Review| Love, Again - L.P. Dover - The Book Dutchesses

I always love reading books by authors that I don’t know! Sometimes stories sound really good that I just have to go them a go. Love, Again was one of these books and today is release day. A big thanks to the author and publisher for providing me with an ARC to read and review. It’s time to tell you about what I thought of this book.

Aubrey Reynolds is a small-town girl who’s made it big. A successful Hollywood director, Aubrey doesn’t have time to linger on what could have been. But when a routine blood test comes back with a false positive, she decides to take some time off to do the things she’s always wanted to do: taste the famous chocolate chip cookies at the Minnesota State Fair, hike the Grand Teton National Park, scuba dive in the Caribbean. But after Aubrey admits to herself what she’s really missing, she heads back home to Dusty Valley, Oklahoma . . . and the man she left behind.

Cole Haywood is a small-town fireman and that’s just fine with him. Sure, when the love of his life left their hometown to chase her dreams he was heartbroken and—he’ll admit—damn mad. But Cole would have never forgiven himself if he had held Aubrey back from success. So the last thing he expects after all these years is to walk into his favorite bar one night and find the girl he’s always loved—there—looking for him. Maybe now’s the time to make his dreams come true.

Review

Imagine the doctor telling you that you have a very terrible disease and probably won’t make it and then having them tell you that there was a mistake! I can’t imagine how scary and helpless you feel. After something like that, you can’t just go back to life as normal. So our main character, Aubrey doesn’t!

Aubrey grew up in a small town, but is now living her dream as a successful director in Hollywood. That was always her dream and she’s living the life now that she has it. Once she hears she may be dying only to find out that she isn’t, it opens her eyes! There are things in life she would love to see and the man she left behind ten years ago won’t leave her mind.

I loved Aubrey. She’s so down to earth. Even though she’s famous and has more money than she knows what to do with, she’s still Aubrey. The only thing she regrets is leaving the love of her life so many years ago. I loved reading about her visiting places she always wanted to see though. After hearing she didn’t have much life left to live, she definitely wasn’t going to take that for granted again.

Of course, while visting everything, she can’t get Cole off her mind. It really is time for her to go back to Oklahoma and face what she left behind. Cole is really your boy next door. He is a firefighter, helps on his father’s farm and is on his way to becoming chief.

Cole is another character I loved. He loves his small town and he’s a family man. While many men would just blame the other for leaving, Cole regrets not going after Aubrey. There’s never been anyone since she left. It’s always been her.

Even though I’m a big fan of second chance romances, it almost went a bit too easy in this story. Aubrey comes home and it’s just accepted. Cole is mad for a day like it seems and then all is well again. Don’t get me wrong, it’s nice to have a romance not run by drama, but I would’ve liked to have seen more of a fight. I know Aubrey had her reasons, but she up and left him and it’s like she came back and everything is fine.

That being said, I did like seeing Aubrey and Cole reconnect. I loved them spending time together. They had a lot of fun together and visited places that sounded like a lot of fun. They’re a cute couple and it’s clear that they’re meant to be together.

On top of a sweet romance, there are other amazing characters. I loved Emilia and Bennett (I really hope they’re going to get a book, haha). I am a sucker for small towns and Dusty Valley sounds like a place I would love to live!