebbed and flowed. There’d be moments where I saw them as real characters, and then they’d drift over that line a bit too far, a bit over the top, making the whole read a bit underwhelming. A solid 3.5.… (mehr)

I truly for the life of me can’t understand why this book is so highly rated. I’ll admit, I enjoyed the first 100 or so pages. The first 11 chapters to be exact. And then something changed and the next 200+ pages were a slog fest. I wanted to DNF the book some many times but I kept on trucking through. Lucy is not only childish but she’s also ridiculous. And yet somehow in the last 50 pages she grows a spine and stands up to Josh’s dad for him and then everything else gets wrapped up in a neat little bow. I really wanted to love this book but I just can’t.… (mehr)