THIS is my favorite Winslow book :) I had a feeling it's going this way quite early and considering how much I LOVED Preston and Elise's book (yeah will all the times I was annoyed as HELL included! hehe) that's saying something. In a way there are similarities between the two, but as two different characters in the book say at certain points what Elise did is NOTHING like what Julianne did and yet the thing that IS similar is her need to make amends and how sweetly and beautifully she does exactly that.
While Christoper have been mean to Julianne quite a lot I think his behavior could totally be understood especially when you read his inner turmoil. It's one thing to hate someone who hurt you BADLY, it's a totally another deal when she won't go away but while she is doing the best that she can to make amends he is distracted but how much he is attracted to her, knowing trusting her is NOT possible, and it certainly doesn't help that while getting to know her he liked EVERYTHING about her.. For Julianne it's the same, or maybe worse? She hurt him badly and she needed to make amends and so she is at his disposal until election day, posing as his girlfriend. Trouble is, as SHE gets to know HIM, she loves everything about him as well and knowing he won't ever trust her while she is falling for him, knowing in weeks he will be gone from her life, is making her miserable.
This was a fun sweet read. I enjoyed meeting both Margaret and Cameron and loved getting a taste of the Story family (Margaret naturally but also one of her 5 sisters - Priscilla). The family situation there seems tense.. so I'm happy it worked out so beautifully for Margaret, getting her heart's desire not only with Cameron but also with her dream occupation - building her own winery. Cameron is in a different yet similar place in life, he is unhappy with his work and even though he CRAVES Margaret and have been for most of his life, with how much is work is costing him (time wise) there is no way he can commit to anything more, especially not a relationship that will surely suffer from his demanding company.
Well, this book brought out so much out of me! I was agitated, I was mad, I was annoyed and most of it because Preston is SUCH an amazing guy, and through the synopsis I could just imagine how much Elise is going to hurt him and so every word, every step, I was cringing inside, feeling as though she doesn't deserve him with her self doubts and tendency to RUN. But what kept me going and what made this book so amazing was how HUMAN she felt. She made a LOT of mistakes, not only where Preston concerned, and considering how difficult her life have been, I mostly feel sad for her, and TOTALLY get all her actions. I couldn't and wouldn't hate her for her actions, each and everyone of them was her trying to find herself, her place in this world. She truly didn't mean to hurt Preston and even he at a certain point got her action and realized he could have played things differently himself if he was aware of her fears and worries. The whole story was heart breakingly beautiful, so touching and sweet on the one hand and on the other, sad and almost hopeless (for them, we, as the readers had the privilege of knowing they never forgot each other).
This was a really sweet story, enjoyed getting to know the Winslow brothers a little bit better after reading of Jessica in "The English Brothers" (Anyone But Alex, #3). Brooks and Skye's romance was as slow as it was fast, they knew each others for 20 years, but they were just friends, until Skye accepted his request to bid on him (with his money..) so he won't have to sail with someone he has no wish to entertain. After the first spark in which Brook finally sees Skye as a woman (and not just his mechanic in overalls..) love blossoms pretty fast. In my mind it was very believable considering they knew each other for such a long while they just never thought of more for a lot of reasons. I gotta say, it was pretty predictable, and I didn't really like the final twist in the story and yet I had fun reading this one so I'm not really complaining.
