This review comes from a guest blogger, Sarah from The Country Bookworm! I am very excited to have her post a review on the blog today! :)
********************************************************************************
Publisher: Independent (via Createspace February 2015)
Publish Date: February 4th 2015
Page Amount: 326 pages
Price: $11.99 Paperback
ISBN: 150786986X (ISBN13: 9781507869864)
"When I was eleven, my best friend died in a car accident. When I was twelve, my mom walked out, leaving only a note to say goodbye. When I was eighteen, I was forced into witness protection.
My new name is Shyanne Adams. To protect myself, and painless existence, I do not live. I do not laugh. I do not love. For the last three years, the only meaningful thing I’ve done is care for the horse I rescued.
But now, at the age of twenty-one, the one person from both my past and present is pushing me to start living. Before I know it, I’m moving in with new friends who make me laugh. And next door is Kade Cross, the guy who wants me to love."
I received a copy of this book from the author in exchange for an honest review.
Deanna reached out to me via email and we had a wonderful exchange pertaining to the horse slaughter pipeline. I do not normally read romance novels, and Deanna knew this, but asked me to read it more from a horse rescue viewpoint, so I obliged, because horses, duh!
Initial Thoughts:
Mostly enjoyable, particularly the aspects relating to horse rescue and therapy for at risk youth. Some clichè/head shaking moments, but the psychological aspect of a victim mindset made up for them. The book moves very fast, but not annoyingly so. Needed more horse rescue back story for Shy and Walker, because there's never enough horsey action!
What I Liked:
The author is a trained social worker and holds certifications in Equine Assisted Psychotherapy. This was very apparent in the portions of the book pertaining to the sexual assault victim and the gritty details of Equine Therapy. I love when authors actually do their research on a main topic in their book. Major brownie points in my book for that! Also, my entire horsey life is summed up in this one quote from the book "Horses are the only thing that make me dreamy." :) On another horsey note, at some point in the book there is a rescue horse that turns out to be one of my all time favorite breeds and I had a bit of a freak out moment when the breed was discovered. I can't say much more due to spoilers...but I was a happy pony lover! *Ok hint, google the Spanische Reitschule*
What I Didn't Like:
Ok, so I do not really read romance novels. I just...can't. I'm a pretty jaded person despite my amazing relationship with my boyfriend. As in, I want to be married in my backyard with my animals, and like 3 guests. I may even wear my Ariat boots. That being said, I still gave the book a try.
The romance sections are what I expect of a typical New Adult/Romance. I didn't like these sections, but I can appreciate that they were written well. This is more a matter of personal taste. A few times I was thinking "oh come on, really?!" But again, I do that in real life, even when it's about my best friends because I'm not an overly romantic person.
Also, the over abundance of college aged male antics got on my nerves. I went to a woman's college next door to an engineering school that had many fraternities. So I spent more than a few weekends at these parties. 18-21 year old males just really irritate me. It is actually a credit to Deanna's skills that her characters got on my nerves so much, because they really reminded me of people I knew in college. There is one line in particular where she describes the look and smell of a fraternity house and it is so 100% accurate that I had to laugh. Those houses are nasty.
Overall:
Shy Kinda Love is a well written, well researched NA romance novel that I enjoyed despite my almost hatred of romance novels. I could have done without all the male bantering and antics. I can see how some people would love these characters, but I was all like "more horsey action please!" The insight into the trauma and healing process of sexual assault victims was a new reading topic for me, and I enjoyed it.
Who Should Read It?
Anyone wanting a mostly light read, with a few chapters of heavy sexual assault material. For anyone who enjoys NA romance, as this has more meat and bone than the typical fluffy romance. Or, anyone wanting to see how Equine Therapy can help trauma victims rehabilitate to a normal life.
Rating: 3.5 Stars
It could've been a 3.5 if it had more about how Shy rescued and rehabbed Walker since she had no experience with horses prior to that. *********************************************************************************
Thank you so much to guest blogger Sarah from The Country Bookworm for posting her review of the book on the blog! Please be sure to stop over at her blog as well as leave comments on this review to let her know what you think! :)
Sheridan
No comments:
Post a Comment
Thank you so much for taking the time to comment on our blog posts! I will always try and get back to each and every single one of your comments! Please feel free to leave suggestions for new books to review, as well as comments on the individual reviews themselves. Again, thank you so much for stopping by!