Falling for You: a book review

Falling for You. Becky Wade. 2018. Bethany House Publishers. Pages: 368. [Source: Netgalley/Bethany House Publishers Review Program]

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"Hey," Willow said. "Sorry I missed your call."

"No problem. I was calling because…Well, for a reason that you're not going to be thrilled about."

"Okay. What am I not going to be thrilled about?"

"The fact that it involves Corbin."

Willow winced, then concentrated on swallowing her bite of cookie. Nora was right. She wasn't thrilled.

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Rating: 5/5 ❤︎

You wouldn't believe how excited I was for this book to come out. I was extremely delighted to find out that I could request A Bradford Sisters Romance #2 to review, and didn't hesitate to say YES to reviewing it. A childish part of me had hoped that I would have finished reading this before May 1st just so I could say I finished it before it came out in stores, but I was too busy packing up my apartment since I graduated from college (woot woot~!). And it doesn't matter that I didn't finish it before the 1st, because I wanted to enjoy this and not miss a single thing about it!

I didn't connect with Willow Bradford, Nora Bradford's older sister, as strongly as I had with Nora. But that's probably just because Nora is just so much like me—bookish, creative, a major history buff, absorbing information like a sponge—while Willow is a model who is more into the finer things in life (because her income allows her to indulge). But this didn't stop me from enjoying the book!

At first, I didn't like Corbin. I didn't like Corbin since I was introduced to him near the end of True to You, when John Lawson, Nora's beau, brought him along to a family party. I had been wondering what was up between Willow and Corbin since that encounter, but I wasn't sure if book 2 would feature their story or Britt's and Zander's. It kind of makes me wonder what Britt and Zander are going to have to go through before they get together? hmm...

But as the story progressed, I got to know Corbin more, and I started to like him. I began to sympathize with him whenever he tried to make headway in their relationship. The way he breached Willow's rules did get on my nerves, though, because to me it seemed that he didn't respect boundaries, which can be dangerous in a relationship.

Thankfully, Corbin quickly won my heart, and at one point I was almost yelling because Willow had been told by Corbin's dad to stay away from him and all I wanted was for her to tell him or for him to find out somehow so he could have a serious talk with his dad.

The ending of the story was a bit bittersweet, but Willow and Corbin had completely reconciled by then which made the ending happy as well.

This instalment of showed me a great story about getting back together again without having to go through countless aggravating obstacles. It also reminded me how I need to forgive and not hold grudges for as long as I do—though those I have a grudge against never really work to help me to forgive them, so... yeah.

I would definitely read this one again, and I want to buy it. I so, so want to buy it.

Wait...Seduction?

That's one thing that makes me crinkle my nose in disgust more often than not - the fact that if a mystery show has a female detective on the hunt in the case, she has to use her feminine wiles in order to get by something one couldn't get by if they tried to just talk through it.

This came to mind when I was watching an episode of Remington Steele - "Steele Away With Me" I think - (warning: spoilers if you haven't watched the show yet!) where the female protagonist show took on the role of a rich, snobby party girl in order to get to a drug dealer/smuggler (can't remember which) in order to get the information she needed. She goes, in one scene, from wearing a dress that only goes to mid-thigh, to wearing a super-skin-tight bathing suit that bears all (!) basically in the next scene! I mean, the bathing suit had a high-collar, but it was see-through and it showed every curve.

This show is old, not really old, but not something you'd see a re-run of. Which brings up the question in my mind, "How will the world view my Private Investigator if she doesn't sleuth with sex and seduction in her repertoire???" I want to provide a clean mystery where my protagonist, Estelle Evans (no longer De Sauveterre), doesn't have to be immoral in order to get the information she wants. I want her to be the Nancy Drew for adults and older teenagers. But how?

Well, unfortunately, this is where I'll just have to test the waters, see where interests lie. Because I'm pretty sure that people will read a good story if its interesting enough. Not everything has to be a part of today's sex-culture.