IT HAPPENED ON LOVE STREET by Lia Riley

Publisher:   Forever
Published:  April 27, 2017
ISBN:        978-1455568697
Genre:     Contemporary Romance
Format:     Print
Obtained via:  Publisher  

Reviewed by name and email address:  Gina  Ginalrmreviews@gmail.com

 

THREE HEARTS

 

Fresh out of law school, on her way to a judicial clerkship, Pepper Knight arrives in Everland Georgia. It’s not the glamorous big city job she has her sights on, but a judicial clerkship is nothing to sneeze at. When she arrives in town, however, things are not quite what she expected including the job. Thing is, there is no job. Nepotism, after a fashion, is alive and well in Everland and the job promised to Pepper has gone to a friend of the family. With a year long lease on her house and no other prospects Pepper isn’t quite sure what to do.

And then she meets the very cute and sexy town vet, Rhett Valentine.  Being an all around nice guy, Rhett offers Pepper a job – as a dog walker.  That’s all well and good except for one thing – Pepper isn’t just afraid of dogs, she is terrified.

But Pepper is one of those people who steadfastly will do what she needs to do to get the job done…or the bills paid. She accepts the job.  Along the way she discovers she lives right next door to Rhett and the two of them soon realize a mutual attraction. Small towns being what they are and with one nosey neighbour who is big on gossip, Rhett does his best to keep their blossoming relationship quiet. But sometimes you just gotta do what you gotta to when true love is at the end of the lane.

IT HAPPENED ON LOVE STREET was my first Lia Riley read and it was a cute story.  I was drawn to the premise of a fresh out of law school attorney embarking on a judicial clerkship.  I’m of two minds on this book.

I liked the quirky characters that make up Everland.  A number of them reminded me of some of the best you see in a cozy mystery.  And Everland’s history is just plain fun to read.  The premise of IT HAPPENED ON LOVE STREET was a different take on a small town based romance.  I liked Rhett a lot and for the most part I liked Pepper.  It was a cute story.

But I felt something was missing. The story just didn’t flow for me and parts of it felt forced. It was like the author had a check list of all the things she thought would make for a good story and as she included each item checked it off. The story felt choppy and disjointed and ultimately I didn’t care one way or the other if Pepper and Rhett stayed together.

This is an objective review and not an endorsement of this book.