Review: One Way Back to Me by Carrie Ann Ryan

ONE WAY BACK TO ME

by Carrie Ann Ryan

Series: The Wilder Brothers #1

Publication date: April 18, 2022

Format: Kindle

Source: Purchased

3.25 Stars

The Wilder brothers have retired from the military and as they’re forced to learn a new life, things get interesting fast in this kickoff to a brand new steamy, contemporary romance series from NYT Bestselling Author Carrie Ann Ryan.

One dance at a stranger’s wedding. That’s all it took for me to fall for Alexis. And then? Disaster. Another man—her boyfriend—gets down on one knee and proposes to her. I never thought I’d see her again.

Years later, I’m in desperate need of a wedding planner—not for myself, but for my company.
My five brothers and I need to get our new Wilder Resort off the ground, and Alexis is the only one savvy enough to help us.

But there’s the little matter that I still have it bad for her. Alexis has changed since the night we met. She’s gun shy. But there’s a spark between us that will not die. We both fight it, until we don’t.
Until history repeats itself. The same guy who took her away from me is back to do more damage. But this time he’ll have to go through me to get her. 

GOODREADS | AMAZON 

Other than the prequel to this book (A Night for Us), this was my first by Carrie Ann Ryan. I was hopeful that I would be wowed and have a new must-read author. But for the most part I was underwhelmed. Nothing was inherently wrong, but I wasn't bowled over and my thoughts after finishing were more along the lines of: well, that was okay.

Eli and his brothers have gone in together and bought an inn and winery. After being separated due to military service for most of their lives, Eli wanted something that would keep them together. When he needs to hire a wedding planner for the resort, the most qualified candidate happens to be a woman he had a brief encounter with a few years previously. The attraction is still there, on both sides, and after much push and pull, they start a relationship. But there is drama with a nearby competitor and drama with Alexis’s ex to contend with.

My random thoughts:

• Six brothers all with "E" names meant that it took way longer than necessary to keep everyone straight and remember who was who.

• It was repetitive. Evan constantly “growled”. Everything was described as “gorgeous”. And Eli and Alexis seemed to have the same conversations over and over. ("We really shouldn't be in a relationship. But I really want you." Repeat, repeat, repeat.)

• It was sometimes hard to distinguish between the main character's POV's. There wasn't a lot of distinction in the voices of Eli and Alexis. I often had to flip back to the beginning of a chapter to determine whose POV I was reading.

• When it came to the villain(s), the writing was pretty heavy handed. It was almost over the top with the way their actions were screaming: take notice, I am the bad guy!

That being said, based on the plethora of 5-star ratings on Goodreads, it looks like my issues are very much a 'me thing', so take my rating/review with a grain of salt. :) Because I'm definitely in the minority here. ⭐⭐⭐.25

Have you read anything by Carrie Ann Ryan?