Steph's Reviews > Just Maybe

If I could only pick one thing that Walton does well and sum it up in one word, it would be tension. Of the romantic variety. And I say that because sometimes reading her books goes a little bit like this:

Ooh, here we go. This is it! The moment I've been waiting for! These two are finally going to.... ugh, nope. Not yet. Dang it!

Okay, NOW we're getting somewhere. He's gonna kiss the girl in 3, 2, 1... well...okay, fine. Later's probably better anyway. Author knows best and all that. But, seriously. Are you kidding me right now?

Alright. Enough is enough. If one more thing comes between these two I might just--ahh, okay, there we go. And... finally.

Thankfully, that kind of tension is the stuff romance readers love. Myself included. Watching two characters just skirt the edge of romantic connection only to be pulled apart again and again for this, that, and the other reason, is a pastime that's borderline addictive. And y'all know reading is my favorite drug.

Also thankfully, romantic tension isn't the only thing Walton does well. Her books are filled with engaging--and often saracastic (my favorite)--dialogue, clean and yet still toe-tingling romance, hope, redemption, and characters you can really relate to.

Following Quinn's story as she tackled her fears and overcame some of her insecurities was incredibly entertaining. I loved her the second she made her first grammar correction, but the more her personality was revealed in the pages of Just Maybe, the more of myself I saw in her hesitations, her self-doubt, her spirit--let's just say we're book BFFs.

I had a hard time getting a handle on Cooper at first because I started reading this book immediately after Begin Again, the book that first mentioned Cooper. I thought it was difficult to reconcile the Cooper from Begin Again with the Cooper in Just Maybe, because in the timeline between the two books Cooper became a millionaire. And that's a somewhat important piece of Just Maybe's story because that jump from rags to riches was what brought Quinn and Cooper together in the first place. But, unless I missed it somewhere because I was too wrapped up in their love story vs their life story, I never caught on to the explanation of how he did it. Here was this big, huge thing that happened to him, enough so to cause a reporter to go undercover to find out the very thing I myself was curious to know, and ... I still don't know how it happened. That niggles a little, but hey... worst case scenario is, I'll have to read it again to find out. Oh, the sacrifice.

I've never rooted for two people to get their romantic act together more than I did Quinn & Cooper. And when they finally made a move, I wanted to go jump in the lake right alongside them to cool myself down. :-) (How's that for a little teaser, eh?)

Overall, this was an incredibly fun read--charming in some areas, serious in others.

I'm ready to see what's next for this author!