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Abby And The Bachelor Cop (2011)

by Marion Lennox(Favorite Author)
3.52 of 5 Votes: 2
ISBN
0373177313 (ISBN13: 9780373177318)
languge
English
genre
publisher
Harlequin
series
Banksia Bay
review 1: The second book by Marion Lennox for the Harlequin Romance line I’ve read this month. The books in this line can make for good summer reads because you can finish them in 2-3 hours (or less), but your level of enjoyment will depend on who’s writing them. I’d definitely pick up more of Ms. Lennox’s when I’m in the mood for this type of read. Set in Australia, the tale revolves around four childhood friends, a fiance who grew up with them, and a dog. (This book is not for people who don’t like dogs or books where dogs are a central character). Our heroine Abby is engaged to Phillip but still sighs with lust whenever she sees Raff, her first sweetheart. She’d foolishly broken up with Raff when she was younger because he wouldn’t dedicate the time to prepari... moreng for and escorting her to the debutante ball. Philip escorts and starts dating her. Abby has trouble reconciling her feelings and lust for Raff because he was part of a reckless car accident with her brother Ben. Raff remembers nothing of the accident, but Phillip who was in a different car with Raff’s sister Sarah, tells everyone Raff had been driving recklessly on wrong side of road. Abby still hasn’t come to terms with her grief and hasn’t “forgiven” Raff. As the story begins, a car accident spills multiple dogs on their way to a euthanizaiton clinic and/or shelter. As the cop directing traffic, Raff hands off “kleppy” (short for Kleptomaniac), to Abby. She decides to keep him when she learns his owner just died and Kleppy will be put down. Her fiance is none to thrilled about her acquiring a new pet 9 days before the wedding. Throughout the story, Raff keeps confronting Abby about why she is marrying Philip. He claims she doesn’t love Phillip, and Abby finds it hard to disagree. That is perhaps the most puzzling aspect of the story - why did Abby get engaged to Phillip? It appears mostly to be inertia. “spoilers” The most interesting aspect of the story is how Abby comes to terms with how she feels about Raff and her brother. She tells Raff she needs to “forgive” him, but he tells her no - he doesn’t need to be forgiven because that would imply Ben’s death was his fault. Raff has seen enough behavior of teenagers in his work as a cop to know that Ben’s death (and his own sister Sarah’s brain injury in the same accident) is no one person’s fault. This story line elevates it above the typical short form romance. There were some minor nits - some of the characters were two unlikeable and/or one dimension. It’s very hard to see how Abby would have stuck with Philip for so long since he’s a jerk in every scene. Abby’s mother’s a piece of work two. But generally I enjoyed this book. 3/5 on my 5 star romance scale.
review 2: I'm not a huge fan of contemporary romance. Or of dogs, actually. This story was entertaining, overall, but nothing incredible. The plot was predictable, the villian too easily discovered, and the insta-romance for secondary characters too easy of a "fix" for what could have been really a well-explored challenge. With all of that said, I did like the hero and heroine. I liked their chemistry and their interactions with secondary characters. The dog plot was a little over the top, but I can see that animal lovers would really love it. less
Reviews (see all)
moontea
Wonderful, heartwarming read. *happy sigh* Emotionally satisfying. With a kleptomaniac dog. Sweet.
mcblythe
Miniseries: Banksia Bay
lewkarse
A
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