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Genre: Contemporary Romance
Age Group: Adult
Publication Date: January 27th 2014
Series: Harmony Falls #2
Format: PDF
Source: Provided by author for tour
On the cusp of a brilliant Chicago medical career, Dr. Kory Flemming rarely gets a vacation from her demanding brain injury fellowship, but she can’t say no to maid of honor duties in her best friend’s wedding. Hometown or not, being in Harmony Falls, Pennsylvania, isn’t easy, especially when the only man smart enough to trump Kory’s high school academic achievements turns out to be a sexy, accomplished adult up to his old, flirtatious tricks. Will Mitchell has been destined for success since the day he was born. After spending his formative years racking up academic honors, it was only natural for him to be named the chief operating officer of his family’s thriving company. He has it all—more or less—so when the target of his high school infatuation turns up hot and haughty at his brother’s wedding, Will decides he wants her, too. An innocent dance at the wedding reception leads Kory and Will to an illicit tryst in the coat checkroom, and the game they’ve been playing since high school changes into something more serious. The new attraction takes Will and Kory by surprise, until a failed merger and family tragedy threaten both their professional goals. Now, Will’s struggling to preserve his reputation as “the successful one” and Kory’s stuck in Harmony Falls watching her illustrious medical career slip away. Worse yet, maybe the only way to get things back on track is to work together. Can they put aside their rocky past and ignore their titillating present in order to secure the future for the people they adore?
My Review:
After the bombshell that was dropped in the first book I had hoped book 2 would have been about the characters involved in that drama. Alice and Justin got their happy ending in Crashing The Congressman's Wedding so now it's Kory and Will's turn this go round.
An old high school rivalry/crush/hatred has been going on between Will and Kory for years. They were very competitive throughout school trying to prove which one was smarter with Will seeming to always squeak out ahead of Kory. She's always resented him for it even to the present day. When they meet back up at her best friend Alice's wedding and have a private kiss in the coat room it leads to some casual sex they can't pass up. Neither one of them is looking for anything serious because Kory is only in town long enough to help her father recover from a stroke before she heads back to Chicago to assume her medical career. Will needs her in Harmony Falls to take over working at the nursing home as it's director while he amkes a deal with another hopistal to take over. If he can't manage to make this deal happen then all the reisdents will have to go somewhere else and Will doesn't want that, plus his mother is salivating for him to fail so she can sell it out from under him. when sex turns into something else Kory and Will have to decide what's more important to them.
I can't say that Kory and Will were characters that made me fall for them honestly. I did like them ok but I didn't really swoon for their romance. I didn't really know much about Kory going into this book but her story wasn't something I connected with. She always felt like she wasn't with her parents always pushing to excel in life that left her to assume they didn't want her around. I didn't understand why she felt this way until she hashed everything out with her parents and then I understood where she was coming from. She was stubborn at times and a little abrasive when it came to her growing feelings for Will. She was so uptight it was nice to see her let her guard down and enjoy herself a little bit. Will was like the counterbalance to Kory's abrasiveness with his sexy, fun and charming personality. He was laid back and easygoing despite his ongoing business pressures he felt he needed to maintain. I loved that he could just kick back with some classical music and relax. He wasn't a lady killer type but he did enjoy companionship from time to time. His determination to win Kory over definitely won me over from the start, even if she took longer. It's usually the guy wanting to run away from his feelings but Kory turned out to be the one to run and it left me sympathizing with Will and loving his character a little more than hers.
Battling The Best Man wasn't a book I felt I couldn't put down but at the same time I was oddly compelled to finish Kory and Will's story once I started. If that makes any sense. They had a nice, sweet and romantic love story but I can't say it was my favorite. It was nice seeing ALice and Justin again and see them so happy. I always love seeing my favorite characters again and see how things worked out for them once their book was over. I'm not sure which book is next but I really hope it involves the drama I mentioned earlier because that promises to be really juicy! If you haven't read Crashing The Congressman's Wedding to get the dirt on the juice then you should! Battling The Best Man was a nice palate cleanser in between the dramz to lull you while the next course is being served. This was a really quick read that wouldn't take long to get through for anyone who doesn't have time to read a super long novel.
Quotes:
She wasn't anything like the awkward girl she used to be. She didn't cower around him, and she didn't even respect him apparently. It was more appealing than it should have been. PDF 34%
Damn. Her heart skipped a beat. This was not good. This was not nothing. This felt like a stupid schoolgirl crush. Only, there wasn't anything school-appropriate about what happened between them on the couch. PDF 48%
This was not happening to her. Will MItchell was not supposed to be a choice - at least not a legitimate one. But in his arms, under his spell, a part of her wanted to stay. A big part. A reckless part. PDF 73%
About The Author:
Elley Arden is a born and bred Pennsylvanian who has lived as far west as Utah and as far north as Wisconsin. She drinks wine like it’s water (a slight exaggeration), prefers a night at the ballpark to a night on the town, and believes almond English toffee is the key to happiness. Elley has been reading romance novels since she was a sixteen-year-old babysitter, sneaking Judith McNaught and Danielle Steele novels off the bookshelves of the women who employed her. She started her first manuscript when she was twenty-five, writing during babies’ naps. A total of three children and ten years later, the manuscript was complete. Little did she know, her journey to publication was only beginning…Elley’s first novel, a contemporary romance titled Save My Soul: The Kemmons Brothers Baseball Series (Book One), will be published by Crimson Romance March 25, 2013.
Links:
Apparently I need to read book one bc this sounds really good! Great review, babe!
ReplyDeleteSounds good.
ReplyDelete