Customer Reviews

Here Comes Trouble

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I really enjoyed this Donna Kauffman book. Donna's characters are well drawn and likable. In these tough economic times, I sympathize with someone trying to start their life on a new path and taking the enormous risk associated with starting a new business. Despite how hard one tries, there are always elements out of our control. So I had a lot of sympathy for the heroine from the very first page, along with some chuckles for Donna's trademark wit. That the heroine is on the cusp of leaving her youth behind rings true for many. It is a time many of us look back at where we have been and think about what we want out of our future. This book gives us a glimpse of what can happen after we make one of those life-changing decisions, as scary and exciting as they are. Then comes along a handsome, endearing, younger guy on his own quest to leave behind his past and build a new future. And the magic begins.

I think I liked this book in part because of the rich dialog exploring all those discussions we have in our heads. That you get to hear both sides of the internal dialogs (heroine's & hero's), in addition to the external dialog, is something that appeals to me. This is a story as much about the hero as the heroine. I think Donna is unique in how fully and richly she draws male characters, particularly the heroes.

Ultimately, each character's emotions are tested and issues are resolved, but this book is first and foremost a romance. And it is one that left me smiling and happy. It was warm and embracing on a cold winter day.

If anyone told Kirby Farrell that global warming is a hoax she would tell them to visit her bed and breakfast ski lodge in Vermont as the weather outside is tropical for winter in New England. She fears if it does not snow soon she will go out of business.

Brett Hennessey grew up in Las Vegas where he has become a poker superstar. Fleeing some trouble, he bikes across the country finally stopping for R&R at Kirby's rustic B&B. The innkeeper and the cyclist are immediately attracted to one another forgetting their woes as she thinks she is fortunate with her new guest and he believes Lady Luck has given him a royal flush. That is until his past arrives in Vermont to call him out and he has doubts after a recently failed relationship and her being older than her card playing biker.

A bit over the top of the Green Mountains, Here Comes trouble is a fun contemporary romance. Kirby and Brett are a likable pair as he is a charming rogue and she is a hesitant damsel. Their debates over age, life, and love make for a humorous frolic with late suspense.

Harriet Klausner

Ms. Kauffman delivers with another fun read...this time about a self-labeled "middle-aged" heroine and a hot, hot younger man. What's great about this story is the development of two very likeable characters. Where another reviewer criticized the length of their thoughts, ponderings and conversations, I thought it added insight to Kirby and Brett. Neither one has had a simple life and they have to work out their mutual attraction within those confines...messy baggage,kitten and all!

In additon to the sizzle, there is some intrigue/sabotage and the author ties it all with silly scenarios that made me laugh out loud.

Now, this is the way I want to be entertained when I read non-work related books!

You won't be sorry with this book...I wasnt'!

I loved this book. Independent characters that aren't afraid of risking anything aside from their hearts. I loved that it was easy for Kirby to open a bed and breakfast in the middle of nowhere but it was extremely difficult to give in to her attraction to Brett. I enjoyed the insight into what the characters were thinking and why they made their decisions cause frankly without the inner voice information I would not have understood a few of the choices. I enjoyed the moderate pacing of the book, the emphasis on character development, and of course the grand gesture, fabulous happily ever after ending. The fantastic setting was described so vividly that I ended the book wanting to go find a bed and breakfast in Vermont to stay at and see if I could stumble across my Brett! An extremely fun read.

Story Brief:
Kirby ran a ski resort in Colorado with her boyfriend for ten years. After she saw him with another woman, she left him, borrowed money, bought an inn in Vermont, and rehabbed it. This is a ski resort area. It's her first season to be open. There is no snow. She may lose the inn if she doesn't get enough guests to pay her bills.

Brett is poker genius celebrity who made millions. He wants to leave the business. Someone has been causing property damage to friends of his in Las Vegas. So he puts most of his things into storage and takes off on a motorcycle to decide what to do with his life. He sees Kirby's inn in Vermont and is drawn to the architecture and look of the place. He is her first guest. They start falling for each other. After Brett learns she needs guests, he offers to hold a charity poker tournament at a nearby resort which will bring in a lot of guests for the area.

Reviewer's Opinion:
This book has too many long, drawn out conversations about goals, needs, desires, fears, past relationships, etc. There were also too many long, drawn out ponderings in the mind about these types of things. There was one seven-page-long conversation that was just about Brett trying to convince Kirby to tell him what was wrong. I kept wanting things to happen. Not enough happened. What little did happen was interesting. It could be a good short story if the author got rid of all the filler.

There was a bad guy doing property damage to Brett's friends. By the end of the book, it wasn't clear to me who was doing that and what happened to the bad guy. Brett suspected a certain person, but it was not wrapped up. There was no confession or evidence or prosecution or jail. That part of the story was not finished.

Data:
Story length: 307 pages. Swearing language: strong, including religious words. Sexual language: mild. Number of sex scenes: 7, most were about two pages long. Setting: current day Pennydash, Vermont. Copyright: 2010. Genre: contemporary romance.