Book Review: Worth The Wait

Worth the Wait

by: Lori Foster

Publication Date: July 25, 2017
Finished on: September 1, 2017
Publisher: Harlequin Books

I received a free Advanced Readers Copy of Worth the Wait as part of a pop-up blog tour from Booksparks!

Synopsis:
Single-father Hogan is on a mission to stay single...while sleeping his way through his new hometown.  That is, until he meets Violet, the owner of the diner where he is in charge of making his popular ribs.  Ex-SWAT team member Nathan is now sheriff and is happily single.  Cue his new next-door-neighbor Brooklin who is playing very hard to get.

Worth the Wait is a romance, primarily telling the story of these two couples.  It also briefly focuses on Colt, Nathan's seventeen year old son and his relationship with a classmate, Charity.

My review:
I will start by saying that I do not read a lot of romance.  Unless the romance is wrapped up in a fantasy, I don't ever feel drawn to the category.  I did read the Fifty Shades books (who didn't), but other than those, I can't remember the last romance that I read.  That being said, I enjoyed reading this novel.  It is not a work of gorgeous prose, but it is fun and makes for a quick, light, and sexy read.

There were a couple of issues I had with the novel.  First, I wish there had been some diversity.  Every character (correct me if I'm wrong) is white.  The men are white and their love interests are white.  I actually don't recall any mention of any character being a person of color.  I don't think authors have to obviously force unnatural characters into the book, I just found it unnatural that all of the characters were so similar.  This story is very blue-collared and small town.  There is some sweetness and nostalgia there for me, having grown up in a small(ish) town, but it felt a little bit cliche.

The other thing I found a bit disconcerting was that there were a few points that the book centered around Colt (age seventeen) and his sexual tension.  While reading a novel that is basically centered around adult relationships and sex, I found it a bit awkward to start hearing about sex from the viewpoint of a seventeen year old.  I totally understand and have read many young adult novels that have teenagers discussing and having sex, but it just felt strange to me in this context.

Overall, I rate this 4/5 stars.  This isn't a work of masterful prose, so don't go in expecting to be blown away by the literary dialog.  For me, this was a great, steamy, guilty-pleasure romance read.  There is a little bit of mystery and role reversals thrown in along with your somewhat cliched romance plot.  The characters are squeaky clean but the romance isn't! I highly recommend this book for romance lovers.  If you loved Fifty Shades of Grey, you'll probably love this one as well.