Review: Finding Home Again (Catalina Cove #3) by Brenda Jackson
Print Length: 384 pages
Publisher: HQN Books (October 29, 2019)
From Goodreads.com: First love. Second chances. In Catalina Cove, anything can happen…
Bryce Witherspoon’s heart races every time she sees Kaegan Chambray. Everyone in town knows they can’t stand each other, but the truth is, even though the man broke her heart ten years ago, she still feels that irresistible, oh-so-familiar jolt of desire.
When Kaegan returned to Catalina Cove to run the family business, he knew there’d be no avoiding Bryce. The woman he thought he’d one day marry was instead the biggest heartbreak of his life. But when Bryce lets slip a devastating secret, he discovers just how wrong he was to let her go all those years ago.
He knows they both still feel the spark between them, but it’ll take more than attraction to convince her. Kaegan will pull out all the stops to show Bryce he’s the man who can give her the future they once dreamed of—if only they give love a second chance.
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My Rating: 1 star out of 5
This book was unnecessarily long, and frankly, uninteresting.
I love a good second chance romance. Even more so one where the characters have grown to dislike each other over the intervening years. When I read the blurb for this one, I had such high hopes that it would become a fast favorite. What it became was a huge disappointment.
Let's begin by talking about the little things that hopefully will be fixed before the book goes live, as I did review an advanced-reader-copy. Things that were distracting, but may have been more easily overlooked if the rest of the novel had been stronger. The formatting for the start of each chapter was... weird. Then there were areas where words weren't spaced apart, "showme" and "oneanddone" being two examples. Again, these are things that could be easily fixed.
What can not be as easily fixed is the rest of this novel. There was so much that I feel could have been cut out, and so much that I feel could have been added that would have improved this story.
When it comes to Keagan and Bryce? Their story is so repetitious that it becomes tedious. They dated. They were stupid. (Although honestly Bryce? Your boyfriend comes to your house at 2am, sees you come out with another guy, embrace said guy and lean in like you're going to kiss him - but leaves, before he sees said kiss - and you REALLY can't see how he might have misinterpreted that? Give me a break).
Anyway, the majority of this novel is them going back and forth. They have feelings for each other. They have a spark, but OH MY GOD THEY HAVE HURT EACH OTHER SO MUCH WE MUST KEEP BRINGING THIS UP. It took me over a week to finish this novel because I had to keep putting it down. It was great to read before bed, don't get me wrong, but that was only because it kept putting me to sleep. And I'm just throwing it out there - I'm no prude by any means, but when more than one consecutive chapter is dedicated to them finally having sex? That's a bit much.
What might have saved this novel was Bryce's stalker.... if he wasn't added as an afterthought. Seriously. It wasn't until the last few chapters that we were even told she HAD a stalker, with his two dubious attempts at getting to her prior to his reveal being written off as mundane events.
All in all, I believe that another good round or two of editing could have cut out all this tiresome repetition and still left enough for the reader to not only understand but enjoy this novel. While it definitely was not for me, and I don't see myself reading more from this author, I am sure there are others that will love this story.
This book was unnecessarily long, and frankly, uninteresting.
I love a good second chance romance. Even more so one where the characters have grown to dislike each other over the intervening years. When I read the blurb for this one, I had such high hopes that it would become a fast favorite. What it became was a huge disappointment.
Let's begin by talking about the little things that hopefully will be fixed before the book goes live, as I did review an advanced-reader-copy. Things that were distracting, but may have been more easily overlooked if the rest of the novel had been stronger. The formatting for the start of each chapter was... weird. Then there were areas where words weren't spaced apart, "showme" and "oneanddone" being two examples. Again, these are things that could be easily fixed.
What can not be as easily fixed is the rest of this novel. There was so much that I feel could have been cut out, and so much that I feel could have been added that would have improved this story.
When it comes to Keagan and Bryce? Their story is so repetitious that it becomes tedious. They dated. They were stupid. (Although honestly Bryce? Your boyfriend comes to your house at 2am, sees you come out with another guy, embrace said guy and lean in like you're going to kiss him - but leaves, before he sees said kiss - and you REALLY can't see how he might have misinterpreted that? Give me a break).
Anyway, the majority of this novel is them going back and forth. They have feelings for each other. They have a spark, but OH MY GOD THEY HAVE HURT EACH OTHER SO MUCH WE MUST KEEP BRINGING THIS UP. It took me over a week to finish this novel because I had to keep putting it down. It was great to read before bed, don't get me wrong, but that was only because it kept putting me to sleep. And I'm just throwing it out there - I'm no prude by any means, but when more than one consecutive chapter is dedicated to them finally having sex? That's a bit much.
What might have saved this novel was Bryce's stalker.... if he wasn't added as an afterthought. Seriously. It wasn't until the last few chapters that we were even told she HAD a stalker, with his two dubious attempts at getting to her prior to his reveal being written off as mundane events.
All in all, I believe that another good round or two of editing could have cut out all this tiresome repetition and still left enough for the reader to not only understand but enjoy this novel. While it definitely was not for me, and I don't see myself reading more from this author, I am sure there are others that will love this story.
DISCLAIMER: I received a complimentary copy of this novel in exchange for my honest review. This has not affected my review in any way. All thoughts and opinions expressed in this review are 100% my own.
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Finding Home Again is available from Amazon.com
 by Brenda Jackson ){kind=link}
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