Short Take Reviews: The Coppersmith Farmhouse, Cake, Until the End

Three books that run the gamut from good to fantastic. :)

  

THE COPPERSMITH FARMHOUSE by Devney Perry | 4.25 STARS

Devney Perry is one of those author’s I’d been meaning to read for quite a while. And when I finally picked up The Coppersmith Farmhouse, I was so glad I did. I easily fell into the story from the very first page and was charmed by the characters and by the small town setting. Gigi was starting over in a new town after a beautiful, fully restored farmhouse was left to her. While she and Jess, the town’s sheriff, got off to a rocky start it was obvious these two belonged together. Their approach was very different – Jess could be like a bull in a china shop (hello bossy alpha hero) and often spoke and reacted without pausing to think how it might come across – and that led to some arguments and hurt feelings. But there was also great banter and a lot of chemistry and Jess and Gigi were open and honest with each other. In addition to the romance there was also a subplot concerning drug trafficking in the town that added an element of suspense. I’m not usually a fan of kids in my romance books but Gigi’s four-year-old daughter, Rowen, was a doll and the relationship she and Jess formed melted my heart. I loved the push and pull between Gigi and Jess, their sweet but steamy romance, and the secondary characters in the small town. I can’t wait to continue the series and I consider Devney Perry a new favorite!

CAKE by J. Bengtsson | 4.5 STARS

Where has this book – and this author – been all my life?! I had this one sitting in my Audible library for a solid year before I finally listened to it and now I’m kicking myself. Because I seriously loved it. Casey and Jake met when they were paired together at a wedding and their connection was quick and believable. In Casey, Jake found someone who saw past the rock star label and liked him for himself. And in Jake, Casey felt the freedom to be herself and Jake seemed to “get” her like no one else did. Casey was a down-to-earth girl who found herself falling for a guy who just happened to be a rock star. But Jake wasn’t just a rock star, he was also the guy who was known for being abducted as a kid and living to tell the tale. Except he doesn’t tell the tale – he shuts that part of his life out and refuses to talk about it. However, he carries scars from that experience, both physical and emotional, and they threaten any future he and Casey might have together.

I loved Casey and Jake’s journey and fell for their story hook, line and sinker. Bengtsson took the story deeper and darker than I expected and it made for an emotional reading experience, without ever dipping into melodrama. I shed some tears during this one, but it also provided plenty of humor and heart. The narration by Andi Arndt and Joe Arden was the icing on the cake (yeah, I went there). 

UNTIL THE END by Abbi Glines | 3.75 STARS 

When it comes to my relationship with the Sea Breeze series the status would definitely be: it’s complicated. Because as many times as I rolled my eyes at the cheesy dialogue or railed at the character tropes that were repeated book after book, I was still hooked. These books are like crack and I kept coming back for more. In Until the End, I finally got Rock and Trisha’s story, which bounced between then and now chapters. They were the rock-solid couple all through the earlier books so it was great to get their back story and find out what they went through to finally become the steady married couple that everyone looked to as an example of a healthy, happy relationship. The fun part, though, was the epilogue that included a chapter for each couple in the series. Jax and Sadie were as obnoxious as ever (gag), but the others were entertaining snippets into how far the couples had come over the last few years.

Have you read any of these books?