Adam
Hamilton-Shaw has more reason than most to avoid commitment. Living
on a houseboat in the Severn Valley, his dream is to sail into the
sunset – preferably with a woman waiting in every port. But lately,
his life looks more like a road to destruction than an idyllic boat
ride…
Would-be
screenplay writer Sienna Meadows realises that everything about Adam
spells trouble – but she can’t ignore the feeling that there is
more to him than just his bad reputation. Nor can she ignore the
intense physical attraction that exists between them.
And
it just so happens that Adam sees Sienna as the kind of woman he
could commit to. But can he change his damaging behaviour – or is
the road to destruction a one-way street?
Stats
for my copy: Kindle Edition, Choc Lit, 2015
How
acquired: NetGalley.
My
thoughts: Sienna and her friend
Lauren are renting a cottage overlooking the docks. One day Sienna's
elderly arthritic dog, who can't swim, slips out the door to go
exploring, and falls into the water. Adam, who lives on his boat,
dives into the icy water and rescues the dog. How could I not fall in
love with him after that? Despite the fact that he promptly yells at
Sienna for letting a dog who can't swim roam around the docks without
a life jacket.
I
had mixed emotions about this book. For the most part I enjoyed it.
Sienna is fairly young, and is doing rewrites to her screenplay. Her
editor has told her she needs to sex it up a little, but Sienna has
no sexual experience, other than an ex who aggressively groped her,
leading to their breakup. Enter Adam.
Sienna
has dubbed Adam “Lothario” in her head due to the string of women
in his wake. Adam is running from life. His ex-fiance's ghost is
silently following him around, their baby – or is it actually his
brother's baby? - is being raised by her sister and Adam never sees
her. He exists on odd jobs mowing lawns and such, and just wants to
get his boat in running shape and sail around alone, having quick
meet and greets with women along the way. He doesn't see why sleeping
with married women is an issue, as long as it's strictly sex and not
a relationship. And then he meets Sienna.
With
Adam, we have a character who learns from his mistaken behavior, who
grows as the book progresses, who redeems himself. Sienna, not so
much. She was pretty much the same character at the end as she was at
the beginning. Not that I didn't like her. I did, and I appreciated
her loyalty to Adam and coming to his defense when her father and her
roommate put him down.
Her
father. He was the character who gave me the mixed emotions. At a
pivotal point in the book, he shows up at the cottage and moves in
for two weeks. Because he apparently did not trust Sienna to deal
with her own messy relationship. At the point where Adam needs to man
up, Daddy comes in and becomes his daughter's guardian, practically
stalking Adam and watching every move he makes with a glare in his
eyes. It was as if Sienna and Adam were a couple of
fifteen-year-olds, and I just found the whole situation ridiculous. I
wanted to shout at Daddy to butt out and go home.
Interfering
fathers aside, this was a sweet and amusing romance, with some tense
and gripping moments toward the end.
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