Love in Deed

de L.B. Dunbar (2020) Smartypants Romances

Résumé : Sometimes it takes an outsider to force us to see who we are. The real struggle is accepting what we learn.

For Beverly Townsen, nothing could be closer to the truth. Virtually a shut-in, Beverly has pulled back from Green Valley’s community, preferring the isolation of her farmhouse and her daily routine of viewing home improvement television shows. When the opportunity arises for her own home improvement and a personal re-assessment, she’s not so excited about the reality of real life versus DIY programs.

Jedd Flemming understands physical pain and personal loss, but it’s never stopped him from bucking forward in life. A former military man and rodeo star, his life as a nomad comes to an end with false accusations and a family matter back in the Valley. It’s been a long journey to find his way home and once there, there’s nothing he wants more than to reclaim what he’s lost…and maybe the elusive female reclusive who holds a sliver of his past.

With an unprecedented proposition, Beverly finds a stranger living in her barn, raising horses on borrowed pastures, and plowing his way into her vacant heart. Old hurts linger, but sometimes love in deed is louder than words.


Même si cette romance a de très bons atouts : des héros ayant +40 ans, des histoires de vie bien compliquées, une complicité qui s'acquière à un bon rythme, un pitch intéressant... C'était pas le coup de coeur, et j'ai eu un peu de mal avec le trop plein de drames et de dramaturgie.

Disons que je n'ai rien contre lire des histoires sur des gens qui ont souffert d'une façon ou une autre, mais quand ça cumule trop ça donne un peu l'impression de tragédie grecque... et du coup le roman est majoritairement dépressif, assez chargé émotionnellement, et même avec un happy end on est soulagé de le finir.

Bon, tout ça ne veut pas dire que la romance est pas bien hein ^^ . L'histoire entre Beverly et Jedd est touchante, ils sont comme deux animaux sauvages qui s'apprivoisent l'un l'autre. Jedd réveille la Beverly qui s'était enfouie tellement profondément qu'elle-même ne savait plus qu'elle existait.

Par une connexion bizarre du cerveau, je me suis imaginé James Hetfield en Jedd, le chanteur de Metallica, je sais pas, le côté bourrin sans être méchant xD bref...

Even if this romance has very good assets: heroes over 40 years old, very complicated life stories, a bond that grew at a good pace, an interesting pitch... It was not my favorite, and I had a little trouble with the overflow of drama and dramatics.

I have nothing against reading stories about people who have suffered in one way or another, but when it accumulates too much it gives a little the impression of a Greek tragedy... as a result the novel is mainly depressive, quite emotionally charged, and even with a happy ending you are relieved to finish it.

Well, all that doesn't mean that the romance is not good ^^. The story between Beverly and Jedd is touching, they are like two wild animals that tame each other. Jedd awakens the Beverly who had buried herself so deeply that she herself no longer knew that she existed.

By a bizarre connection of the brain, I imagined James Hetfield as Jedd, the singer of Metallica, I don't know, the naughty side without being mean xD anyway...

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Upsy Daisy

de Chelsie Edwards (2020) - Smartypants Romance

Résumé : College, cookies, capers, Oh my! Daisy Payton has everything. Exceptional grades. Impeccable clothes. Model family.

But perfection comes at a high cost, and Daisy is wilting. Determined to use college as her chance to bloom anew, she’s focused on only one thing, leaving the Payton name behind and forging her own path—even if she has to tell the teeniest of fibs to do it.

Trevor Boone has nothing. Abandoned as a child. Raised by distant relatives. Constantly reminded he’s a burden.

Trevor’s lived at the edges of opulence for years, having all he’s ever desired dangled just out of reach. But his ambition is finally about to pay off and nothing will distract him from his goal—finishing college top of his class and starting life, on his own terms.

When Daisy and Trevor meet it’s clear from the start that they’ll tempt each other to distraction, can they learn to put their ambitions aside and fall or will they lose it al l?


J'ai eu un peu de mal à rentrer dans l'histoire, j'ai eu l'impression que ça traînait un peu en longueur sur les introductions de chacun des héros et le début de leurs interactions. A un moment donné l'intrigue est lancée et la lecture avance plus vite. Petit point d'adaptation aussi sur le contexte historique que je ne connaissais pas du tout : le Tennessee, en 1975, l'université Fisk qui a joué un rôle dans l'éducation afro-américaine aux USA (enfin c'est ce qui est écrit sur leur site, j'ai aucune idée du degré d'implication historique...).

Ca va paraître bizarre, mais Daisy et Trevor c'est pas the couple qui fait couiner et qui envoie des arc-en-ciel et des coeurs dans tous les sens. Ils passent quand même la plupart du temps séparés, et leur scènes ensemble sont pas hyper nombreuses, ensuite on un énorme quiproquo qui auraient pu être résolu si les deux savaient se parler... Cette histoire est sauvée grâce aux personnages secondaires qui prennent une place très importante, c'est plus pour eux que j'ai aimé ce roman que pour le couple principal !

Il y a Dolly, la soeur ainée de Daisy qui est absolument magnifique. Les deux soeurs n'ont pas beaucoup de moments entre elles, mais il y a une scène dramatique très forte et Dolly est juste wouahou... James et Odie les deux amies de Daisy ont besoin d'avoir leur roman à elles, on ne peut pas introduire deux nanas comme ça et les laissez dans la nature sans leur happy ends xD. Julian et Elodie, les deux meilleurs amis de Trevor, méritent aussi qu'on s'intéresse à eux ;)

Daisy et Trevor sont tellement rongés par leur secret respectif, qu'ils ne se donnent même pas une chance, et forcément chacune de leur charade va exploser à leur tête et c'est le drame : chacun accuse l'autre de ne pas lui avoir fait confiance, et têtus comme ils sont, ils vont perdre du temps à se faire la tête... Ils ont chacun des histoires de vies compliquées, ils viennent de milieux différents mais ils ont eu des blessures qu'ils vont devoir dépasser.

Ce roman est intéressant sur la vie estudiantine afro-américaine des années 70 (même si le fonctionnement des universités américaines m'a toujours échappée xD) : la rentrée, les soirées, les dortoirs, le prix des livres O_o, le tutorat, le réfectoire, les commissions disciplinaires... Même si Chelsie Edwards dit (en note) qu'elle a prix des libertés pour simplifier les choses, son roman est très bien documenté et elle est arrivée à créé une vie quotidienne sur les campus très palpable.

I had a little trouble getting into the story, I had the impression that it dragged on a bit for between the introductions of each main characters and the start of their interactions. At some point the intrigue is launched and the reading goes faster. Small adaptation also on the historical context that I didn't know at all : Tennessee, 1975, Fisk University which played a role in African-American education in the USA (well that's what is written on their website, I have no idea of ​​the degree of historical involvement...).

It might sound weird, but Daisy and Trevor are not the couple that makes you swoon and throws rainbows and hearts in every directions. They spend most of the time separated from one another, and their scenes together are not very few, then there is a huge misunderstanding that could have been resolved if the two knew how to communicate... This story is saved thanks to the secondary characters who take a very important place, it's for them that I liked this novel more than for the main couple !

There is Dolly, Daisy's older sister who is absolutely outstanding. The two sisters do not have a lot of moments together, but there is a very strong dramatic scene and Dolly is just WOW... James and Odie, the two girlfriends of Daisy need to have their own novel, we can't introduce two girls like that and leave them in the wild without their happy endings xD. Julian and Elodie, Trevor's two best friends, also deserve to be developped in a book ;)

Daisy and Trevor are so consumed by their respective secrets, that they do not even give themselves a chance, and inevitably each of their charade will explode in their face and it is the end of their world : each accuses the other of not trusting, and as stubborn as they are, they will waste time being in a mood with each other... They each have complicated life stories, they come from different backgrounds but they have had trauma that they will have to overcome.

This novel is interesting on the African-American student life of the 70s (even if the functioning of American universities has always eluded me xD) : back to school, evenings parties, dormitories, the price of books O_o, tutoring, the refectory, disciplinary commissions... Even if Chelsie Edwards says (in a note) that she has taken liberties to simplify things, her novel is very well documented and she has managed to create a very tangible campus life.


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Carpentry and Cocktails

de Nora Everly (2020) - Smartypants Romance

Résumé : Everett Monroe can’t keep his eyes off his gorgeous tenant.

He’d like to put his hands on her too, but she’s prickly, closed-off, and gives new meaning to the word disgruntled. In other words, she’s his perfect match and he’ll do anything to make her see it too.

Willa Hill has finally left her teen runaway past behind and wants a fresh start—alone. Men are nothing but trouble and she’s had enough man-trouble to last a lifetime. Too bad her irresistibly sexy, nerdy-hot landlord doesn’t agree.

When their mutual yearning becomes a white-hot fling and passion crosses carefully drawn, albeit one-sided boundaries, Everett finds himself in love and Willa finds herself in a pickle.

Because, unfortunately, when she returned to Green Valley, her problems came too. When the past she escaped crashes into the future she finds herself wanting more than anything, will Willa stay in Green Valley?

Or will she run away again?


Dans la série des Green Valley Library, un de mes tomes préférés était celui de Nora Everly (Crime and Periodicals avec Wyatt et Sabrina), dans celui-ci nous avons le frère de Wyatt, Everett, et l'héroïne est Willa, la meilleure ami de Sabrina.

Willa et Everett sont mignons, ils se zieutent l'un l'autre de loin, sans vraiment trop se cacher, ils flirtent gentiment, mais Willa ne s'autorise pas à aller plus loin. Elle sort d'une relation toxique avec un mec violent à tendance psychopathe, elle en garde des blessures qui sont difficiles à surmonter. A cela s'ajoute des conflits familiaux qui ne l'aide pas du tout à reprendre confiance en elle... Mais Everett, le geek sexy qui coupe des bûches à la hache, est irrésistible (non vraiment c'est la choupitude incarnée) et il va arriver à gagner le coeur de sa belle. Willa et Everett ont vraiment une belle relation, ils évoluent ensemble, essaient d'être à l'écoute l'un de l'autre.

Un des point fort est aussi les personnages secondaires : j'adore la petite soeur de Willa et les frères d'Everett, plus Sabrina et Wyatt, tout ce petit monde ship nos héros et vont tout faire pour les aider xD

In the Green Valley Library series, one of my favorite books was Nora Everly's ( Crime and Periodicals with Wyatt and Sabrina), in this one we have Wyatt's brother, Everett, and the heroine is Willa, Sabrina's best friend.

Willa and Everett are cute, they ogle each other from afar, without really hiding themsleves, they flirt nicely, but Willa does not allow herself to go further. She comes out of a toxic relationship with a violent guy with a psychopathic tendency, she keeps wounds that are difficult to overcome. Added to this, her family problems don't help her regain self-confidence at all... But Everett, the sexy geek who chops logs with an ax, is irresistible (yes really it's sexyness incarnate) and he will manage to win the heart of his belle. Willa and Everett have a really good relationship, they grow together and try to listen to each other.

One of the strong points is also the secondary characters : I adore Willa's little sister and Everett's brothers, plus Sabrina and Wyatt, all these people ships our heroes and will do everything to help them xD

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