Wednesday, December 11, 2019

Review: Blow - Tracy Ewens

Blow: A Love Story
(Love Story)
by Tracy Ewens
Published: June 18, 2019
Genre: Contemporary Romance

If only life were as simple as breathing in and letting go.

Millie Hart has made a career writing happy endings. While her real life is often less than enchanting, at least she has her stories, featuring strong, vibrant women ready for any challenge and men who stand in support of their dreams. Millie makes millions of readers swoon, but despite her agent’s deep objections, her new project is fueled by her intense drive to prove something. All she needs is four months in Bodega Bay. No meet-cutes, no kissing, just blissful silence.

Drake Branch is happy to be alive. He’s healed, opened BP Glass Works with his best friend, and appreciates the value of his hometown. It’s been six years since the accident, and Drake has tackled every hurdle—mental and physical—to stand on his own. So, when he lets a struggling metalworks shop move in next door to his studio and the noise triggers old issues, Drake needs to crank the music—as loud as it will go.

Millie rents the cottage mere steps from Drake’s studio to write a literary novel she hopes will finally gain her father’s approval and soon learns that away from her laptop, there are men who refuse to be edited out. Despite her neighbor’s insistence that she is an entitled tourist, Millie has been blown off most of her life and she’s not going anywhere this time.

It is going to be one long summer unless Millie and Drake can learn that some books are more than their covers, one breath can change the shape of everything, and true family often shows up in unlikely places.
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Check out my other A Love Story series reviews HERE!

Review
5 Stars

Millie Hart writes romance, the happy endings that readers want for themselves, but she knows she can do more. In one last attempt to impress her scholarly father Millie sets out to write the complete opposite of romance, but first she'll need to get somewhere secluded, somewhere moody, somewhere not filled with a lawn of gnomes. Unfortunately, a lawn of gnomes and a cheery cottage is what she's got, so she's going to make the most of it, at least until the hears the 80's music blaring from next door. Drake is all bark no bite, but he needs the music to work and something about his temporary neighbor and her insane pajamas has him growling a bit more often. She refuses to let her neighbor stop her from literary success, but she doesn't plan on their chemistry, their witty banter, the charm of the town, or her brain's natural tendency to write a meet cute into a happily ever after starring herself.

Another instant hint from Tracy Ewens filled with heat and heart! Blow is the realistic love story told from the alternative perspective of Millie and Drake. It's a classic case of small town locals meets big shot out of towner, no one wants to let her in, but Millie seems to be holding the key to Bodega Bay's missing pieces and soon it's just Drake having a hard time opening up. Millie was not my favorite at first, she's all talk and money, but then she opens up and we get to see she's wearing the same armor we all have on, the one we made out of our parent's opinions, our past hurts, our dreams and the struggles we've gone through to get them. Drake is handsome, intimidating, and a bit entitled, but he's got a story behind him too and getting to know it made me fall for him hard. Millie and Drake don't seem to be a pair of puzzle pieces meant to be together, but somehow they fit even if it takes them an entire novel to figure it out. They annoy one another, they bicker, but they understand one another and it makes for such a charming love story.

Like all Tracy Ewens novels, I laughed, I cried, and I fell in love with the characters and town that she brings to life on the pages. The A Love Story series consists of several standalone novels that take place in cute northern California towns. They feature relatable characters going through real life situations and finding love along the way. The characters are quirky, the dialogue feels natural, and the writing is just stellar. I am forever a fan of this series and Blow is at the top of that list now.

ARC provided.

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