This was one of those books that I was either totally into or meh on at various times. Don't get me wrong. I didn't hate it. It'll be an all-around hit for many. I just couldn't fully connect to the characters or scenario. I mean, main character Aspen spends a great deal of time telling us she's not particularly attractive, just average, has a too large nose, etc etc etc, but at the same time she's confident enough to believe she can win over the town's seemingly hot guy. Brick? He did have a dog, though, so he won points from me. Grin.
The basis of the plot was both a bit egotistic and self-centered. Aspen needed inspiration for another potential book-of-the-month. Her plan was to have a hot summer romance with Brick, whose reputation for loving them and dumping them seemed to be legend, thus breaking her heart and giving her he perfect plot for her next novel. Brick earned a few more point with me for initially rebuffing her. It's only because he needs to save the business he inherited from his grandfather that he comes around when Aspen offers something too much needed to turn down. Let's face it. Albeit in different ways, both Aspen and Brick are under great pressure to produce results. He rather envies his friend Marco's seemingly carefree lifestyle while Aspen admires her sister Sierra's life choices that lead her to settle in the Outer Banks after the pain of a divorce from her cheating husband, so you know right away these two may have more in common than they think.
The story really begins here after he accepts and begins to actually like this wannabe-girlfriend. And, she likes him back. Plot twist. Only Aspen isn't quite ready to give up on her original idea that easy. That's when things get both hot and complicated. I won't detail the plot further other than to say that the sexual encounters seem to be what is now being tagged as open-door. I've reached the point where that doesn't really intrigue me much any longer, so I tend to lean toward closed-door, only in my imagination encounters, which may be why I found myself impatiently skimming through the sexual bits that may entice others. To each his own. We do get sections from Brick's point-of-view, btw, which is where he details not just his family ties/situation but Aspen's, uh, mind-blowing skills....and he doesn't mean as a writer, although he's quite supportive.
Bottom line, the book was alternately a 3.5/4.0 for me. I'd fall into a scene only to suddenly realize I was skimming and wasn't interested enough to go back and reread. Again, that's is probably on me, not the author. As noted, I enjoyed the story, especially as it spurred my thoughts on the pressure even best selling authors are under to constantly produce another best seller. There also seemed to be more telling than showing, if that makes sense. I definitely enjoyed the Outer Banks as a setting, especially the idea of wild horses. What can I say? I was a horse crazy girl. So, while I didn't love the book, I enjoyed it. Thanks #BlueBoxPress for sharing the story of Aspen and Brick with me. Looking forward to seeing what happens with Marco and Sierra.
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