Starting Over on Sunshine Corner by Phoebe MillsMy rating: 2 of 5 stars
I received this book for free, this does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
But Becca Hayes had never given him one single inkling that she thought of him as anything other than a pal.
Third in the Sunshine Corner series, Starting Over on Sunshine Corner, has Becca and Jackson finally acting on their mutual liking. Both a sister and brother to past leads in the series, you could start here first as you'd mostly miss out on how other couples that make appearances got together, the relationships and friendships are explained well enough here. This series is a small-town romance and one character, humorously and poking a little fun, admits it's starting to feel incestuous with all the siblings of other siblings hooking up. If you enjoy that cozy atmosphere though, looking for more of a tone of this: The idea that their baby grew inside her didn't give him a hard-on; it gave him a heart-on., and enjoy mommy and baby talk, this surrounds you in that atmosphere.
“Don't forget, I know every single thing about you, Jackson Lowe.”
But here's the thing. She didn't.
For example, as smart as she was, she had never ever gotten a clue that he'd harbored a secret crush on her in high school.
This started off with the reader knowing that both Jackson and Becca have had a crush on each other since highschool. They've just remained friends because, as the younger son in his family and a little bit of a black sheep because of his take life as it comes, fun loving attitude, he struggles with not feeling good enough and Becca is a single mom who doesn't think Jackson sees her that way. When Jackson goes with Becca to a wedding as her platonic date, Becca's in the mind to put herself out there again with dating and after a fun night together, they end up sleeping together. They both agree that it was a one-night thing but when Becca ends up pregnant, they used a condom but we all know condoms and their effectiveness in romance, things obviously shift (there was not even a fleeting thought of abortion). This was a completely shut door romance. I'll admit I was a little disappointed that the chapter ended with them kissing and heading up to Jackson's hotel room only to have the next chapter immediately weeks later with Becca feeling queasy.
It was a horrible idea to risk screwing up their friendship for a fling.
The whole plot of the story was Jackson's dad trying to push him to be more responsible in the way he understood being a good provider to be and Jackson wanting to push back and retain some joy in living his life the way he wanted while Becca also had to learn to trust Jackson's ability to step-up and be a good dad. Becca grew-up with an alcoholic father and her first baby daddy lives in England and only sees their four year old daughter once a year, so the bulk of responsibility has always been on her. It got a little slow for me in the middle as the constant questioning if Jackson could be responsible was hashed and rehashed over and over. Mommy and baby talk fill in a good chunk of story, too. I'm the one at the office who always says they just got over a cold to avoid having to hold the baby, so more baby loving people would definitely like this more than I. Past heroines are either pregnant or dealing with newborns and all the issues with that were discussed.
The thought both thrilled and terrified him. What if he wasn't enough for her? What if he couldn't be the man she deserved?
But what if he could?
The early second half had Becca and Jackson admitting their crushes and tentatively giving their relationship a go. Becca's worries about Jackson being responsible enough come to ahead late (94%) to give us that third act breakup but, obviously, with how much is left, they get resolved quickly. This had realizing that not everyone has to live their life the same way, oodles of mommy/baby talk, friends-to-lovers, and learning to trust.
I'm getting a real "red flags" feeling from this review, to be honest, even as I don't feel that was your intention.
ReplyDeleteHere's how/why: Becca is already a single mother with a child barely out of toddlerhood, they have a one-night stand (close door!), she gets pregnant, abortion is never considered, and the main conflict is whether this baby's daddy will not be a dead beat.
Meanwhile, I'm wondering if Becca was prepared to avoid a pregnancy (she was willing to 'put herself out there' to date, after all); if either of them knows how condoms work, and why is abortion never even a fleeting thought in her head--single mother of a four year old, who thinks *this* baby's daddy is basically an irresponsible flake, how doesn't abortion at the very least cross your mind?
I birthed and raised two kids, while married, and lemme tell you the thought of going at it alone once, never mind twice, without even once considering staying at one...yeah, not for me.
It was definitely my intention to signal a possible red flag with my comment about abortion not even being a thought and probably anything else is subconscious as I tried to comment on a story that wasn't for me because of my own personal likes/dislikes and any oversensitivity to feeling propagandized to but still give a review that would work for readers who like this kind of story.
DeleteThey did use a condom but the main male character right away says he has one in his saving kit/bag before they head up to the room and, as a romance reader, I know it's old and not going to work, lol. No talk of it breaking just the "condoms aren't 100% effective!" quick line. I'll probably go and add that to my review, so thanks for reminding me about it.
It just felt like a Decision to not even give the three lines of quick deciding and completely leave out the word abortion. I read the second in this series and don't remember red flags of this nature, which I have a crap memory but I tend to remember stuff like this.
All the worry of raising a kid alone was put on if the hero could be responsible, not IF she should have the baby. Like I said, it felt like a Decision but that dang subjectivity. I'm a crazy dog lady who has never once wanted to have kids, so I was far from the target audience on this one.