Let’s begin with the summary:
She’s a sunny morning-show host. He’s a cynical ex-reporter. They're destined to hate each other . . . Aren’t they?
Brynn Cornell has to be stuck in a nightmare. Just last week, she was riding high as co-host of the popular morning show Sunup. She's America's Ray of Sunshine—the girl-next-door beauty who drives up TV ratings while never exuding anything but her trademark positivity and poise. All it took was one huge on-air mistake to expose her snarky side to the world and make it all come crumbling down. Now she’s back in her hometown of Adelaide Springs, Colorado, in a last-ditch attempt to convince viewers she’s not the mean girl they think she is. All she has to do is apologize and capture some feel-good footage reminding everyone she’s just a girl from humble beginnings who’s grateful for her big break, and she might manage to preserve both her career and her image. But this town holds painful memories that she’s not ready to face.
Sebastian Sudworth was on the fast track to the journalist hall of fame. A superstar reporter with a reputation for being in the center of the action, his fearless, relentless coverage of major events around the globe was winning him awards and accolades—until something snapped inside him and he vanished from the scene under mysterious circumstances. Sebastian sought refuge in tiny Adelaide Springs, working odd jobs and trying to blend in as a scruffy mountain town citizen.
When Sebastian is assigned to chauffeur Brynn around town, Brynn is sure he can see right through her carefully cultivated, sunny persona. But she’s determined to do what it takes to maintain her image and save her career—so she’ll just have to charm the socks off Sebastian the same way she charmed her viewers. Easier said than done. It's no picnic to play nice around someone you hate . . . especially when you might be crazy about them.
And now, my review:
I liked that, as the story went on, we could see that the author gave us a twist. The sunny persona is only skin deep. Not the usual sunshine/grump trope.
The story's written in first person. The main characters are intelligent, but they’re also chock full of words. Unfortunately there was a lot of rambling in the story. I skimmed and skipped ahead as scenes, and plot points, dragged on.
One of the reasons the plot dragged was that we spent chapter after chapter in sequential minutes of the same morning.
The premise is that the heroine is forced to revisit, and even champion, the town she condemned. A great hook. She’ll have to uphold her sunny façade, at least publicly, in order to achieve her career goals. But she fails, repeatedly. I did not like her rudeness. It didn’t strike me as funny. I couldn't root for her. Perhaps if we'd seen the reasons behind her dislike of nearly everyone, we could have sympathized with her. But we don't see that until later.
The hero is sort of hiding out, due to his past. I like the concept that each of them will have to come to terms with themselves, their pasts, and their beliefs about the past, in order to become what they want to be. Circumstances motivate them.
The heroine’s fatal flaw is self-sabotage. Lacking any nobility or consideration, she’s very unlikable. I didn’t really root for her to receive what she wanted from the story’s outset.
One of the themes is being true to one’s self. I like this theme. Other themes included that of a mother’s love, or lack thereof. Even psychological elements, like a description of hyper-vigilance.
I confess I did not finish this novel because of all the rambling, the tedious passage of time, and the rather unlikable heroine.
This book might best appeal to readers who enjoy a chick-lit style of first-person prose.
