About the Book
-
Author:
- Alysia Gray Painter
- Genres:
- Boy-Girl Romance
- Contemporary
- YA Romance
- Voices:
- Cis Girl
Cover Story: Fall Festive!
BFF Charm: Make It Rain
Talky Talk: Whimsical But Grounded
Bonus Factor: Fireplace, Prior Yates, Anti-cussing
Relationship Status: It’s Our Second Date, And I’ve Shaved My Legs . . .
Cover Story: Fall Festive!
The covers in this series; I love them so much! This one reminds me of the fall decorations I insist on putting out the second that Labor Day Weekend begins. What? I like celebrating seasons via the clever application of potpourri!
This cover is great because it manages to be simple yet textured at the same time. No screaming fonts, girls in evening gowns or stupid tag lines here! But for all its simplicity, the pine cones look so realistic, as if I really could reach into a bowl and grab that key. Which I would totally do, because I WANT TO STAY AT THE REDWOODIAN!
The Deal:
When we last left off, Fair Finley, manager of the Wilfair and heir to the Finley hotel fortune, had teamed up with her motel-running neighbors, the gorgeous Montgomeries Overbove, to try and ascertain why everything was suddenly going wonky on their corner of Fairfax and Wilshire. Rooms switching places with other rooms, crazy 3d maps appearing on beds and a tar bubble that smelled of Paris aren’t the only concerns that Fair and Monty and Gomery share. There’s also the tiiiny issue of Fair being forced by her family to take the cousins’ pool, which would in turn close down their motel, which would in turn make them homeless and fire them from the only jobs they’ve ever known. Minor relationship hurdles, really!
Fair, Monty, Gomery and Sutton (Fair’s best friend) decide to road trip to the Overboves’ cabins in the mountain, the Stay Awhile. There, they find that the whole thing is a ghost town, frozen over, with the cousins’ mothers nowhere to be seen. With little choice due to an oncoming blizzard, and the fact that, um, a building is sort of following them around, the gang have to spend the night at The Redwoodian, the Finleys’ski lodge and current host to a movie star, another hotel family threatening to buy Fair’s hotel, Fair’s dad, a giant fireplace and absolutely no dip.
Can Fair and the Montgomeries figure out why a building is following them around? Can Fair reach a compromise that allows her to keep her hotel, the Montgomeries to keep their motel and pool and makes her parents proud of her? AND WILL FAIR AND GOMERY EVER GET IT ON???
BFF Charm: Make It Rain
Since the first half of this book is a road trip book, I really got a chance to get to know Fair, Monty, Gomery and especially Sutton better. And I love them all!! Fair continues to be an “old child” (quoth Sutton); she’s shy, she can’t say no to people, and she has absolutely no life experience doing anything. As Fair herself admits, she’s been witness to a lot of life’s events through her interactions with the hotel, but she’s never actually experienced any of them. But she’s fiercely loyal, hopelessly confused and determined to be the best friend she can be to everyone. Who doesn’t want Fair in their corner?
Monty is snarky and adorable. Sutton is hilarious, brutally honest, and fiercely protective of Fair. And Gomery? Gomery is Swoon City, and totally hot, but it helps that he’s thoughtful, kind, honest and a bit of a genius.
But the last BFF charm I’m handing out is a platinum one, and I’m awarding it to Mr Prior Yates. Vain, ridiculous, good-hearted and puppy-excited about everything, I defy someone to withstand Prior Yates’ charm. It can’t be done!
Swoonworthy Scale: 8
HOLY MOTHER OF GOD WHEN ARE FAIR AND GOMERY GOING TO GET IT ON??? AGP, YOU ARE GIVING ME BLUE BALLS HERE.
So! Fair and Gomery are totally drawn to each other, but there are a few roadblocks in their way, namely that Fair is trying to buy his family’s business and the fact that both are so socially awkward that they don’t know how to come out and say to the other, “I like you and I’d like to see what is inside of your pants. What say you and I have some really hot sex in one of the supply closets in this hotel?” You know, like RATIONAL PEOPLE WOULD.
That said, because they’re so awkward and also inexperienced, every single brush of the hand, secret grin, hair-tuck and the various other ways that a person finds to be closer to another person rachet the swoon scale up more and more. You guys, I’m going to be honest – the most action that happens in this book is an extended hug (with a sly joke about repeating the event sans clothes in the future), and I am here to tell you that I was jumping up and down during that hug, making these weird half-sigh/half-moan sounds OUT LOUD and screaming, “OH MY GOD TELL HER HOW YOU FEEEEEEEEEEL!” at random intervals, startling the cat. If these two don’t get it on soon I’m going to be forced to do some sort of hotelier role-playing in my private life just to get over the blue balls this book has given me.
Talky Talk: Whimsical But Grounded
It took me a while to get into Wilfair, the first book in this series, because while I enjoyed the tangents and people not really saying what they mean, it came too quickly into the book. I needed time to settle in with the situation before we started going a little crazy, you know?
I think this book, however, is much improved in that regard. Each character still has a distinct voice, Fair still says one thing and means another, and two of the characters speak in acronyms or crazy nicknames, but the story as a whole is much tighter. I flew through this book and was surprised and sad when I reached the end and there was no more book left for me to read. (Reading on a Kindle always confuses me. I never know where I am in the book unless I check!)
That said, the book is still full of charm and quirkiness, and best, I really felt like these people were people I knew:
Monty peered closer. “Is it . . . um . . . how can I put this so I won’t offend delicate Fair here? Gerg. Is the building thing knowing our van in an intimate way?”
I put my nose against the window. “It is kind of, like, against the back of the van. Very much against the back. And I’m not delicate. You can say ‘making love.'”
That sent Monty into a side-holding fit. “Ohhh. Oh. No. That is – that is not what I was going to say. Oh, Fair. Will you give me a tour of your world someday? I’ll wear my top hat and monocle and you can teach me to waltz. I’ll write a thank you note on scented stationery. Promise.”
Bonus Factor: Fireplace
Y’ALL. The Redwoodian’s main lobby hasa fireplace with NINE SIDES. A NINE SIDED FIREPLACE!! Do you know what you could do with a nine-sided fireplace? NEVER BE COLD. Because you’ll always be in front of the fire!! You could hang nine stockings from nine mantles! (Or, if you’re a Duggar, you could hang several stockings from each of the mantles.) You could hang out with your cat and your dog and your One in Particular, plus some friends, and still have enough fireplace room to roast marshmallows! NINE SIDES!
Bonus Factor: Prior Yates
Yeah, I’m making Prior his own bonus factor. BECAUSE PRIOR YATES IS AMAZING. I want to befriend him, go to craft classes with him, take him to a sleep lab to get his snoring checked out . . . whatever Prior needs, I also need! Whatever Prior wants, I also want! You guys, he NAMED A DRINK AFTER HIMSELF. AND DRINKS IT ALL THE TIME. IN PUBLIC! THIS MAN IS MY HERO!
Also, he’s just straight up adorable, supportive of the people he meets, and he just really wants some friends and I’LL BE YOUR FRIEND PRIOR YATES.
I mean, check this:
The magazine smiler leaned in one more time. “Fair. You’re refreshing is what. The people I keep company with are real Come On Strong City. Not only do you never come on strong, I suspect you’re hardly ever in the same room you’re actually in.”
“Working on that,” I whispered. “Hard.”
“You’ll probably rule the world one day, or at least half of California. But don’t lose whatever that is, though. A little of the charm, yes? Promise me.”
“Ruling the world but keeping the charm? Easy peasy.” I shrugged.
“Perfect Province. Now this would be the point in the love scene where I’d plant a giant kiss on you, what with us standing in the middle of Compliment Corners with all the lights off. And I’d like to kiss you, really I would, but the fact is I’m second in line, and I hate people who cut the queue.”
PRIOR YOU CAN KISS MEEEEEEE.
Bonus Factor: Anti-Cussing
Sutton, Fair’s bestie, has what is delicately known as a potty mouth. She’s been working on trying to change this by shortening her cuss words to just the first letters. (Sutton is so GDF awesome.) Monty suggests that instead of shortening her curse words, she start subbing in ridiculously happy words everytime she cusses. So soon, Sutton is stomping up to people and telling them that they’re sparkles cupcakes ponies and that they should go to Disneyworld Ice Skating Puppy Playdate.
Relationship Status: It’s Our Second Date, And I’ve Shaved My Legs . . .
Listen, Book. We all know you surprised the pants off of me on our first date. But now it’s time to actually take our pants off and get down to business. Book, you’re funny, charming, clever and you really get me, you know? So I’m pretty sure this is the start of a lifelong love affair and that I’m not just being a hussy. I mean, I’m totes a hussy, but not just a hussy, you know?
Anyway, so, yeah. I’ve been looking forward to our second date for months, and you certainly didn’t disappoint. And I figured you wouldn’t, so I shaved my legs in anticipation. So what do you say that you and I grab a couple Prior Yateses and get down to business. If you know what I mean. Which, since you’ve still got Fair and Gomery stuck on deck, never mind stepping up to plate to maybe hit first base, you may not know what I mean. Don’t worry. I’ll explain it later.
FTC Full Disclosure: I received my free review copy from Alysia Gray Painter. I received neither money nor cocktails for this review (boo!), but Alysia once mentioned the idea of boozy milkshakes to me in passing, and little does she know that I will hold her to it. Redwoodian is available in epub format on Amazon.com, and it’s only 2 dollars, so what are you waiting for?
