Tuesday, May 19, 2009

Recent Read

The Girl Most Likely To by Susan Donovan


Why this one: I’ve read her books in the past and except for one, I’ve quite enjoyed her books, though the last one, a reread, was a DNF. But I put that down more to the mood I was in since the first time I read it, I gave it a 4


Steam Level: Warm


Blurb: Kat Cavanaugh was sixteen when she hitchhiked out of Persuasion, West Virginia and vowed never to return. Who could blame her? She'd just stumbled upon her father's adulterous affair, found out she was pregnant, got dumped by her boyfriend, and kicked out of her house and school . . . all in a single afternoon. Twenty years have gone by and Kat's back-gorgeous, rich, and looking for an apology from everyone who'd turned their backs on her. First on that list is Riley Bohland, the boy who broke her heart before she could tell him about the baby. But Kat didn't count on Riley having his own axe to grind, or that he'd be just as delicious as he was at sixteen. She also didn't count on her heart opening at the sight of him. When their anger ignites a passion intense enough to burn through two decades of secrets and lies, Kat must question everything she thought she knew about her past. And what about her future? The only place to find the answers may be in Riley's arms.


My Thoughts: This is a bad news/good news kind of review.

First the bad news

Sadly, this book had a big strike against it going it. I don’t like stories with a secret baby plot; where the mother deliberately keeps the news from the hero that he is a father. If the father is a jerk, that’s one thing, but if the father is the hero and is a decent guy, this drives me nuts and it’s a long climb up for the heroine who has selfishly deprived her child of part of his or her parentage. If I hadn’t like the authors previous books, I wouldn’t even have read this book.

Now the good news

I liked this one enough not to want to throw it against the wall. Now that may not sound like much but it really is since it is such a hot button for me. While I hated what Kat did to both Riley and Adrian, her son, I didn’t hate her. I could understand, considering her childhood; her wacko father, her spineless mother and being dumped by her best friend and the father of her baby to run away and stay away for a while.

But I didn’t understand her keeping her son away from his father when she knew he was a good guy.

I loved the deep friendship that developed into love between Riley and Kat when they were young. I loved that he was so protective of her from early on. He made a stupid move when he deserted her without a fuller explanation but I thought she was wrong to punish him so severely for it and rob her son.

I liked that Adrian didn’t forgive her easily and that Riley never tried to talk him into forgiving his mother. What she did was unforgivable.

I loved Riley. I thought he was a great hero and he was the reason I kept reading.

I got a kick out of his psycho ex-girl friend.

And if this isn’t a big hot button with other readers as it is with me, I think they will probably quite enjoy this book.


Grade: 3.5 out of 5



4 comments:

SarahT said...

I read this one a few months ago. My thoughts pretty much mirror yours. I hated the way Kat handled things but she wasn't a bad person. It was an OK read.

nath said...

I'm glad you enjoyed it :)

I don't know... in a way, I get why Kat did what she did. Sure, Riley wasn't a bad guy... but the way he broke up with her, he was a jerk. It crushed her heart and when she has to leave home the way she did... the last thing you really want to do is come back and tell the guy who broke your heart that he has a son. I mean, yes, Riley was a good guy - but I think his stupidity cost him.

I do agree though that Kat could have come back earlier, tell Riley... but by that time, I think she had other things to worry about. But like you, I like the fact that Aidan was old enough to get to know his father... that he was angry with Kat, but still loved her. I think it's great that Aidan was so old :P

and I really like Riley and Kat's chemistry :)

ReneeW said...

I actually don't mind secret baby plots if they are done well. But my problem is that although I have liked a couple of Donovan's books, I really disliked the last one (The Kept Woman) I read a couple years ago and haven't picked up another one by hers since. I'll probably avoid this one too.

orannia said...

I'm with you on the secret baby plot device. Saying that...I guess I could see how you make a decision based on the facts at the time and then as time passes you find it harder and harder to be honest about the deception...

I want to read this book :)