Good afternoon Friends and welcome. Thank you for visiting last week for my ‘Marmalade Martini’ review. It is huge success. Today I’m featuring my review for Tracey Richardson‘s ‘I’m Gonna Make You Love Me‘. This story caught my interest since it takes place in Windsor, Ont, which is across the Detroit River separating it and Michigan, where I grew up. Let’s go meet our players.
Ellie Kirkland is a twenty something woman doing the best she can. She is a sweet woman with a genuine heart who works hard for what she wants. She isn’t afraid to go after it either. I found her to be more mature and beyond her years. She refuses to be labeled and does what she feels. I really like way this character is developed. She shows a lot of guts in the story and I applaud the author for making her this way. However, she often gets distracted, which led to a not so pleasant place. She is respectful of others and never gets upset over things out of her control. She accepts them and moves on. I liked this quality in her.
Ellie’s family members are overachievers and superficial. Although they gave her lots of love growing up, they exerted ‘Tough Love’. She feels like she isn’t good enough for them. She is always looking up to her twin often feeling left in the shadows. It is obvious her moms favored her twin over her, often making condescending comments to Ellie, which was unfair. But it does add depth to the story.
Claire Melbourne is a newspaper director who is also Ellie’s boss. She has an eye for Ellie, although she is much older than she; in her eyes Ellie is eyecandy. Claire is into Motown music and grew up listening to the old tunes with her mom. Change is her enemy and she is future oriented; she prefers the status quo and predictability and is set in her ways. With certain things, she comes off as a bit possessive, but will surprise you with a few things in the story.
When with others, she listens with genuine interest. Although she doesn’t have much of a social life. Due to her rocky adolescence, she is now unable to accept compliments. When it comes to work, she is a fearless warrior and will do what it takes to get the job done promptly.
I love how the relationship developed between Ellie and Claire. There is some boat rocking that kept me on the edge of my seat. The drama itself will keep the reader engaged. As the story progressed, both characters grew deeper, making them dynamic.
What is cool is the protagonists really get to know each other before they hit the sheets. They go on nice dates that are special for both of them. The author paints a great picture of the Detroit skyline on one of their dates. The way she describes a kiss got me going. Be prepared, though, the romance scenes blew smoke out of my ears from all the fire. It is quite the ride.
There are many conflicts with the secondary characters that also kept me glued. They are well put together and offered great loving support for the main characters. I love how there are dogs in the story and how they had a prominent role in the plot. The reader gets some education about the canines.
The book is moderately paced and it took me about five hours to read. Some of the dialog got me rolling. It is a heartfelt story. The descriptions are excellent and the reader feels like they are in the places mentioned in the book. The reader also gets to look into their heads and learn about their dreams and wishes. This is a great touch. Be warned about some rough language in one part of the book, other than that, it is beautifully written. There is some other conflict that will tug at your emotions.
Here is an except to get you started:
*
She couldn’t lose this dog. And if she did, she’d never hear the end of it from her parents… that she was too immature to look after a dog, that she could never see anything through, that it was so typical of her inability to handle responsibility. Piper’s disappearance was the icing on the cake that was made purely out of shit today.
“Don’t,” she called out weakly to Marissa, as in, don’t answer the door. But it was too late. Marissa was letting someone in, talking in a low voice, and Ellie’s imagination ran wild again with visions of Piper dead or injured, her heart cracking with each dreadful thought. And then came the unmistakable flurry of the click-clacking of dog nails on the tile floor. Piper? “Oh my god, is that you, girl?” The dog, damp from the light rain and smelling of grass and mud, bounded into the living room, practically bowling Ellie over. She dropped to her knees and let Piper lick her face before furiously hugging her. She was wet, a little muddy, but Ellie didn’t care. “You’ve come back! Oh, thank god. You bad, bad cat chaser, you.” She stroked Piper’s curly head and gave her the blackest stare she could summon, which really wasn’t much. “No more chasing cats for you. I’m getting you a harness. And a muzzle. And maybe a ball and chain to slow you down. But a bath is the first thing you’re getting.”
Piper’s ears drooped at the word bath. “A-hem.” It was Marissa, inclining her head toward someone in the foyer that Ellie couldn’t see. The hero who’d brought Piper home. “Oh, god,” Ellie said, jumping to her feet and dashing for the foyer, anxious to thank whomever it was. “I can’t thank you enough for returning my d—” Holy shit! It was her boss, Claire Melbourne, right here in the flesh.
*
Five Stars.
Purchase ‘I’m Gonna Make You Love Me‘
Doesn’t this sound like a great book or what? I totally enjoyed it and know you will too. Be sure to stop by next week when I’ll be presenting something new.
Until Next Time,
Nameste
Lynn
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