ALL THE WAY by Kristen Proby: Review

All the Way by Kristen Proby
Series: Romancing Manhattan #1
Published by William Morrow Paperbacks
Publication Date: August 21st 2018
Genres: Contemporary Romance
Pages: 288
Source: Publisher
Format: eARC
Goodreads
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Disclaimer: I voluntarily reviewed a copy of this book. All opinions stated are solely mine.

In New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Kristen Proby’s brand new Romancing Manhattan series, three brothers get more than they bargain for as they practice law, balance life, and navigate love in and around New York City.

Finn Cavanaugh is known for being a force to be reckoned with in the courtroom. He owns a successful law firm with his brother and brother-in-law in Manhattan. On the rare occasion that he has down time, he spends it at his home in Martha’s Vineyard. But when Finn’s troubled niece goes to stay with him for the summer in Martha’s Vineyard, he’s reluctant to take time off from work. That is, until he meets his beautiful new neighbor, London.

London Watson is a Tony Award winning actress on Broadway. When tragedy strikes her family, leaving her alone and injured, she flees Manhattan for Martha’s Vineyard. Hoping she can figure out how to pick up the pieces of her life, London is convinced that she’ll never be able to return to the stage. But when she meets the charming young girl next door and her sexy uncle, they soon lure London out of her shell as she finally begins to heal from the wounds of her past.

But when London feels confident enough to return to the spotlight, she’s dealt another devastating blow. Will the newfound love between London and Finn be enough to conquer all? Or will it be over before it has a chance to grow…? 

 

Review

I was so excited about this book because it reminded me of Ms. Proby’s Love Under the Big Sky series and how I couldn’t wait to get my hands on every book in it, and the cover is so gorgeous, too.

Tragedy brings London Watson and Finn Cavanaugh together, but the attraction between them keeps them seeking each other out. Both of them are accomplished in their careers and wealthy in their own right and while the circumstances of their meeting were not ideal, I was hoping for a great love story a la Cara and Josh.

My favorite thing about this story was that the characters had taken the time to build their careers and define the kind of lives they wanted for themselves. They weren’t just some young things expecting to take the world by storm.

For the most part, I struggled with the story, waiting for the ‘big’ thing to happen, but all we got was lots of dialogue and sex between London and Finn. For woman who lost both her parents so tragically, was on the brink of losing her career on stage and had an addict brother with all the drama that comes with it, London did not display any depth of emotion or grief at any of these things. Granted, she was not close to her brother, but what about her parents and her career? Th most emotion she could muster was upset at the pain and mobility issues from her injuries?

Finn was a great guy, at least at the beginning but the revelation of him as a control freak was so not attractive. It felt like he was a wall that nothing could penetrate and he was not really interested in seeing any other side that did not line up with his opinion. If this were my friend, I’d tell her to run, not walk away from that man.

When I’m reading a book I try to visualize it as a movie, seeing the characters and scenes in my mind’s eye, and I just kept waiting for something to happen. The actual tension in the book came in all the way at the end of the story and was resolved so quickly, it was a flash in the pan that left me asking: ‘that’s it?’. The big twist in the story was her brother and his actions, which came across as an afterthought. The final scene between them was hard to believe, to say the least. How does a woman with no training know to disarm an attacker that way? 

Having read almost all of Ms. Proby’s books and loving all I read, I had very high expectations for this book. London and Finn’s relationship felt mostly superficial, with no depth to either their characters or emotions. Here’s the thing: if you are looking for a fluffy romance with glitz and fun times, you’ll enjoy this book. If however, you want something emotionally deeper, proceed with caution.

 

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