Crazy Little Thing Called Love by Beth K Vogt
Destination Wedding #1
Visit the Author's website HERE
Publisher: Howard Books
Publishing Date: June 30, 2015
Wedding bells and storm clouds collide in the first engaging novel in a brand-new series about destination weddings, the power of love, and the possible mishaps and missteps that happen on a couple’s journey down the aisle to “I do.”
Paramedic Vanessa Hollister has put her adolescence behind her, including the unwanted label of being the new kid in town over and over again, thanks to her father’s military career. She’s overcome what her mother called “the biggest mistake of her life” and is planning an elegant destination wedding in Destin, Florida with her new fiancé. But will the reappearance of her first husband from her what-were-you-thinking teenage elopement disrupt her dream of an idyllic beach wedding?
As a professional storm chaser, Logan Hollister is used to taking risks. However, a reckless decision during the last tornado season has him questioning the future of his team, the Stormmeisters. Coming face to face with his ex-wife eight years after their divorce compels him to confront his greatest regret: losing Vanessa. Does their past give him the right to interfere with her future?
A fast-moving, powerful hurricane throws Vanessa and Logan together as they evacuate to a storm shelter along with other residents of the Florida Gulf Coast. Forced to spend time together, the pair battles unexpected renewed feelings for each other.
Vanessa and Logan are faced with a choice: Should they accept, once and for all, their teenage marital mistake? Or is God offering them a second chance at happily ever after?
Paramedic Vanessa Hollister has put her adolescence behind her, including the unwanted label of being the new kid in town over and over again, thanks to her father’s military career. She’s overcome what her mother called “the biggest mistake of her life” and is planning an elegant destination wedding in Destin, Florida with her new fiancé. But will the reappearance of her first husband from her what-were-you-thinking teenage elopement disrupt her dream of an idyllic beach wedding?
As a professional storm chaser, Logan Hollister is used to taking risks. However, a reckless decision during the last tornado season has him questioning the future of his team, the Stormmeisters. Coming face to face with his ex-wife eight years after their divorce compels him to confront his greatest regret: losing Vanessa. Does their past give him the right to interfere with her future?
A fast-moving, powerful hurricane throws Vanessa and Logan together as they evacuate to a storm shelter along with other residents of the Florida Gulf Coast. Forced to spend time together, the pair battles unexpected renewed feelings for each other.
Vanessa and Logan are faced with a choice: Should they accept, once and for all, their teenage marital mistake? Or is God offering them a second chance at happily ever after?
I received a copy of this book from the publisher via Litfuse Publicity in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own. Buy a copy here.
My Thoughts:
First, I feel like I must start this review off on a bad foot: the cover. It is not the best cover in the universe, but nor, I suppose, is it the worst cover in the universe. The combination of the blurb, the pink circle, the 'author of' makes this feel to me too cluttered and like some sort of advertisement. But of course that has no bearing on the story. I just felt the need to voice an opinion :/
To the meat and potatoes then: 'Crazy Little Thing Called Love' has received a ton of five star reviews on its Goodreads page, so perhaps take what I am about to say with a grain of salt. (Enough food references!) 'Crazy Little Thing' was not my favorite. Oh, the plot was good. A destination wedding, a hurricane, the idea of rekindled love, renewed friendships and following your dreams is all very lovely. I enjoyed each plot point (though more hurricane danger would have been quite tasty), but it was the characters that made the novel overall 'meh' feeling for me.
Vanessa and Logan are our main characters. Eight years ago Vanessa and Logan filed for divorce after being married for two year at the ripe old age of 18. Now Vanessa is engaged again and her fiancee, Ted, wants to have a destination wedding in Destin, Florida....right where Vanessa and Logan were married as teens. Vanessa is scared of running into Logan again and reliving 'old ghosts', but of course she goes and of course she immediately bumps into Logan. For his part, Logan never stopped loving Vanessa and has never moved on. He sees this divine intervention as a chance to win back her heart.
So why didn't I like the characters? The romance was never believable. Vanessa wasn't passionate about Ted and never expressed her feelings for Logan, now or in the past. They had eloped on a whim and she never says 'I love you' before or after the marriage. She was scared of his ghost, but easily falls back into spending time with him. It never seems like more than a comfort thing for her, a familiarity.
Logan was immature and we never see him change for the better. As a teenager, he was always making rash decisions on his own, never discussing issues with those it would affect. As adult he is still doing the same thing. In fact, I saw some of his desperate pleas for love as overbearing and controlling. Instead of seeing actual change we just see the hope and promise of the work in the future.
'Crazy Little Thing Called Love' did have a romance and characters that fell a bit flat for me, but the plot was well done. Overall, the flashbacks were cute and the novel really had a 'Sweet Home Alabama' vibe to it. I will be picking up Destination Weddings #2 when it comes out, but crossing my fingers for a more vibrant romance. 3 stars.
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