Working It Out
Rachael Renee Anderson
Genre: Contemporary Romantic Comedy
Publisher: HEA Publishing
Date of Publication: July 15, 2013
Number of pages: 262
Available at the following retailers:
Amazon
Amazon
Excerpt:A chance encounter...
Grace Warren's life is safe and predictable—exactly the way she likes it. But when she gets roped into going to an auction to help out a friend, everything changes. She meets Seth Tuttle—a guy who unexpectedly kisses her then disappears, leaving her flustered and upset. If she never sees him again, it will be too soon.
A chance for love...
Weeks later, when Seth limps into Grace's rehab clinic post surgery, he's every bit as frustrating and annoying as she remembered. Yet there's something about him that makes her second-guess her carefully placed boundaries even though he's everything she's sure she doesn't want in a man. But maybe Seth is exactly what Grace has needed all along—assuming she's willing to risk safe and predictable for a chance at love.
Seth met Grace’s gaze once again and held out his hand for her to take. “Ready to go?”
She felt her resolve slipping, but couldn’t let it go completely. She stared at his hand, wanting to touch it, hold it, to interlace her small fingers with his strong ones. But she was his therapist, not his girlfriend.
Therapist.
His fingers wiggled. “My keys, please? I saw you pick them up when you were cleaning earlier.”
Huh? Grace glanced down. Sure enough, his keys were clutched in her hand. There was even an imprint on her palm from squeezing them too hard. Her face flamed, and she quickly handed them over.
Without another word, she turned and headed for the front of the building, wanting to crawl into the trunk of Seth’s car and hide. When she reached the outside air, she drew in a deep, steadying breath then grabbed the passenger door handle, ready to yank it open and dive inside. But it wouldn’t budge.
The car was locked.
Duh.
Forced to stand there, clasping and unclasping her hands, Grace waited for Seth to catch up and unlock it. But instead of clicking the button on his keyless remote, he walked toward her, stopping directly in front of her.
Grace stood frozen as he reached around and manually unlocked the car. His chest bumped against her shoulder, sending tingles up and down her arms. In and out she breathed, telling her racing heart to slow down and her body to stop responding. It was only a touch. A simple touch. Nothing to get all worked up about.
But then Seth looked at her in that intense way again, his face only inches from hers. Grace trembled, feeling like all of her defenses and inhibitions were falling in a garbled up heap around her. Nothing made sense anymore. Not Seth. Not her feelings. Nothing. Grace didn’t know what she wanted or didn’t want anymore.
“If you’ll step aside, I’ll open your door for you,” Seth said.
Review:
Working It Out by Rachael Anderson is what is known as a "clean" romance. There was some kissing, but other than that, this is a book that you could feel very comfortable sharing with your daughter, mother or even grandmother. Honestly though, I didn't realize this when I agreed to review the book. My book choices are all based on how the blurb and/or author grab my attention. So when I was about 3/4 of the way through the book, and it dawned on me that there hadn't been any real steamy scenes, I was like "huh, okay" and just kept reading. The book was so well written and so involving, that I didn't miss what wasn't there.
This story opens with Seth Tuttle trying to give money to his former best friend's sister, Lanna for her charity. Lanna's brother had died of cancer and Seth promised to look after Lanna. But she doesn't want him to just fork over a bunch of money, knowing it's to try to make her life easier. Lanna wants to him to be a part of the charity program she works with and believe in the program like she does. Lanna invites him to be one of the bachelors that are going to be auctioned off to raise money, but he declines and leaves determined to help Lanna, whether she wants it or not.
Grace Warren is a physical therapist and sister to a paraplegic brother. His sports related injury is part of the reason she became a physical therapist. Grace is asked by one of her co-workers to bid on him during the bachelor auction. His girlfriend was going to do it, but at the last minute was unable to attend. It is at the auction that Seth and Grace meet for the first time. Seth bids on Grace's co-worker, the last bachelor, and drives the price very high in order to force Lanna to take the money. Grace and Seth argue and he kisses her. Lanna expresses her disappointment to Seth and walks away from him, hurt and angry.
Seth and Grace's next meeting is when she becomes Seth's physical therapist. Seth tore his ACL during a heli-ski vacation and after surgery has to have therapy. At first Seth doesn't even recognize Grace, but she immediately remembers him. Their chemistry is explosive and hilarious to watch. Grace is serious and reserved while Seth makes everything into a joke or a good time. The two together balance an compliment each other.
One of the great things about this book is that Seth and Grace's romance wasn't the only one in the book. A romance blooms between two of the secondary characters and you just can't help but root for both couples. Second chances, communication and compromise where strong themes in this book. I really liked that the characters didn't just assume what another character was thinking or feeling, but actually talked about their issues.and how to resolve them. There were a few moments in the book where I was so caught up in the book, I questioned whether they would be able to work out their differences. For me that is huge compliment. After all, this was a romance and I went into it knowing there would be a HEA at the end. To make me forget and question, even for a short time, is the mark of a great author. I liked this book and would read another by the author. 4 stars on Goodreads.
Giveaway:
$25 Amazon Gift Card or Paypal Cash
Ends 9/10/13
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Katie’s Clean Book Collection – Review
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Author Bio:
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Great review! I don't read clean romance books much, but when I do and they're well written (like this one from the sounds of it) I really enjoy them.
ReplyDeleteIt shows just how far out of the loop that I am, because I didn't even realize that it was a new niche genre. *shrugs* Who knew? I just know that I read what interests me and catches my attention. This one did and was well worth the read.
ReplyDelete