ASIN: B0765Z1J93
Publisher: After Glows Publishing
Publication Date: October 17, 2017
Sold by: Amazon Digital Services LLC
Print Length: 149 pages
Blurb:
An invitation to Cupid’s Café will change your life.
After the incident that caused Liv Morozov to drop out of college, years later she’s still trying to pick up the pieces of her life. She’s managed to carve out a career for herself as a photographer, but when it comes to guys? Her issues send them running for the hills, every damn time.
Zane Parata has declared himself off-limits for relationships. Between trying to maintain sobriety and the long hours he works as a chef, no one wants to deal with his brand of damage, and he wouldn’t want to burden them in the first place.
When Liv shows up at Cupid’s Café, she never expected to find Zane, her brother’s former best friend who had vanished one day and never returned. The sparks that surged when they were both teens rekindle stronger than ever, and all too fast, Liv and Zane entangle in each other’s lives, breaking their own rules. Except with both struggling with the demons from their past, the love that’s begun to grow is one lapse away from shattering the two of them beyond repair.
Review:
To say Zane has had a hard time would be putting it mildly. Thanks to his abusive father, his life turned to shit when he was just a child, and the only sunshine in his otherwise dreary days was Liv. Her and her brother were his best friends. All that changed in just one night.
Fighting his constant urges to dive into the nearest bottle of Jack Daniels, or anything else with just a little “proof” dominates Zane, until the sassy, spunky Liv pops back into his life. She gives him something else, something better, to think about. To do. 🙂
Liv’s life hasn’t always been rainbows and kittens either. One dreadful night changed her life and ruined her, almost beyond repair. Zane was that ever-present, loyal force that she’d never been able to shake. She loved him then, she loves him now.
McIntyre really knows how to turn a phrase, and her vivid descriptions pull readers right into the middle of each scene. All of my senses were involved, and that’s no easy feat. Kudos and more kudos!
Liv and Zane shared a history, so their’s was not an instant love match. However, I do wish there had been a little bit more to the relationship re-developement, as I’d like to call it. They’d been so young their first time around, and although they’d understood each other better than anyone else, they hadn’t seen each other in 10 years, so a little more rekindling would’ve been welcomed. However….
Don’t let that last statement of mine throw you off or make you second-guess reading this novel. For lack of a better, more-fitting term, it’s really good. Although I could see this story being stretched out a little longer, McIntyre did an excellent job of addressing tough situations in fewer pages. She doesn’t skim over the topics or make them seem lighter than they are. Truths are hard, life happens realistically, and each character has some growing to do, which made me love them even more.
Fire up that ereader (or get a printed copy), grab your favorite snack, and find a comfy place to sit. When you’re down, drop back by and tell us what you think.
Rating system: Cups of Coffee (the less the better)
0: You won’t need any coffee to stay up for this one. It’s intriguing enough all on its own.
1: You’ll stay up late, but not all night. Brew one cup.
2: You’ll read as long as you’re not tired. If you are, two cups should do the trick.
3: I hope you got plenty of rest; you’ll need it, or at least 3 cups.
4: If the cable goes out, read the book. It’s better than nothing, I guess. Oh, don’t forget your brew!
5: Find anything else to do- it doesn’t matter what it is. Don’t waste your coffee. Too much caffeine is bad for you.
My rating: 1 cup of coffee