Source: we received an e-ARC of the book through NetGalley for review purposes.
Susan Mallery is one of my favorite authors. I think I have read pretty much everything she has written and I get really excited when one of her new books is about to come out. When I saw this book was available on NetGalley I was very happy and even happier when they send it to me.
Only Mine is the first book of the new trilogy set on the town of Fool’s Gold. If you are a fan of Susan Mallery you know that this book is a continuation of the series that started last year. I think you can start reading this one because there are no spoilers for the past books, but I think you should read the others first because that way you will know more about the town (and believe me, the town is a huge part of the book’s charm) and the people who lives there including this book’s heroine.
In this book Fool’s Gold is in the middle of an uproar. Word got out that the town was full of women but lacking on men and a hot-shot TV producer is hoping to bank on this by doing a Bachelor type reality show. The person in charge of representing the town during the taping of the show is our leading lady Dakota Hendrix, she is one of the triplets (each sister will have her own book) and sister of Ethan Hendrix the hero of Almost Perfect, book 2 of the original trilogy. She is on a turning point of her life, she wants to be a mom but some time ago she got bad news from her doctor and is now trying to adopt.
On the other hand we have Finn Anderssen, our hero. He came all the way from Alaska searching for his twin baby brothers who have enlisted on the show -and when I say searching I really mean hunting down because he is not happy about it-.
I liked Dakota a lot, she was charming and wasn’t afraid to fight for her dreams. I liked that instead of dwelling on her problems and on the life-changing bad news she just readjusted her dreams and went for it. She didn’t see her inability to have children as the end of the world, instead she accepted it and found an alternative. I also loved her interactions with her mom and sisters. I liked that even though they are identical triplets they are all very different from each other and can’t wait to read more about them.
I enjoyed the heroine but I adored Finn. My favorite part about him was that he spent almost the entire book angry. I liked that instead of a hero who was charming and suave we get this grumpy guy who just wants to get his brothers and go back to his life. I think he wouldn’t like me saying this, but I found him adorable. He had some hilarious inner-dialogue and I loved him. He also had good chemistry with Dakota who was his complete opposite with her sunny disposition and positive take on life. Of course there were more reasons for him to be that way but you have to read and see.
There was also a sweet secondary love story involving one of Finn’s brothers and a girl almost ten years his senior. I was a bit wary about the age difference, mostly because he was very young, but Susan made it work and I actually found myself rooting for them to get their HEA.
Now, as you can see there were a lot of things that I liked about the book, but there were some things that bothered me a lot. I can’t really say what those things were without giving away the plot so please just skip this paragraph if you don’t want to know. (SPOILERS) The first thing was that Dakota gets a kid very easily. I think that was completely unrealistic because adoption takes a lot of time. I’m not an expert but I also think that as complicated as it is for a couple to get a kid, is even more difficult for a single woman to adopt. Maybe I’m wrong but this part was just too unbelievable, it worked well in the book and it was necessary for the development of the plot, but to me it seemed far-fetched. But the thing that bothered me the most was that Dakota gets pregnant. I couldn’t believe it, when I started reading the book I assumed that it would happened, but when she got the kid I was happy because Susan was avoiding the obvious and cliché plot devise of the infertile woman getting pregnant when the right guy comes along, but nope, she had to get pregnant. I really don’t understand why, it wasn’t necessary at all, she was happy and fulfilled with the adoption, there was no need to go there and this development irked me very much. (END OF SPOILERS)
Having said that I can tell you that overall I liked the book. It wasn’t my favorite and I really think that it could have been much better without some aspects, but it was fun and entertaining and I think that if you are a fan of Mallery's books or a fan of contemporary romance this is a good choice for a quick light read.
Review by Brie
Grade: 3
Sensuality: McSexy
Synopsis:
You can't win if you don't play...Her town's lack of men may make headlines, but it isn't news to Dakota Hendrix. The beautiful blonde has bigger problems to deal with, such as overseeing the romance reality competition filming in Fool's Gold. Screening eligible bachelors is a difficult enough task, but Dakota hits an unexpected snag when a sexy stranger comes to town.Finn Anderssen will do anything to keep his twin brothers— the perfect contestants— off the show. Despite Dakota's better judgment, she finds herself drawn to the mysterious outsider. Like her, Finn knows about heartbreak and how a family can fall apart, so she doesn't dare to hope for anything more than a fling. After all, even in the Land of Happy Endings, finding true love is never as easy as it looks on TV.
by
HQN Books. July 26, 2011.
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