Julia Kent (1)

Absolutely hilarious read! I loved it from start to finish. Julia Kent's mind amazes me! It's hard to believe that one family and extended "family" can find themselves in these fantastically insane situations, but I love every detail I read about them.

Just as the other books in this series kept me "on my toes" so to speak, this book did not disappoint. I loved that it was from. Andrew's perspective because the inner workings of his mind is just as chaotic, maybe more so, than any woman's mind!

Full review posted at Reader's Edyn on 03/06/20

Fiona (Feisty) – A nickname she has been saddled with since middle school when Fletch tried to kiss her. Ugh! She hates it. She’s tried to embrace all things in fierce opposition to that particular word, creating a life of peace and balance. Except feisty is a part of her and when she needs to draw from it, said personality manifests in spades. Hence the parent she took down at the preschool who was a danger to herself, her students, and her show more staff. Knowing she had no other choice but to protect, feisty rose again. Roaring while standing on the back of the offending parent, in fact. Feist strikes again and creates so much drama both good and bad. Most poignant is the ridiculous attraction between herself and Fletch, whose brother-in-law tried to go postal on her classroom. Now she’s in the midst of a bit of an identity crisis. She’s fought her feisty persona for so long and refuses to concede to that side of her as necessary in any capacity. But the more time she spends with Fletch, the more she begins to question herself. And the more confusion her relationship with Fletch causes, the more she determines to pull away. But Fletch isn’t having it. Fiona has to make a decision. Embrace who she is - all parts of herself – and take a chance on love with him – or continue to live in miserable denial.

Chris (Fletch) – has wanted Fiona since their school years. When he tried to make a move in their tween years, she laid him out flat. He never tried it again, and the incident actually makes an unexpected impression Fletch, ultimately impacting who he grew up to be. Fiona, of course, has no idea and if Chris is going to get anywhere with her, he’s going to have to come clean. Sure, she’s Feisty – but she’s so much more and she refuses to see it. Reunited through an upcoming wedding, he’s now spending a lot more time with her because his nephew is one of her students. He’s also the rescuing EMT and her long-time nemesis. But the more time he manages to carve out with her, the better chance he has to convince her to give him a shot. He’s confident that they could be something fantastic together, but Fiona is going to need a lot more convincing. And even though Chris is waging a full out war in seduction, just being the seemingly perfect human being that he is seems to be working in his favor as well. Of course being a hot, buff, EMT might have just a smidge to do with it as well. He’ll take what he can get from Fiona for now, treading carefully around those consuming emotions she refuses to analyze. If he’s patient, with time, she’ll be the one making the move toward their future.

I went back and forth a couple of times with this book. Initially, I was completely enthralled with the prologue. I mean who wouldn’t be caught up with such an opening? Things progressed well initially, but after a while I began to think Fiona was a bit too quirky, a bit too odd in behavior and mannerisms, and a bit too new-age for me to be able to like her, much less form any type of reader-character attachment. However, I have read Ms. Kent in the past and adored her stories, so I hung in there, hoping my opinion would be altered. And man am I glad that I did! But first, let’s unpack what I felt was a bit over the top … Fiona possesses an uncanny ability to produce a parking spot wherever she goes using a divining rod. I bit odd, yes. But no big deal. She is also heavily into auras, chakras, and energy. Be one with the earth and all that. So the odd factor goes up a bit for me personally. Then she absolutely refuses to acknowledge her feisty side as part of herself, which was off given her beliefs. You wouldn’t fight your inner self, you would harness the energy and draw from it when needed. Wouldn’t you? I just thought it all a bit over the top. It doesn’t sound like much now, but when you are reading it, it’s quite intense. She even goes to a woman who she looks to for guidance. Jolene, I think it was. And even she tries to tell Fiona what she needs to do, just like Fletch ultimately does. However, once I came to understand that she wasn’t actually trying to avoid certain behaviors but purge a fundamental piece of herself out of existence, much more became clear and didn’t seem all that odd any longer. Fiona is so stuck in who she doesn’t want to be that she loses sight of who she is and who is standing in front of her – has always been standing right. In. Front. Of. Her.

Oddities aside, I began to really enjoy this book. Fletch is the quintessential example of the perfect guy. He’s got it all and I do mean all! His patience with Fiona is almost too sweet, but ultimately his depth of emotion for her leads her to introspection. She opens herself to new experiences, discovers and embraces who she really is, and even opens her heart to Fetch. Woven throughout the heavy and cajoling is a ton of comedy, adding a wonderful amount of humor to the story. Beneath all of the comedy is a beautiful love story born of risk and the willingness to take a chance; or second chance as the case may have been. Probably the most comical scene involved a bear, a lot of beer, drunkenness, and a whole lot of pee. And that’s all I will say about that. You want to know, you will have to find out yourself. And that isn’t the only hilarious scene. This book is packed with several instances of “foot meet mouth”. You’ll be chuckling quite a bit while reading through this book. I will say that I thoroughly enjoyed the ratio theory and have every intention of trying peanut butter in my tacos the next chance I get. Don’t ask. Just read the book. The sensual scenes are few and nothing too risqué, but somewhat descriptive, none-the-less. Now I will say that this book is a part of a series and is third in line. Besides being ridiculously aggravated with myself for not realizing I had the previous book and could have read that one first, I do not believe that reading in order is a must do. Sure, it would have been nice to read about the previous couples, but in no way did I feel like I was missing anything simply from reading out of order. While I have yet to look into the previous installments, I did get a glimpse into the succeeding book and am quite curious as to how that will work out given the strange personality of Hasty. Although I believe, from what little I know, that her nickname is beyond appropriate. To wrap this up, I recommend this book to anyone wanting a heart-felt journey of self-discovery, inspiring love, a quirky cast of characters including a female lead that may be just a smidge over the top, a male lead that is perfect in every way, and humor that will keep you laughing long after you’ve read the story.

Kindle version provided by Expresso Book Tours/Author in exchange for an honest review. show less

Fluffy is everything you would expect from a Julia Kent novel. Mischievously funny. Irresistibly charming and hard to let go of in the end. I laughed my way to tears. Mal is a tad goofy, but all heart. When desperation lands her in an awkward situation is when the laugh out loud moments begin. What I love most about this author is that the imperfections are what make the story great. Ms. Kent finds gold in the awkward and that's what appeals to the human in us all.

Wherever there's chaos, hilarity and a rainbow of liveliness, Amanda and Andrew can't be far behind. Ms. Kent revisits her kooky heroine and starchy hero with Shopping for a CEO's Wife, from her Shopping for a Billionaire series. I know my day is about to get a little brighter and a lot less stressful when I delve into the pages of this series. How can it not? This time around, family togetherness is reeking havoc with that young and in love glow. Can the duo that has weathered some of the show more most unusual and comedic obstacles to date, survive their over the top families? It may seem like you're losing your mind but in reality, you've actually lost your heart. How can a reader not love that? show less