Undeniably You by Jewel E. Ann
Thoughts at a glance: ***** (It was amazing!)
Summary: Sydney has essentially been all over the world as a professional house-sitter, but it's her one-month stay at her aunt and uncle's house in Palo Alto, California that changes her life.
Is it fate? Sydney doesn't believe in fate, but on the first day alone, she meets a handsome veterinarian and the pool guy - through an honest mistake, Lautner ends up at her doorstep, and their epic romance begins.
Their chemistry and connection are undeniable, but Sydney doesn't believe in love, and at any rate, she's only going to be there for a month. Convincing as he is, Lautner might not be enough to change her mind before she leaves.
Thoughts: I read a lot of these romance novels, and I tend to just mindlessly devour them - they're quick reads, they're fairly predictable and fluffy, and I enjoy them, but they don't tend to stick in my head much after I'm done with them. I don't really have strong feelings about them one way or the other.
As you can tell by my rating, this one stood out to me. Not unlike the main character herself, I found myself totally drawn in and sucker-punched - there was a little more drama and angst involved in this story than I'm normally used to, and I'm not gonna lie, I got hit by FEELS. I don't usually feel "seduced" by the love interest in these things, but there is such a seductive quality about Lautner. He's definitely on my Book Boyfriend list.
It's not just that Lautner is hot and too-good-to-be-true or whatever, but the development of their relationship is fun and funny and super entertaining. I was absolutely drawn into their story, and when certain heart-wrenching plot twists occur, I was right there along with them. Usually with these books, I'm just a passive consumer, but with this book, I was rooting for them, all the way. I finished this book all in one sitting, deep in the early hours of the morning, because I had to know how it ends. And yes, I do actually stay up to read romance novels often, but with this book, I didn't know precisely how it was going to end, so I was hooked.
It wasn't perfect, of course - I felt like Sydney made things more complicated than they needed to be, like, "Methinks the lady doth protest too much." But, you know, these books need drama, right? If people in these books were more pragmatic, then we wouldn't have much of a story.
So yeah, I gave this five stars. It's not Pride and Prejudice-five, but when you consider what romance novels are generally meant to do - make you feel? get you swept up in the romance? - this book absolutely got me. I felt this one in my chest - I smiled during the happy parts, I felt my heart ache during the dramatic parts, and when it was over, I wanted to go right back to the beginning and read it all over again. If that's not a five-star romance-novel experience, then I don't know what is.