Fiona Riley

This is my first Riley book. I've heard her name for years and even picked this book up as an ARC last year but kept passing it by on my ereader in favor of something else that piqued my interest a bit more. I've been on a romance kick lately and Beginner's Bet finally grabbed me.

I was pretty sure this was going to be a 4 - 5 star review for me but as I got to the last quarter or so, a few things got in the way. The sheer perfectness of Ellison got to be too much. I mean, really, she's perfect: gorgeous, super rich, charming, generous, devoted, and a knight in shining armor for Katie. Katie is pretty awesome, too. I won't go into spoilers but Katie stopped being pretty awesome in order to create the drama in the story. Suddenly and without much thought, it seems. And the resolution was just too easy.

This is a longish book for romance and there was a lot of time given to family issues, work stuff, reflecting on just how rich Ellison is, and how poor - and plagued by bad luck - Katie is. What there wasn't much of was discussion between the protagonists about the future. Which struck me as very odd since one of them was actively trying to have a baby. You know, a pretty huge thing. The very thing that broke up her marriage.

I don't know... Maybe I'm being too hard on the way these things were handled. I really loved the beginning of the book so I was extra disappointed when it all seemed to unravel for me.

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the ARC.… (altro)

I went back and forth with this novel.

It's about Trina and Kendall. They're rival realtors in Boston.

Kendall has only been in Boston for about a year, running from her family (which is a doozy of a family) and trying to make her way in the real estate biz herself, seperate from her family name.

Trina has always done it with her team, and has been a Boston Realtor for longer. She is at the top of her game. Then she loses Realtor of the Year in Boston to Kendall. And, her boss Ellison makes a bet with Kendall's boss that Trina can out sell Kendall when it comes to a new Seaport Condo place.

Of course, while they start as rivals/enemies, they slowly become more. But, then Kendall's familmy comes back into the picture, and everyething goes all to hell for the burgeoning couple.

I went back and forth because a lot of the rival stuff was so antagonistic, but, then that would completely disappear at the drop of a hat at other times and it threw me off.

On the other hand, the characters were amazing. From Linday to Jax to even the 'bad guys'. It was a fun read.

I was given this ARC by Netgalley on behalf of Bold Strokes Books… (altro)