Review Detail

The Caffertys and the Mardsens have always been close but their wish to have their families united by marriage has never been filled. At least until Ryder Marsden and Jemma Cafferty are born. Their mothers have been arranging their marriage since their births. The only problem: Ryder and Jemma can’t stand each other. They seem destined to crush their mothers’ dreams of finally uniting their families. Will one violent storm change all that?

This book ended up being a sweet, quick, entertaining summer read. I really enjoyed the setting and the history of the families and the area. It could be a little predictable and the characters made me want to shake them at times, but those were things that also kept me reading.

Jemma was a character who’s personality fit the tone of the book so well. She had all these expectations placed on her by her parents(marriage to Ryder, school, her future) and she had her own plans that didn’t fit with anything her parents wanted from her. She could be very self-aware when she was making decisions, even when she knew those decisions were a mistake, which was refreshing. And she could be very, very stubborn. There were times when I wanted to yell at her to talk to the people she was angry with because they weren’t mind readers, but at the same time, I could understand her hesitation at wanting to open up to them. Ryder was a great counter-part to Jemma. Golden boy athlete also with a ton of parental expectations placed on him. Kristi Cook did a good job making him likeable even when Jemma hated him, which could have been tricky since the reader is in Jemma’s POV.

Together, whether they were hating each other or had a tentative truce during family time or discovering their true feelings, there was definite chemistry.

I really enjoyed the twist that it was the teens who hated each other instead of the families. It added to the parental expectation that was already crushing Ryder and Jemma, and I thought it helped make their resentment of each other less petty. The emotions during the storm were high and done really well, keeping the tension through the whole storm. I also liked that there was more than just the hate-to-love romance plot going on. There was the two main characters finding themselves outside of their parents’ expectations and dreams for them.

It was a good summer read book that I started to read and, before I knew it, I was finished.