I would not have read this book if not for PattyKates

3.5 stars (one half star for really surprising me)

After Parker Cruse found her boyfriend in bed with her twin sister, and said boyfriend went on to marry her twin, Parker has nothing but contempt for cheaters. She’s also not really on speaking terms with her sister or brother-in-law after dosing her sister with laxatives during the wedding. Having initially planned to go follow her boyfriend to college, her plans for the future were derailed for a while. Now she’s moved out of her parents’ house (but only really to her grandparents’ farmhouse across the road) and is trying to figure out what to do with her future.

She meets her handsome neighbour, Gus, when his dog escapes into her yard. While she finds him attractive, she is very aware that he’s married and once his wife, Sabrina, hires Parker to be her personal assistant (although not really, as she has an actual assistant, she just needs a random errand person), she’s even more determined to not act on the palpable chemistry between them. She can’t forget the betrayal and horror she felt when she found her sister and boyfriend cheating on her, and absolutely doesn’t want to do the same to anyone else. But Sabrina travels a lot, leaving Parker and Gus alone together, and when she is home, she and Gus seem to do nothing but argue. Parker discovers that things are not always black and white – life can be very complicated.

Cannonball Read’s inimitable reviewing duo, PattyKates, read this back in July and insisted that others in the our little romance-appreciating community try it to, so we could get a discussion going on it. They can usually be trusted when they recommend something (or warn you off it), but I was deeply uncomfortable with the adultery aspect of the book. Enough other people who I respect and trust read the book and insisted it was worth my time, so I felt I had to see what the fuss was about. This should tell you how far behind I am on my reviews. I read this in mid-July and am only getting around to blogging it now.

Full review on my blog.