Jewel E. Ann

Flint Hopkins finds the perfect tenant to rent the space above his Minneapolis-based law office. All the t's are crossed and i's dotted on Ellen's application. Her references are good. And she's easy on the eyes. Until ... Flint discovers Ellen Rodgers, Board-Certified Music Therapist, plays music. Bongos, guitars, singing-not Beethoven administered through noise-cancelling headphones. The cut-throat attorney serves up an eviction notice to the bubbly, constantly humming redhead who's too sexy for her own good. But luck is on Ellen's side when Flint's autistic son, Harrison, takes an instant liking to her. A single dad can't compete with guitars-and rats. Yes, she has pet rats. This woman ... She's annoyingly happy with a constant need to touch him-adjust his tie, button his shirt, invade his space, and mess with his mind. Still ... She must go. Their lust-hate relationship escalates into something beautiful and tragic. This sexy, romantic-comedy explores the things we want, the things we need, and the impossible decisions parents and children make to survive.

Look the Part

Ms. Mint

I find that people who say something is business, not personal, usually lack personality. We are people, not machines. Everything we do is personal to someone.

I’m going to love you so hard, time won’t matter. Distance won’t matter. All you’ll feel when you take each breath … is my love.

Every day really is a miracle. We dodge a million chances at death for one chance to live. The odds are not in our favor.

The pain of our pasts keeps us grounded, focused, and living in gratitude.

We’re that moment of light and whisper of hope that sprouts from the barren ground after the end of the world.

Want. Need. They feed the pain. They fuel the anger. They also make us stronger when we’re forced to let them go.

No regrets. You only live once. Seize the moment. Those were our mottos. But accidents happen. Jobs turn into professions. Life starts to demand responsibility.

He always chased the next adventure, afraid that he wouldn’t conquer the world before he lost his youth. But sometimes … we forget that the greatest experiences we have as humans are with each other.

Life’s too short for tripping over unnecessary apologies.

I disconnect. I make dinner. I do laundry. I pull weeds in the yard and tend to the garden. I stay up late going over my case that goes to court next week. And then I wake up and prepare to do it all over again because people like me don’t deserve anything more than monotony.

Paola Marie

 Sometimes the world ends and forgets to take you with it. 

"I’m going to love you so hard, time won’t matter. Distance won’t matter. All you’ll feel when you take each breath … is my love."

Wow. Just wow. I went into this one thinking it was going to be a light romantic read. And boy, was I wrong. Because from out of the left field, this book--this beautifully written and heartfelt story of Flint, Ellen, and Harrison--just hit me right in the freaking feels. It got me bruised, yet I'm thrilled and beaming. Why? Because this book is a homerun.

And Ms. Ann, you just got yourself a new fan.

"Heaven and earth..."

Jasmine

Ahhh I LOVED IT SO INSANELY MUCH!!! Jewel E Ann never lets me down in characters, romance, and the stories she created within the. I don't know what it is about her books whether it's the emotional impact, the bold way she writes her characters, or that always slightly quirky offbeat sense of humor, but there is just something that clicks for me completely. Harrison, I love this kid so much! The romance between Flint & Elle was perfect and I can't stop thinking about it. Amazing book, I highly highly recommend!!

Yami🌷

“I’m going to love you so hard, time won’t matter. Distance won’t matter. All you’ll feel when you take each breath … is my love.”

** spoiler alert **
           Veo a muchas personas decir que amaron este libro, que les encantó, etc etc etc. Quisiera decir que ese también fue mi caso, y a pesar de que sí disfruté de la lectura, y se me hizo bastante adictiva, tengo que admitir que no me gustó tanto cómo pensé que lo haría.

La historia estuvo bien, tiene tanto tintes cómicos como trágicos (lo que la hace perfecta a mi parecer), al igual que tiene uno que otro elemento que la hace resaltar entre otros libros del género, pero confieso que hubieron varias partes que me hicieron ruido, y lograron que no me apeteciera darle al menos una estrella más.

El comienzo ya nos advierte de la carga emocional que hay tras cierto personaje: Flint. No es un mal tipo, pero tampoco me encantó. En realidad, muchas veces me irritaba y me caía mal a ratos. Me pareció algo realista que no se pudiera endulzar la muerte de su esposa: él la mató indirectamente al manejar en estado de ebriedad. Pero si no saqué mal mis cuentas, Flint al momento del accidente tenía unos 25 años, y estoy muy segura que a esa edad no se tiene ni la menor idea de la gravedad que pueden traer nuestras acciones a corto o largo plazo. Así que más que culparlo, por no diagnosticar su alcoholismo y saber manejarlo, me compadezco de él porque no hay nada peor que tener que vivir con esa culpa, o simplemente la carga, de haberle arrebatado la vida a alguien inocente por una mala decisión. Y no era solo alguien, sino que básicamente era el gran amor de su vida y la madre de su hijo de dos años para aquel entonces.

Por otra parte, está Ellen. Creo que es el personaje que más me gustó de este libro, aunque a veces no entendía de dónde sacaba tanta voluntad o ganas de seguir interactuando con Flint, cuando él solo se comportaba como un imbécil. La historia con su exesposo me dejó bastante triste, porque ella tiene un gran corazón y de verdad se hubiera quedado con Alex, si él tan solo no se hubiera comportado como una mierda con ella (cabe resaltar que me pareció algo original la historia de Alex, y cómo perdió sus manos tras quedar atrapado en una avalancha). Además me rompió el corazón que ella anhelara tanto el contacto físico, ya sea que la tocaran o que la dejaran a ella hacerlo. 

Amé que Ellen se la pasara todo el rato acomodando, o solo toqueteando, los trajes a Flint, o que simplemente le insinuara cuánto amaba los trajes de tres piezas. Moría un poco en todas esas escenas.

No tengo mucho que decir de Harrison, más que me dolió un poco saber que él no recuerda a su madre (al menos no de manera consciente), pero me gusto ver su desenvolvimiento con Ellen, y cómo en el epílogo se muestra cariñoso o interesado por sus hermanos menores. Además me emocionó que fuera Julliard a fin de cuentas.

Podría mencionar que me indignó la madre de Heidi, no recuerdo su nombre. Capaz no entiendo lo que es perder un hijo (y ni lo quiero saber), pero me enojó que quisiera sacarle en cara, a la primera oportunidad que tuviera, a Flint que mató a su hija. Entiendo que no revisaron a Flint para saber su nivel de alcohol en su sistema después del accidente, pero andar sacando eso en cara para demostrar un punto no me parece muy justo. Es comprensible el dolor de la señora, pero siento que diez años de culpa es una buena penitencia, y creo que a pesar de todo, Flint merecía vivir de manera digna e intentar rehacer su vida. Y creo que me enojó aún más, que a ella le molestara que Flint fuera a tener un bebe con otra mujer, además de que me irritó que le impusiera mantenerse celibe (o que al menos se olvidara de sus otras necesidades) hasta que Harrison se fuera a la universidad, o fuera mayor de edad. Bastante ridículo todo, si me lo preguntan.

¿Algo que me encantó? Las ratas. En serio que me pareció bastante divertido que Ellen tuviera cinco ratas, y que luego le pasara la fascinación por estas a Harrison (y amé que a él le regalaran tres ratas en algún punto de la historia). Pero lo que todavía me daba más gracia, es que Flint las odiaba con todo su ser, y no soportaba verlas, y pensara todos los días en los 3 años de vida que tenían las ratas. Y ni hablar de la escena donde Flint no se puede concentrar mientras está teniendo sexo con Ellen, porque no puede soportar que la rata más fea de ella (sus palabras, no las mías) lo esté mirando.

¿Algo que me molestó? Que Flint desalojara a Ellen de su oficina, y a pesar de que después estaban juntos, hizo que ella atendiera a sus pacientes en sus hogares en vez de dejarla volver. No sé, es una tontería, pero no olvido ni perdono.

Mención honorífica a Amanda. Qué mujer más simpática a pesar de que Flint la despidiera todos los días.

Nikki

i could excuse instalust but instalove is a no no. 

i fr was about to drop this at like 5% because of the way flint talked about his son's autism but i powered through because of the good reviews. turns out that was a bad idea. 

earlier in the book, ellen couldn't understand flint's boundaries when it came to letting harrison know about them but she didn't respect that. and she's a therapist!!!! 

overall yikes for me but could work for other people.

Caitlin 

I went into this book not really knowing what to expect, but I really enjoyed it! This was such a beautiful story and second chance romance. I didn’t expect it to be so emotional. I don’t cry easily and I cried while reading this. Both of their pasts broke my heart. This book also had the grumpy/sunshine trope, which I love. It also has one of my all time favourite tropes, I don’t want to spoil anything but I loved it so much! 

I honestly loved all the characters in this book. Elle was pure sunshine and so passionate about her job. Flint’s character broke my heart and he was such a good dad to Harrison. Harrison was my favourite character, he made me laugh so much, and I loved him so much. 

I’ll definitely be reading more books by this author in the future!

Amanda J 

window

Jo H

As someone who has never really understood the idea that a man in a suit is more sexy than not (Damon Salvatore aside lol!), I did find my eyes rolling copious amounts whilst reading this book. And I know I'm probably an anomaly on that. Personally, a well-fitting pair of jeans and shirt are much more my jam, and plenty plenty sexy. Anyway, moving on...

I wonder if I perhaps should have stopped reading this book after the prologue; after having found out that Flint, despite numerous warnings not to from his wife, made a firm and totally selfish, arrogant and fatal decision to consume hard alcohol and then get behind the wheel and drive his FAMILY (wife and young son) home. As the daughter of a very stubborn and narcissistic man who I often drove after drinking (as a child I refused to get into a car with him whilst he was actually drunk on more than one occasion), driving after having drunk any amount of alcohol is a hard limit for me and if I had known in advance that this was part of the story of the MC I probably wouldn't have picked the book up. I did pick it up, however, because I'm a sucker for kids playing a big part in the romance for the MC's, and have a very soft spot for any MC who has any type of disability or neuro-diversity which of curse Flint's son has. 

Also, the idea that someone can rent out a business unit to a tenant with a Music Therapy business and then as soon as the tenant moves in and begins to play... music! he threatens to evict her ... utterly ridiculous. 

The story was funny in parts, heartfelt in others and despite not liking the premise of Flint's issues, I'm glad that the female MC didn't let him off his guilt too easily. Had it not been for Harrison, Flint's son, and his shenanigans with the mice in the story, I would not have enjoyed the story half as much.

Lacey

One of my new favorites of the year!!!!!!! I am kicking myself for not reading this author sooner.

Ashlee

I thought this book would be ridiculous and over-the-top (but fun!) much of the time, based upon the synopsis. Instead, it was funny, smart, heart-wrenching, romantic and bittersweet. Another great one by Jewel E. Ann.

Look the Part

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