Type: Series, Book Four, New Adult Romance, Contemporary Romance, Hot Cops and Hotter Anger Management Therapists?
Release Date: June 30th, 2015
About the Book: New York Times and USA TODAY bestselling author Jennifer Probst sparks a blissful mind-body connection as her “sexy, satisfying” (Kirkus Reviews) new series continues!
She’s an expert in helping others de-stress, but Arilyn Meadows is running on fumes. Along with her job counseling singles seeking soul mates at the Kinnections agency in Verily, New York, she’s a yoga teacher, animal shelter volunteer, anger management therapist, and helping hand to her beloved grandfather. No time to find Mr. Right—but after discovering her yogi boyfriend in a compromising asana, Arilyn would rather dog-sit for her honeymooning friend Kate than risk her heart on another downward dog. And when police officer Stone Petty—radiating masculinity and bad-boy attitude—is sent to her for mandatory lessons in cooling off when the job gets too hot, Arilyn vows to ignore his seductive glances and sexy grin. But there’s no halting their sizzling flirtation—a red-hot, high-speed chase that’s breaking all the limits. [Description provided by Netgalley.com]
My Review: I love this premise. I love romance novels where the hero and the heroine are at odds, and yet fall in love. The whole "opposites attract" thing. What I don't love.. is this book. I wish I did. I really had high hopes for it when it was offered for review. I practically jumped on it, even. But in the end, it all fell flat for me.
On to what I didn't like - mainly, that was Arilyn. I found her to be annoying, hypocritical, and basically a jerk. For someone that seems to think she has evolved past most of the human race, she resorted to blackmailing Stone, saying she would refuse to sign off on his paperwork if he didn't help her with something - this "something" being potentially illegal, and well outside of the required time he was supposed to be in his anger management class. She would also get really belligerent if someone happened to not believe in the same things she did.
What I did like was Stone. But I liked Stone when he wasn't with Arilyn. Outside of Arilyn's presence, Stone was a good guy. He was friendly with people he met, and he didn't act like a stuck up jerk. I probably would have given this book one star if it wasn't for Stone when he was away from Arilyn, and especially Stone with Pinky. Had this story just been Pinky and Stone, the not-so-dynamic duo, I probably would have given it five stars. Gladly.
Cover Lovin': How sweet is this! A very charming cover indeed, and I love how the title, author, and couple are framed by the arch.
Recommendation: For fans of Contemporary Romance. No huge need to read the series in order - each can be read as a standalone, but it always helps to have some prior knowledge of the characters.
Final Rating: TWO out of FIVE stars (2/5). Arilyn would get one star, but Stone was the redeeming factor here, especially when paired with the saddest little dog ever. Fans of the author will probably flip for this book. But it just didn't do it for me.
Series Order:
Happy Reading!
~!~ Amanda, Novel Addiction ~!~
