Sarina Bowen

A Little Too Late

Lover of Romance 

This review was originally posted on Addicted To Romance

This review may contain spoilers, so fair warning, upon reading the review.
 
First Impressions
A Little Too Late is the first book in the newest trilogy by this trio combo of authors: Sarina Bowen, Rebecca Yarros and Devney Perry. This is the first time I have read anything in this type of series this group of authors have done together. I was pretty eager for this one, and the biggest reason for that is because I have seen reviews all over the blogging sphere for “A Little Too Late” and I know how many have really enjoyed this story. I decided to pick this one up in audio, because it has two of my favorite duo, doing the dual narration and it was wonderful. I am glad that I did this one in audio because once I got into it, I couldn’t put it down and it was fantastic especially the later half of the story. Now to be honest, this story didn’t completely wow me. The relationship aspects were a bit messy and I am not a big fan of flashbacks but once these two were able to work through the mess they made and find common ground, then the story really start to glow and that is when I started to fall in love with it fully.

Summary
The gist of the story is that our main characters: Reed and Ava were once in a relationship in college. But when there was a tragedy that affected them both, a bad breakup happened due to Reed’s actions. And now Ava is working for his father, in a place he hasn’t stepped foot in around ten years. When Reed hears that his father is selling the place, he heads back home. What he finds when he gets there is the one woman he has never been able to get over. At first, tensions are high between Reed and Ava as they have unresolved issues, Ava still isn’t over the hurt that Reed caused and Reed is working n repairing his relationship with Ava and his father. But as Ava and Reed work together to find a solution for the mountain, they also begin to mend old wounds and rebuild their relationship…

What I Loved
There were many elements to this story that I ended up loving and I have to say that I was so involved in this story. I just wanted Reed and Ava to find their way to their happy ever after. I was really thrilled to see them find such common ground after the angst at the beginning of the relationship. I think what I loved most was seeing them reconnect after resolving past issues. There is quite a bit of fun antics that is played here at times, but in reality, they were a bit petty in some ways. It depends on your perspective on Ava’s character on how you react to it. I did find the whole setting of the story to be one of my favorite aspects of the story. I am a big skier and love the mountains and ski resorts, I mean I live in Utah so I kinda have to love it haha It also just has me so ready for Winter and the ski season. I just love visiting resorts in the winter time even if you don’t ski. There is such a fun culture here around it and I felt like Sarina Bowen really captured it just right here. I did enjoy the family aspects and I am curious to see the brothers come together in the trilogy. One element I love the most in books, is family connection, especially in seeing families reconnect with each other and try to work past old hurts as I think this is something relatable to most of us. The romance that is built within the story is where we see them in college in the past and then in the current timeline. I really enjoyed seeing them rebuild their relationship and find common ground with each other. It was also so interesting to see the conflict in this story and I just wanted the villains to get their justice haha

What I Struggled With
There were a few aspects to the story that I struggled with. The first is the flashbacks. To be honest, I am not a fan of flashbacks. I know some people love em, but only a few authors handle them right for me to enjoy them and unfortunately it didn’t quite work for me here. And then the petty actions especially by the heroine at the beginning of the story I felt were beneath her and her friends. It made it hard for me to want to be on her side. I understand he hurt her, but I could never see myself acting the way that she did no matter how hurt you are, and it’s been YEARS since they saw each other. Also, I felt like the first half of the story was just all over the place and a bit “messy” and I wasn’t sure if I was going to continue with the story. I do think having this story in narration saved the book for me and by the time I got to the 50% mark, I was all in for the couple.

The Narration
Sebastian York and Andi Arndt are two of my favorite narrators and I absolutely love it when we get books where they narrate a story together. They do so well for the contemporary genre in romance, and I really admired the way that this author wrote the story and seeing the way that these two had implemented the perfect tones to the story. These two have such personable voices and really capture your attention for the characters.

Overall View
I found A Little Too Late to be a captivating season romance that will have you ready to dip your toes into the winter season, with some intriguing portrayals of emotion and heart to grab your attention and make you want to cheer this couple on!

A Little Too Late

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