As I mentioned in my bio post: I have some pretty awesome author friends. One of those is Tawna Fenske. She writes quirky love stories with a good ole HEA. (That's Happily Ever After for you new to the romance world. haha)
So, with that intro I bet you think she's got the same plot and characters; and a "if you've read one, you've read 'em all" thing going? Am I right? Well guess what: You'd be completely wrong. I LOVE TAWNA!!
I just finished her third, and final, book in the Fix Up Series. It's not out yet but I got an advanced copy to read and review. She knows we'll be honest. We might not actually love the story but hey, that's the chance she's willing to take with us Frisky Fenske Ladies. Since I'm just starting this blog, I figured I'd go ahead and post my review on The Hook Up (Book #3) as well as The Fix Up (#1) and The Hang Up (#2). What can I say. I'm feeling rather generous today.
So. The Fix Up. Book #1. Holly and Ben. Holly owns her own consulting company called First Impressions. She helps companies take stock of what they have, and work it. Own it. Ben is a total workaholic with, shall we say limited social skills. As in--well honestly he completely lacks social/interactive skills. After a chance encounter at furniture store, he turns to Holly and First Impressions to help him learn how to make a great first and lasting impression. But will his workaholic tendencies drive a wedge in their "what could be"?
This was not the first Fenske book I've read. But I try to go into every new book with a sort of "clear board" so to speak. I don't want to let my love or disdain for another story taint what I'm currently reading. So when I heard Tawna was releasing a new series I knew I had to read them but leave my obsession for Fiance For Hire aside. (Don't worry. That little hidden love child of mine will get its own post. I promise!)
Truthfully I really enjoyed The Fix Up. It was a quick read at at 440 ibook (on my iPhone) pages. I think that translates to about 100-ish real pages. I'm not sure. But even still. When I say "quick read," I actually mean that the story flow is really ... well ... quick. The words tumble from the pages and flow into the next. You easily find you've been sitting for an hour devouring her characters. No lie. And Holly and Ben. I have to say that the quirkiness in the characters sometimes made me cringe--a lot like when you're watching a movie and you feel the awkwardness of the character when they commit some faux pas. These characters touch you. (And if I were Tawna right now, I'd be making a totally inappropriate joke about random touching--I told you my friends were awesome! haha)
RATING: 4/5 Stars
***
Next up with The Hang Up. I somehow missed that she had released this one and only found out about it right before I read The Hook Up. So I picked this one up on Amazon Kindle (on my iPhone) and breezed through it. It's technically part of the trio, but can easily be read as a stand alone. Tawna mentions the other characters and elaborates a bit on how Holly and Ben are doing, but you don't truly need to read the first one to enjoy this story.
This is the story of Miriam and Jason. Miriam is the girl I could never be. Always dressed head to toe in name brands, designer clothes, to the nines... however you want to put it. She's put together man. And she considers herself a total city girl. Her idea of "playing outside" is to walk to the mailbox as she put it. And Jason is her polar opposite in theory. He's a balls-to-the-walls, full throttle, go-get-'em kind of guy. But then there's the sides of each other that they don't show many people, and actually fight showing the other person. Miriam lost her dad in an outdoor adventure making her weary and wary of ever allowing that sort of thrill seeking rush to become a part of her; and avoiding all men who could remind her of the passion to be found in that rush. Jason took a job as a CEO of an outdoor adventure company so he could be home more and have more stability for his nephew just entering the preliminary stages of remission. So here we are. With two characters who think they could never work. Because they are "total opposites" and have way too much going on. When in reality, they are each other's compliment. But can they see that in the other person before it's too late?
Let me start off by saying: my son's name is Jason, so this was a little harder for me to read and not get creeped out. I'm just being honest! (Does no one else find it creepy to read a love scene with the heroine is jonesing for a guy with your kid's name? Seriously? Ugh... shudders a little) So I just changed his name to Josh when I read it and all was good. haha
Other than that, yeah I liked this story a lot. The characters weren't quite as "make you put your hands over your face and watch through your fingers" quirky. And the struggles Miriam and Josh-- er JASON-- face are realistic. Jo-Jason is the father figure to his nephew and Miriam has to figure out how to play nice with kids. Something she's never had to do. Now, she's not dating a single dad, really, so she doesn't have to struggle with it. She could just walk away and no one would blame her. But she tries. You can see her TRYING. And that's the important part. Jason too. He's trying to be a refined CEO and not just the physical guy who bangs the consultant on her dining room table. Even though that does happen. Whoopsie! hah
This was another quick read as a lot of Tawna's books are. She does far more of the flowy, "beach books" types of stories than longer novel-esque ones. I really appreciate that. But somehow Tawna manages to convey that time has legitimately passed in the story without rushing anything or breezing over important events/days/whatever that may have happened in order to just get on with it.
RATING: 3.5/5 Stars
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And finally we have The Hook Up with Ellie and Ty taking the lead this time. Ellie is a single mom working in "sales." No, she's not a stripper. Or in that kind of sales. Well not really. She sells passion products online. Ty is a partner in First Impressions, specializing in video. Seems like a match made in heaven. But will their pasts come to haunt their present and cut off any shot at a future?
Ellie is raising her six year old son with the help of her brother and his wife. With her son just recently deemed "cancer free," she's wanting to start taking control back of her life. Her deadbeat ex is making that harder with his plea to pay even less child support and spend even less time with their son. Her brother wants to fix everything for her and always "be there" but that's part of the problem. The one who's supposed to be there isn't and the one who is there won't let her be!
Ty is footloose and fancy-free. At least now he is. Growing up, he was raised by his grandmother when his dad was in jail until she passed away. Then he bounced around from foster home to foster home, none ever sticking. So he avoids all hints of commitment and anything really resembling being tied to something. Because that "something" will always leave you. Either that or he's just not worth it. In either case, he knows he's not good enough for someone as awesome as Ellie/ That doesn't stop his brain from conjuring all kinds of inappropriate images and scenes! Some of those include those passion products she sells, too.
Can two people with so much baggage, so much history.. can they put that all aside and make a go of it? Can they do a simple "Hook Up" without complications? Or is it true that there will always be complications when sex is involved?
With the blurb aside, I have to say that while I truly liked this story, I didn't LOVE it the way I do most of Tawna's books. First off, I read this immediately following The Hang Up, so the issue of the time error really made it hard for me to reconcile the two. The end of Hang Up should basically be the beginning of Hook Up, time wise--based on what's written. ***SPOILER ALERT*** But Miriam finishes a Tough Mudder competition and gets engaged to Jason at the end of Hook Up. And at the beginning of Hook Up, they're married and Miriam's massively pregnant. I just kept going back to those facts and it made it harder to fall into the story.
But that was basically the only thing I didn't love about this story. The characters are great. True to form, Tawna introduces us to a quirky but lovable couple trying to figure out if they can make it work. What starts off as just heat needing to be let out--kind of like a pot with the vent lid switched to open--has the chance to become something more. Something better. But will Ellie forget about comparing every guy to her ex and actually let someone in? Will Ty let his past dictate his future? Or will they get past the Hook Up and make it real? These are legitimate questions every single parent deals with when trying to put their toe back into the dating world. Few want to leap right back into those shark infested waters. It's scary to introduce a new person into your child's life. But then, on the flip side, your child is the most important person in your life and anyone you bring into the mix HAS to be good to your kid too. So when do you stop bringing a friend and actually bring your "other"?
As far as Ty goes, I know a lot of people who have been in or around the foster care system. They all say how hard it is to trust someone after that experience. After the shuffling around and being yanked from one home to be tossed into another. The inconsistency and false promises. It takes a toll on the kids. So his fears of letting Henry down are valid and noble really.
I give this story 4 out of 5 stars because that's really what it is. Maybe not the best Tawna Fenske book I've read. Maybe not the best-best book I've read. BUT it is a fun summer read that will make you feel for the characters and give you a reprieve from the mundane occurrences in your every day life for the 1-3 hours it would take you to finish it. The words flow as quickly and easily--just like The Fix Up and The Hang Up. Days and weeks pass on the pages, but again---it never has the feeling of being a FORCED story.
If you are going to read the other three books in this series, go ahead. They are fun and light and enjoyable. But you don't NEED to or HAVE to in order to be able to enjoy the story. That's another fun tidbit: This is a totally stand alone story. It's like it's the only child and Fix Up and Hang Up are its cousins. There's some relation there and it's good to know about it. But the success of one isn't going to hinge on your being familiar with the other.
RATING: 4/5 Stars
So there you go. Your "Bo-fer" of the week with the Tawna Fenske Fix Up Triology. Overall I would say that these are super fun, short, lovable stories. Definitely worth downloading to your eReader to take with you to the beach. Some fun ones to help pass those hours lounging under the sun as you soak up those rays and work on your tan.
Or you know. Those 23.2 minutes you get from the time you turn on the bath faucet until the kids come running up the stairs begging for Mama--only to find out your presence is required to turn on a TV that Daddy could totally have done but somehow Mommy is so much better at doing. Which, realistically, is what my nights are like.
I hope you enjoyed my first venture into online book blogging. I'd love some feedback. Should I do more series-in-one set ups like this? Or should each book just get its own thing? Do you like the blurbing and personality or would you prefer more "official" type stuff? --- If you want official, you'll probably need to go to another site like Amazon or B&N though. Because that's just not me! haha
But in all honestly, please leave me comments on what you think about this blog post!
