★★★ ½ #Intentions #AKEvans
Hey... a fitness coach who uses social media? Colour me intrigued! As a social media follower of fitness coaches, Brynn intrigues me. Learning about her business model and seeing how closely it matches some of my friends who also had to switch to on-line format when the pandemic hit, is relateable for me. I immediately like Brynn. She is also a go getter spunky character that I like. I will admit as soon as I saw she was on social media and recognized whilst she was out and about, I immediately guessed the plot device for this story . . . and I was right. I still enjoy the ride along with Brynn.
What I liked about this story is that it was more focused on the romance than the suspense part. Usually, I prefer it the other way around but for this one, I enjoyed Brynn finding her Mr. Right. This would be Jake Burns, from Harper Security. Those men are dropping like flies as they find their "one". The reason why I liked this romance in the forefront was because I geniunely admired and liked the two characters. Brynn's positive upbeat attitude and Jake's wholesome gentleman persona are refreshing and appealing. Their romance is built off of mutual interests. Their quasi-dates are unconventional and too cute. I just felt good watching their romance blossom.
What I also liked was how Brynn helped spark Jake to take a step he needed to take for his own mental and emotional health. His past and survivor guilt is tragic and understandable. For Brynn to be able to connect with him on a deeper level and help him finally become unstuck . . . moving. This is a very heartwarming story that reminds me that there are good people out there. Well, in fiction and I'm hoping fiction is art imitating reality. As they build this solid foundation based on friendship, it is threatened by a crazy.
I have to admit; I just don't understand stalkers. They baffle me and their delusions don't really scare me but more infuriate me. I want to head on confront and intimidate them. I'm told this is bad and not the way to go, but honestly, I just want to beat a stalker until they gain some sense. There is a reason why the adage is "knock some sense into them". My person opinions aside, Jake and Brynn handle this so well and they receive their happily ever after. The added touch with the epilogue just added to the warm fuzzies. This contemporary romance is recommended to readers who enjoy relationships built on mutual hobbies and friendship.
* I voluntarily reviewed an ARC of this book.
