“His heart said, This. This right here.” I read my first Sarina Bowen title, The Year We Fell Down, a little over a year ago and since then I have both eagerly recommended and awaited for her new novels. She has two concurrent contemporary romance series at the moment, True North and Brooklyn Bruisers, as well as two M/M books co-written with Elle Kennedy, and more on the horizon. Such is Bowen’s output that I have given her a catalogue post. Readers familiar with Bowen’s […]
Less romantic and more just tragic
I read the first of Ms. Bowen’s new True North series earlier this year, Bittersweet. It was okay. I skipped her second in the series because recovering drug addicts getting together with ex-girlfriend, whose brother he just happened to kill, aren’t exactly my thing. But I was looking forward to book three, Zachariah, the lovable, quiet farmhand. What a disappointment it was. Zachariah was thrown out from a cult 4 years ago, and has been since living in Vermont as a farmhand. He’s sweet and […]
Bland and annoying
This book is incredibly bland. As far as I’m aware, this is Bowen’s first novel, and she has greatly improved over time. The writing isn’t bad here, it’s just lacking in much depth. Willow Reade lives in Vermont because she followed a deadbeat boyfriend there and is now underwater on her mortgage and can’t get out. She would like to finish her doctorate in child psychology, but can’t figure out how to make that happen based on locality and finances. Driving home in a snowstorm […]
College, hockey, and boys–a sweet love story
After finishing The Year We Hid Away, and with the help of Emmalita’s loan, I immediately started reading the third book in Sarina Bowen’s Ivy League Series: The Understatement of the Year (2014). Taking place at the same elite, Yale-like, hockey-centric college, this one differs primarily because the romance is about two young men rather than the more ubiquitous, romantic heterosexual couples. Michael Graham and John Rikker grew up together, and they were close friends. As puberty hit and their sexual awareness grew, they began some […]