Book Blurb:
He clicked "yes" on a dare. She bought a failing candy shop. Now they're neighbors for the summer―and neither is ready for what comes next.
Renley Gossage has one shot to prove she's more than Cape Meril's favorite cautionary tale: restore her favorite candy shop before the town writes her off like they did her father. No help, no shortcuts, and definitely no rich men wielding engagement rings and making things messy.
Theo Williams never planned on ending up in Cape Meril. A drunken game of truth or dare turned into a botched online engagement, and now he's across the ocean, escaping his father's control with nothing but designer shoes, misplaced confidence, and a rental next door to Renley.
She's practical, stubborn, and covered in paint. He's posh, persistent, and willing to use a sander if it means earning her trust.
Between collapsing drywall, gossiping neighbors, and the chaotic schemes of Renley's aunt, their forced proximity turns into something dangerously close to real.
But Renley's future depends on standing on her own two feet, and Theo's past isn't done with him yet. By the time the candy shop doors open, they'll have to decide if this is just a summer fling―or the happily ever after neither of them saw coming.
Tropes:
*Rom-Com *British MMC x American FMC *Strangers --> More *Shenanigans
*Quirky side characters *Small town romance *Big Dreams *Oppressive Family
*Wealthy noble MMC *he falls first *neighbors (for the summer) *reverse grumpy x sunshine
*Opposites attract *State Challenge Mass (Repeat) *slow burn *Spice *Supportive MMC
Thoughts:
Renley (FMC) wants to prove to everyone (including herself) that she can be a successful business woman. The small town she lives in occasionally will auction the rights to open a store to a local as opposed to giving it to a big chain to keep the small town charm and Renley feels that maybe her luck is finally changing for the better when she wins the former candy shop, she plans to renovate and refresh the shop and re-open it to allow children to build some memories like she had of the place when she was a girl... there is only one problem and it's a big one.
Renley was told by her Aunt Kitty that she could help with this endeavor and had the funds to do so... only she doesn't actually have the money. Aunt Kitty is a dreamer and while her head is in the clouds chasing her dreams of becoming a hobby horse social media star... Renley's feet are firmly placed in reality where she needs at least 20 grand to revamp the store and open in the time frame, simple enough Aunt Kitty after a night of drinking places her request on a Financier website this will solve the problem there has to be someone out there willing to make this investment.
Theo has been living the life of privilege while he doesn't want the title he has been trained from an early age and is next in line for the title, his father is over bearing and bossy and fully intends for Theo to do what he says when he says it. Theo while he doesn't want the title doesn't want to cause waves either so after a night drinking with his best mate Rupert and a game of truth or dare lands him on a match making site for a fiance he goes with it he has matched with several women... but only 1 looks remotely tolerable and he is set to prove his father wrong his father thinks he's wasting his life and never follows through with anything... well he will prove his father wrong... next thing he knows he is spending the summer in Cape Meril right next door to his future bride.
After arrival Theo finds that Renley was in fact not looking for a fiance but a financier... why are those words so close? Determined to continue with his plan since his dad has said if he doesn't get married by the end of the summer he will choose his bride for him... and that is 100% not happening he begins to court Renley... Renley is not having it and demands rules be drawn up so that their interactions remain as infrequent as possible she has a lot of work to do to get her shop up and running in the time allowed by the town and she doesn't need this extra issue in the form of the most handsome man she's ever seen in person with a sexy accent.
While it took them awhile to get there and maybe a few of their rules got changed a long the way... How can Renley believe that this is anything more than a summer fling he has to return home for lord duties doesn't he? Theo is falling for this girl and hard but how can he prove that he won't be another disappointment in her life when he knows that he is going to mess up at some point?
To be honest with this one it took me a bit to get on board with it while it was fun and quirky I did find myself struggling with the plot of Renley not realizing sooner about the financier/fiance situation and Renley spent so much time keeping Theo at arms length that besides their internal monolog of both finding each other attractive I didn't see much chemistry on page, the slow burn was slow burning I don't think they kissed until after a few hundred pages.
That being said after the kiss I began to get more on board with this couple, Theo was so sweet and showed time and time again that he could and would show up for Renley which meant a lot since she had been let down by so many who were close to her in the past. In fact throughout the book Theo was there for her when she didn't even have the support she thought she would have from her closest relative this caused a lot of additional issues for Renley since she struggled to open up and share her feelings.
Once the spice started it was fairly frequent throughout the rest of the book and in that way I don't know if the book needed to be over 500 pages or if some stuff could have been trimmed... The rules got repeated and edited several times along the way.
Rupert and the mouse was hilarious, and Aunt Kitty while she was fun I did find myself growing irritated with her at times throughout the book... she said she would help Renley with the store but instead she was spending her days working on her hobby which was not making any money to help herself or Renley while Renley was doing repair jobs around town for income during the day and then going to work later days after hours to prepare the candy shop.
I kind of at some point wished that Renley would decide to open up a store in a different town... if most of the town wanted her to fail why should she stay there with that kind of negative energy? I get she grew up there but maybe a fresh start elsewhere with nicer people could work too(?)
I did enjoy this book over all. If you are looking for a rom-com with a lot of over the top shenanigans this might be the one for you... also do yourself a favor if you are an audio book lover and get the audio for it Shane East, Stella Hunter, Gary Furlong & Cassandra Medcalf did an amazing job with the story.
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