Wednesday, August 22, 2018

ARC Review: All the Way by Kristen Proby

Series:Romancing Manhattan #1
Pub. Date:Aug. 21, 2018
Publisher:William Morrow
Length:288 pgs
Source:Publisher

All the Way is the first book in Kristen Proby's new series, Romancing Manhattan. I'm still relatively new to Kristen Proby, and was happy to start this new series at the outset, as I never seem to find time to go back and read back titles.

Our heroine, London Watson, is an actress on Broadway, whom we meet just after she has suffered a horrible tragedy, and been hurt in the process. While she was vulnerable, she persevered and was determined to get back on her feet, get back to work, and get on with her life. It's not secret that I'm not usually a fan of showbiz-type characters, but I liked London in the beginning. She was hard-working and seemed fairly humble. She didn't come off as a showy self-important diva. However, as the book progressed, my relationship with London soured. The whole bit with her independence seemed forced and overplayed at times, and she ended up annoying me more than making me feeling any girl power camaraderie.

Our hero was my main reason for being interested in this book. Finn Cavanaugh is a high-powered corporate attorney and, as an attorney myself, I was looking forward to a little peak into Finn's world. Sadly, this story was very heroine-centric and we got very little info and detail about Finn. I thought this was a shame because there is a lot of room here to develop his character and forge an emotional connection. Due to the lack of connection, I was never able to understand Finn's motivations. I got that he wanted to take care of our heroine, but what was the driving force behind his wanting to make decisions without consulting others? I mean, sure, it was great that he was sexy and steamy and caring... but I just wanted more.

The relationship between these two was pretty steamy, and I liked them together as a couple. When they are on Martha's Vineyard, that was probably my favorite part of the story. Things were easy, conversation flowed, and chemistry abounded. However, once they got back to the city, things didn't go as smooth and I found myself getting aggravated at their arguments. Finn didn't understand why London got mad at him, and London couldn't communicate well enough to explain it to him. So it came off as him apologizing a lot for trying to be a good person, and not really understanding what he did wrong.

I don't know if the rest of the series will be following the men of Finn's law firm. If so, I hope we have more focus on the hero in the future. I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book that I received from the publisher.


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