Love in a Pickle

de L.B. Dunbar (2021) Smartypants Romance

Résumé : When a mysterious silver fox becomes intrigued with this small town’s most disliked society woman, he finds she’s more than a little trouble and possibly a whole lot of heart.

Scotia Simmons. The name says it all—ornery, judgmental, mean—but underneath a woman like that is typically a shattered heart. Locked within her secrets, this fried pickle princess has used her unkindness as a shield of protection against the loneliness. However, menopause and a one-night stand can change a woman’s perspective on things. Who knew it would take a man the likes of him to push her strong will to its limits?

Chester Chesterfield. The name has more than one meaning—generous, quiet, private—but within one man is a multitude of personas. The gruff oil mogul has a wounded heart (and a big secret) that holds him hostage from the man he’s meant to be. His past defined him, or so he thought. He never imagined it’d take a woman like her to push him over his carefully constructed edges and show him love has no boundaries.

When you’re in a pickle, it’s time to relish what—or rather who—stands before you and accept that even over forty, a second chance at love can be a big dill (every pun intended).

Surement la romance qui m'a le plus laissée perplexe. Je l'ai pas détesté, mais je l'ai pas aimé non plus. Je l'ai lu en étant plus détachée qu'avec d'autres, je pense que c'était plus en raison du style de l'auteur et des personnalités des héros auxquels je n'ai pas vraiment accroché.

J'ai trouvé leur histoire un poil compliquée, et plusieurs fois quand l'un fait un pas vers l'autre, l'autre fait 2 pas dans le sens opposé. Je me suis demandée si vraiment ils allaient finir ensemble parce que c'était pas gagné...

Scotia est une langue de vipère, elle n'est pas forcément la personnalité la plus aimé de Green Valley, elle commence à renouer du lien avec ses soeurs mais ce n'est pas chose facile. Clairement, elle s'est ensevelie elle-même dans une masse de "Qu'en dira-t-on ?", une façon de se comporter en société et un système de défense au cas où quelqu'un oserait lui dire quelque chose, c'est elle qui frappe la première... Les seuls moments où elle m'a touché c'est son lien avec les enfants du foyer de Chester et surtout avec le petit Malik.

Chester, tient, personnage presque schizophrène avec 3 identités en 1... Qu'on ne soit pas pareil au boulot et à la maison d'accord, mais avoir 3 versions de soi est assez perturbant, même Scotia dit à un moment ne pas savoir à qui elle a à faire : Chester, Chet ou Big Popy... D'autant que le Chester homme d'affaire, on sait pas vraiment ce qu'il fait comme boulot xD (nan mais c'est vrai).

Donc autant la romance ne m'a fait ni chaud ni froid, autant j'ai plus apprécié l'intrigue autour de Malik, ce petit garçon trouvé que personne ne cherche. Ce bouquin est extrêmement bien documenté sur le système des familles d'accueil aux USA, c'est pour moi le point le plus intéressant du livre.

Surely the romance that left me the most perplexed. I didn't hate it, but I didn't like it either. I was more detached than others books I read, I think it was more because of the author' style and who the characters were and I didn't really get hooked on.

I found their story a bit complicated, when one takes one step towards the other, the other takes two steps in the opposite direction. I wondered if they were really going to end up together because it was not an match made in heaven...

Scotia is a vicious gossip, she is not necessarily the most beloved woman of Green Valley, she is starting to reconnect with her sisters but it's not easy. Clearly, she has buried herself in a mass of "What will they say ?", a way of behaving in society and a defense wall and in case someone dares say something to her, it's her who strikes first... The only moments when I liked here was because her bond with the children of Chester's foster home and especially with little Malik.

Chester, by the way, an almost schizophrenic character with 3 identities in 1... If you are not the same at work and at home it's okay, but having 3 versions of yourself is quite disturbing, even Scotia said at one point that she doesn't know who she's dealing with : Chester, Chet or Big Popy... Especially since Chester is a rich businessman, we don't really know what he does for a living xD (but it's true, I 've no idea).

So as much as the romance leaves me completely indifferent, I enjoyed the intrigue around Malik, this little boy is found and no one is looking for him. This book is extremely well documented on the foster care system in the USA, it's for me the most interesting point of the book.

 

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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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Love in due time

de L.B. Dunbar (2019) - Smartypants Romance

Résumé : Naomi Winters will be forty--soon-ish--and she's only been with one man. One night. One time. Long ago. She believes everything happens for a reason, and the universe spoke about Nathan Ryder.

Nathan Ryder isn't the same man who hightailed his bike out of Green Valley eighteen years ago. As a rule breaker, women are one area he acts a fool. Case in point...the local librarian. He can't get a read on her, but she's one risk he's willing to take. Again.

What do an eccentric librarian and a sexy silver biker have in common? More than you think.

The due date on their love might not be expired after all.


J'ai beaucoup aimé l'histoire de Naomi et Nathan, amants dans leur vingtaine la vie les a séparé et les remet sur le même chemin 18 ans plus tard. Même après tout ce temps et des parcours radicalement opposés, l'attraction est toujours là, et aucun ne veut laisser passer cette deuxième chance.

Naomi n'a eu qu'un seul grand amour, Nathan, après cette fameuse nuit passée ensemble, un évènement tragique s'est produit et elle a culpabilisé (d'autant que ses parents n'ont rien fait d'autre pour l'aider que de l'enfoncer dans sa faute et ses comportements immoraux...). N'ayant aucun moyen de contacter Nathan et croulant sous une fausse responsabilité, elle n'a jamais voulu avoir d'autres histoires... Si on ajoute à cela qu'elle est devenu Wiccan et que les débiles de Green Valley la traite de sorcière, Naomi a toujours eu le sentiments d'être à la marge, ne se sentant bien que chez elle au milieu de la nature et à la bibliothèque, surtout auprès des jeunes lecteurs ^^

Nathan n'a jamais oublié la jeune fille vibrante qu'il a rencontré un soir, passant une magique avec elle, qui s'est suivi par la pire nuit de sa vie. Un accident, des problèmes avec les Wraights, et Nathan doit quitter Green Valley. Avec deux petites filles (dont les mères n'ont plus voulu s'occuper) Nathan revient chez lui pour être plus près de sa mère et son frère. Un jour, il croise Naomi par hasard et l'attirance revient en trombe, il veut en savoir plus sur cette femme qui l'avait déjà fasciné 18 ans plus tôt.

en 18 ans, on change beaucoup, on a pris du recul et on sait qu'on ne refera pas les mêmes erreurs. Nathan et Naomi ont une deuxième chance, et c'est pas des bikers qui vont les en empêcher non mais ! Ca fait plaisir aussi d'avoir une romance avec des héros dans la 40aine, qui ont bourlingué, et qui ne se posent plus 12 milles questions existentielles (enfin peut-être toujours pour Naomi ^^). Et puis j'adore l'ambiance de cette bibliothèque, elle donne envie d'aller y passer ses journées :)

I loved the story of Naomi and Nathan, they were lovers in their twenties then life separated them and, 18 years later, puts them on the same path. Even after all this time and radically different lifes, the attraction is still there, and neither of them wants to miss this second chance.

Naomi had only one great love, Nathan, after this magical night together, a tragic event occurred and she felt guilty (especially since her parents didn't do anything else to help her except putting her deeper in guilt saying it was her fault and by her immoral behavior...). Having no way to contact Nathan and crumbling under a false responsibility, she never wanted to have anyone else in her life... If we add to that that she became a Wiccan and that the stupid folks of Green Valley treats her like a witch, Naomi always had the feeling of being a marginal, only feeling good at home in the middle of nature and at the library, especially with young readers ^^ and than Nathan resurfaces and her long-buried feelings release and mess up everything !

Nathan never forgot the vibrant girl he met one night, passing a magic night with her, which followed the worst night of his life. An accident, problems with the Wraights, and Nathan must leave Green Valley. With two little girls (whose mothers did not want to take care of them anymore) Nathan returns home to be closer to his mother and his brother. One day, he meets Naomi by chance and the attraction comes back, he wants to know more about this woman who had already fascinated him 18 years earlier.

in 18 years, we change a lot, we have distance and we know we will not make the same mistakes. Nathan and Naomi have a second chance, and not even bikers will not stop them ! It is also a pleasure to have a romance with heroes in the 40s, who have some experience of life, and who no longer ask themselves 12 thousand existential questions (well, maybe it is still the case for Naomi ^^). And I love the atmosphere of this library, it makes you want to go spend his days :)


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