Romance Retreat #1

Bookreview - Only Mine by Susan Mallery

Only Mine (Fool's Gold #4) - Susan Mallery

You can’t win if you don’t play…

Her town’s lack of men may make headlines, but it isn’t news to Dakota Hendrix. The beautiful blonde has bigger problems to deal with, such as overseeing the romance reality competition filming in Fool’s Gold. Screening eligible bachelors is a difficult enough task, but Dakota hits an unexpected snag when a sexy stranger comes to town.

Finn Anderssen will do anything to keep his twin brothers—the perfect contestants—off the show. Despite Dakota’s better judgment, she finds herself drawn to the mysterious outsider. Like her, Finn knows about heartbreak and how a family can fall apart, so she doesn’t dare to hope for anything more than a fling. After all, even in the Land of Happy Endings, finding true love is never as easy as it looks on TV.

Why did I read this book?

I know I haven't featured Women's Fiction/Contemporary Romance on this blog before. I've always read at least one a month to take a break from darker dystopian YA novels or *heavier* chick-lit. Susan Mallery is one of my favourite authors when it comes to these type of books and when I heard that the Hendrix triplets from her Fool's Gold series would get their own books I was excited.
I received Only Mine through Netgalley.

The Cover

I haven't seen the cover IRL as I've read it as en e-galley. I haven't any opinion about it apart from liking the color-combination.

My thoughts about the book

I really enjoyed the overall warm and fuzzy feeling this book evoked in me. It felt nice visiting Fool's Gold again, seeing all the old characters again. Fool's Gold is such a charming, friendly and unique place, it's a perfect background to the story.
Dakota is a smart, funny and headstrong woman. I envy her inner strength, her fighting spirit. The interaction between her and her sisters, mother, the women in town and of course with Finn are beautifully rendered and a joy to read.

Finn is quite swoon-worthy. I love me an Alaskan Man (yes, I have a soft spot for Alaska). I liked the fact that his family meant everything to him, that he spent the most part of the book angry and grumpy, and oh my is that man wonderful with a little baby-girl. But other than that I found him regrettably boring, I just didn't quite connect with him.

There were quite a few things that bugged me while reading this book. I can't reveal specific details as I don't want to write down any spoilers. I was sad to see that this book features so many pet-peeves of mine, pet-peeves that really annoy me and take away from the joy of reading it. I also didn't feel any romance or spark between Dakota and Finn, no reason why they should be together and like each other. Which is a shame, as I really liked Dakota.

There is however a second couple in this book. I LOOOOOOVED them together. Aurelia and Stephen. Quite a controversial match, for some at least. I couldn't get enough of them, couldn't turn the pages fast enough to read more about them.

Last Words

Only Mine is a light and fast read. Even though I had some problems with some aspects of it, it was still a quite enjoyable read and I finished it in one evening. If you enjoyed the previous Fool's Gold novels Only Mine is definitely worth to pick up and read.

Recommendations

My favourite books by Susan Mallery are Straight From the Hip and Sweet Success.