( 11 reviews )
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Posted: Jun 15 2009
I wish that Kathy Love writes more books like this one. What a story! I could not put it down for few hours. Just great!
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Posted: May 29 2009
Ellie is a somewhat shy, definitely chubby and arguably dull librarian in small-town Middlebrook, Maine. She grew up as a bit of an outsider, but always had a crush on gorgeous, hometown hero Mason Sweet, who's now the town's mayor. Ellie's gotten real used to being attracted to him, just like she's gotten used to telling herself she's too chunky for any guy to be interested in her. So, imagine her surprise when, at her sister's wedding reception, Mason very obviously flirts with her! Rather than being thrilled, she's baffled. She had to be mistaken...right? Flash-forward a few days--Ellie has just discovered that a local "good ole boy" wants to get the town council to siphon money from the library to pay for a new football field. In a panic, Ellie goes to Mason to ask for his help to convince the council members that the library's worth saving. Mason's a little surprised when Ellie shows up at his house, but he can't deny that he's been thinking about her constantly since the wedding--and his thoughts haven't exactly been the lily-white variety. Thing is, he's also a little drunk, so when the tempting little librarian comes pleading for his help, he makes a request of his own: Ellie in his bed in exchange for his help. Thus, we enter into the fast-paced, well-written world of Kathy Love's "Wanting What You Get." I'll admit that I love a good slow build to a story, but Kathy Love doesn't waste any time with preamble here; within four or five pages, you're well-ensconced in the story, Mason's already giving into his newfound attraction to Ellie--while Ellie's busy pinching herself to make sure she's not dreaming. This is the romance genre at its finest, in my opinion. What I absolutely love is that Kathy Love knows good dialogue; it's snappy, witty, and cleanly delivered. That dialogue brings the characters to life just as much as her well-delivered internal dialogue. What Love delivers is a unique turn of phrase and "voice" that comes right off the page and curls up in your lap like a favorite cat. :) In terms of the plot: the crux of the matter is that Mason had a horrible marriage and has decided he's not relationship material. The only problem is that he can't seem to get Ellie out of his head, so even after he backs out of the "sleep with me to get my vote" deal, he STILL wants her. Trying for chivalrous, he keeps turning Ellie down--even though she says she's fine with a one-night stand or a casual (i.e., only sexual) relationship, he knows she's too sweet for that. Still, after resisting for a while, they finally fall into bed together with the agreement that their relationship--or lack thereof--will be their little secret. Okay, fine...but once Mason starts having feelings for Ellie, he's too afraid (or something) to come right out and say he wants to be in a relationship with her, so he just beats around the bush--all while drinking everything in sight. Oh, yeah...this leading man has a drinking problem. As my friends would say, this is "straight up, real stuff." Anyway, I wasn't quite able to figure out why, after Ellie has made it clear that she'd be interested in anything he has to offer, he's STILL afraid to just tell her he wants to be with her, but it made for some nice, tense moments, so I won't complain. ***SPOILER ALERT*** The one real gripe I had was Ellie's pregnancy at the end of novel. I totally saw the coming from the first mention of her being overly tired (I mean, really, I'd be a bad romance reader if I hadn't picked up on those clues). The problem I have with it is that it really served no purpose in the plot; if the pregnancy had been a catalyst for either Ellie taking a stand to get Mason to stop drinking OR if that pregnancy had been why Mason actually DID stop drinking, then fine. But, really, it was almost a periphery aspect of the plot, which bothered me a bit. [END OF SPOILER ALERT] In terms of Kathy Love's writing style, I love how fast-paced the story is, and the fact that it's packed with heroine/hero one-on-one time. She tends to skip the nitty-gritty of the love scenes, which is fine with me because there's a lot of chemistry between these two. BUT she also tends to skip over the most tense moments in the story (i.e., arguments, etc) and jumps forward a few hours/days/weeks/even months later. I really didn't mind that for most of the story, but near the end, I found myself wanting "more"--more interaction/discussion/arguing between Ellie and Mason. And, actually, the last chapter or two just seemed a bit rushed. Almost everything is solved in retrospect, meaning we're brought into the story months down the line and either Ellie or Mason would think back about how things were "fixed" during that time period. Yeah...not exactly conducive to, what's the word, emotional closure as a reader. :) I must admit, though, that at the end, I felt let down, not because of the book's ending, but because of the way it ended. Ellie and Mason spent a good half of the chapter apart, then, on the last two pages, get together and everything's honky-dorey. I'm not one for a chapter-long make-up session, but between the pregnancy and Mason's drinking issues, they still had A LOT to talk about. All in all though, it was a great, fun read that I finished in about a day-and-a-half simply because I was genuinely interested (dare I say excited?) about seeing these two finally get together.
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Posted: Aug 21 2008
If I could give a rating of 3.5 stars I would feel "right" about my rating. This is book 2 of the Stepp Sister's trilogy. I absolutely LOVED "Getting What You Want" and was eager to read about the shy, romantic, librarian Ellie Stepp. Mason was also of interest to me because of meeting him in "Getting What You Want" as Chase's best friend. The good is that Kathy Love's writing continues to be very strong. I couldn't put this book down and it was a very quick read just like the first book was. I wish I would've liked Ellie and Mason as well as I liked Abby and Chase. Ellie is my worst nightmare as a female. She is HORRIBLY insecure and caring for everyone else but herself. She is constantly second guessing herself and what she knows she wants. A "weak woman" would pretty much sum her up. I was waiting for her transformation....to come into her own skin and to start believing in herself and her worth...she never really did. She looked to Mason to define her beauty and worth. A very sad lady indeed...your typical codependent. Mason was your typical alcoholic. Selfish, undependable, abusive, and totally protecting his addiction at the expense of all who were around him. His "rock bottom" comes at the end of the book and I thought his recovery was a bit rushed. I liked this book, but Ellie and Mason both just bothered me too much to love this book. At the end they get their HEA, but I just wasn't convinced that it was one that would last.
