The Mix Up

Lilac Harbor, Book 1

By: Shaw Hart

Narrated by: Shaina Summerville, Lance West

Arlowe

"I think that there's been some kind of mix up." That's my first clue that my stay in Lilac Harbor isn't going to go according to plan. There's been a mistake with my rental booking and now instead of having the charming little bungalow on the shore all to myself, I've got a not so charming roommate.

Yates Warner. He's a grump in every sense of the word, but there's something about the guarded translator that tugs at my heartstrings. I'm determined to make the best of this situation, and who knows? Maybe my grumpy giant and I can even be friends.

Yates

Yeah, we're definitely never going to be friends. Arlowe Mitchell is too sweet for a grouchy loner like me. Also, way too tempting. The more time I spend with her, the more I want her.

When she tells me about the newest book her book club is reading and says how she always wanted to have a summer fling like the characters, I finally get my opening. A four-week fling. The only rule we have is to not get attached. I thought it would be a piece of cake to follow but the more time I spend around my new roomie, the more I realize that I'm in real trouble of breaking our one and only rule.

Contains mature themes.

©2023 Shaw Hart (P)2023 Tantor

I don’t know…

I’m usually all for insta-love, but this one felt like everything happened too quickly without enough depth to support it…after the initial rush, we jump ahead a year and then five years, and those time skips felt crammed in more to prove the characters are doing well than to actually develop their story. For instance why did FMC decide on “fling?”

The repetition, the reminder why she stayed in a novella? That feels like a filler rather than adding anything meaningful. The chemistry between the characters didn’t fully convince me... It came across more like the FMC wanted a reason to stay, and the MMC happened to be that reason… They seemed to like each other well enough, but the intensity didn’t quite match the outcome…

I think the ending might have worked better as a HFN or with just one epilogue instead of multiple time jumps, that felt like trying to convince us it really worked? And I do love epilogues but they have to work, not every story needs one… just my 2 cents…

DNF

The picture doesn’t match the character. She is obese at 5’5” and 180 lbs but doesn’t care. She eats garbage. That bothers me. We should care about our health. She is overly sweet so it becomes unreal. She has no boundaries with the homeowner. He is an introvert to the extreme and a pushover who allows her to do whatever she wants. There is no chemistry. Understandably. She isn’t attractive physically or behaviorally. She is so annoying I can’t get past chapter 6. This goes in the did not finish file.