Sudden Storms by Marcia Lynn McClure

Synopsis:

Rivers Brighton was a wanderer—having nothing and belonging to no one. Still, by chance, Rivers found herself harboring for a time beneath the roof of the kind-hearted Jolee Gray, and her remarkably attractive, yet ever grumbling brother, Paxton. Jolee, had taken Rivers in, and Rivers had stayed.

Helplessly drawn to Paxton’s alluring presence and unable to escape his astonishing hold over her, however, Rivers knew she was in danger of enduring great heartbreak and pain. Paxton appeared to find Rivers no more interesting than a brief cloudburst. Yet, the man’s spirit seemed to tether some great and devastating storm—a powerful tempest bridled within, waiting for the moment when it could rage full and free, perhaps destroying everything and everyone in its wake—particularly Rivers.

Could Rivers capture Paxton’s attention long enough to make his heart her own? Or would the storm brewing within him destroy her hopes and dreams of belonging to the only man she had ever loved?

My Review: 3.5 Stars

Rivers has been jumping the rails and traveling trains for sometime. She was in need of food and a place to stay for a couple of days when she stumbled upon Jolee and Paxton Gray. Jolee takes her in and the two become good friends. Grumpy ol' Paxton isn't happy about it at first but slowly starts warming to the idea... especially when he finds out what a spitfire Rivers can be! ;)

Paxton has been duped in the past by women and he refuses to let it happen again. Even though his heart is softening towards Rivers, he won't allow himself to act on his feelings. But when he realizes his sister won't move forward with her life unless he moves on with his, he asks Rivers to "play along" with him and act as if something was going on between the two of them. He informs her that once his sister is married, he will let her go.

My thoughts on that whole situation?! Grrrrr. Really?! He just ticked me off! I really wanted to knock him upside the head! Poor Rivers already has a self esteem complex when it comes to the gorgeous Paxton and for him to string her along?! Not cool! I felt so bad for her! She spent the entire book hoping that she could be the one he would fall in love and spend the rest of his life with but then he would turn around and squash that hope as quickly as it arose! He just didn't get what he was doing to her. *sigh* And let's talk about those kisses... holy wow! *dreamy sigh* No wonder she had hope!

And can I just say that the villain in this book is extremely demented and disturbing. Marcia did a great job of getting the crazy through.. I totally bought it!

So why only the 3.5 stars?! There was just something missing for me... I wanted more! There was an epilogue but I can't really consider it an epilogue because it was one day after the horrible incident. There were still some unanswered questions and thoughts of how everyone handled what happened. It was still a good book but I just didn't love it. I know I am in the minority here because the majority of my reading buddies absolutely loved it! If your looking for a quick, cute read with lots of swoon worthy kisses then I say read it! :)

And I just have to say this casting choice was almost the death of me! I had such a hard time with this one! I hope there are a few people out there that will agree with me! Lol.