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?



10 comments

  1. Sorry this one didn't work out for you. I have only read a few books from one of her older series. I liked it at the time, but I don't remember what they were even about. I hope if you try another one, it's less confusing and repetitive.

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    1. Deanna - She's one of those authors I'd been meaning to try for ages. For me this was what I call a "middle of the road" book. It wasn't bad, but there were issues and it's not when that will stay with me. I'm on the fence if I will continue the series or not.

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  2. Bummer. This is an author I've been wanting to try myself.

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    1. Alison - She seems very popular on Goodreads (her books have pretty high ratings) so I guess it's just a me thing. Not every author is going to work for every reader. :)

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  3. Character names that all sound alike or have the same first letter is a pet peeve of mine! I have not read anything by Carrie Ann Ryan before.

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    1. Wendy - If character names that all have the same first letter is your pet peeve, then stay away from this one! LOL

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  4. Sorry this was a disappointment, but you made me giggle about all the E names. I never read Ryan before. I think I have seen some of her cowboy books around, but they never called to me.

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    1. Sam - Oh my goodness, all the E names were driving me batty! I actually had to make a list on a post-it note of all the names and who was who. Crazy.

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  5. Carrie Ann Ryan has been on my list for a while. Hopefully, I'll like her work.

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    1. Carrie: I'm not sure if I'll continue this series or not. If/when you get around to trying something by Ryan, I'll be interested to see what you think!

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