Phoebe Mills

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.… (altro)

Savannah Lowe has always flitted from one thing to another, never finding where she fits until she takes over Sunshine Corner Preschool. When one of her brothers asks her to work with his best friend, Noah Adams on planning his wedding, Savannah is worried about two things: killing Noah or falling in love with him. Noah is trying to make single fatherhood work after the dissolution of his marriage while holding down a job as an EMT. Taking on the planning of a wedding doesn't seem possible, especially since he will be working with his best friend's sister, Savannah, who has always been the spoiled baby of the family, but it isn't long before Noah realizes that Savannah has grown up.

A Wedding on Sunshine Corner starts off with the very interesting dynamic of two people who not only don't get along, while being forced to work together, but also dealing with a very real attraction between them. However, when the two of them call a truce, the romance becomes pretty boring and the story slows down dramatically. The characters in the book are developed with well defined motivations, but their romance lacks spark. Also, the conflict in the third act of the story and the reaction of one of the protagonists is very off-putting. Overall, A Wedding on Sunshine Corner is a gentle romance in a story that lacks fire.… (altro)

I received this book for free in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

Months of even more interaction with the one man who seemed to drive her out of her ever-loving mind, all while being entrenched in the most romantic ventures possible? What could go wrong?

The youngest in the family with four older brothers, Savannah has always been protected and coddled, which has made her self-conscious in her own abilities. When her bestfriend hands over the responsibility of running her daycare's new preschool, Savannah isn't sure if she can handle the job and then her brother wants her to help do the legwork on planning his wedding with his bestfriend Noah, the oil to her water.
Noah is barely keeping his head above water as a single parent, his ex-wife has moved to Texas, and his EMT job is becoming a struggle to keep because of the hours. Growing up with a single mother, he learned to take care of things himself, making him hate asking for help. He can't refuse his bestfriend though, when he asks for help planning his wedding, even if he has to work with the princess.
As they are forced to spend more time together, Savannah and Noah begin to see that preconceived notions were maybe wrong and their chemistry has never felt so right.

He hated this. Hated feeling like he was always dropping the ball, now that he was the one juggling them all.

A Wedding on Sunshine Corner is second in the series but you'll have no problem jumping in here. Savannah is the bestfriend from the heroine in book one and here we get a deeper look into what could first come off as her flighty personality because of her previous starting educations and hobbies but never fully committing to them long term. Savannah comes from a big loving family and as the youngest, it was easy to see how Noah was annoyed with how everyone babied her, making him think she leaned into her spoiledness but in actuality, Savannah at twenty-nine was straining to prove that she could do things on her own. Since this dynamic was so central to Savannah's character struggles, I could have read even more one-on-one scenes with her brothers and parents, we get some group scenes but I missed more of that connection with her family.

So she matched his stance and raised an eyebrow in defiance, ignoring the flip of her stomach when those whiskey-colored eyes bored into hers, the intensity enough to make her toes curl.

For his part, you'll really feel Noah's stress as he tries to figure out how to keep his dream job as an EMT but make the hours work as he solely tries to be responsible for his daughter Rosie's childcare and help plan his bestfriend Caleb's wedding with Savannah. Was the the whole plot of Savannah and Noah doing the legwork for Caleb and his fiancée's wedding a bit forced? Yes, but it got our two together and since they did have readable chemistry, I went along with it. Around 30% these two start to soften towards each other and sleeping together follows not too long after. I can't say I really felt the snap of knowing each other for twenty years and then finally giving into the always there underlining attraction but even if that more angsty tension was missing, I believed in their liking each other and wanting to sleep together because of attraction. This had more of the softer, hopeful spring feel, which would make it a good comfort vacation read.

He didn't know if Savannah Lowe was his girlfriend, but he was starting to think he might want her to be.

At 80% we get our third act break-up and they say hurtful things to each other in the way only someone who has known you for most of your life can, attacking insecurities, and then an ending romantic apology scene that visually hit the mark but missed a little in the emotional punch for me. I didn't get a total sense of the small town but I enjoyed the cast of characters, especially the scene where Savannah and her group of friends, which includes women of all ages, get together for their ladies night. This wasn't full of angsty passion but it did feel real with some sweet, and characters that have future main couples written all over them. If looking to relax and escape, Savannah's dreamy and Noah's practical had some layers and feelings that will take you away for a few hours.… (altro)