Title: Good Nights
Author: Heather Grace Stewart
Series: Love Again #2
Fresh and endearing, if a little flawed
Thank you to the author, who provided a free copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.
After her marriage ends and her hit TV show is canceled, screenwriter Hannah Storm (not to be confused with the real-life sports anchor) rents a home on a quiet island near France in an effort to relax, focus, and write. The app she used to rent the place, however, experiences technical difficulties that result in the rental being double-booked. Tripp Wilson is already settled in and not willing to leave; the island became his haven after the death of his wife, plus he needs to prove a species of bird thought to be extinct does in fact live on the island. If neither are willing to leave, can they learn to get along?
I enjoyed this novel quite a bit! As in The Ticket, the main characters were mostly endearing and relatable, Tripp with his quiet, adorkable charm and British accent, Hannah with her enthusiasm for life. (I have to say, though, I was most in love with Hank the security guard, and he was only present for like, five minutes. I could not get enough of that guy.) But much as I liked spending time with Tripp and Hannah, I disliked some things about them, one being that they fell in love too fast and too easily for me to believe. They also tended to jump to conclusions or make assumptions, and that not only got old, it sometimes it felt like manufactured drama. Which makes them sound like horrible characters, but really they weren’t. Except . . .
There came a point at about 75% when I very nearly said to hell with Hannah; it was after her ex had lured her away from the island. First strike: she didn’t punch that publicist in her ugly bug-eyed face. Second strike: Hannah was so desperate to call her mom and charge her dead phone, yet she made little effort to do either. She could have asked anyone to borrow their phone and call her mom, and I would bet a solid grand that the gift shop she bought pants from also had phone chargers. Third strike: the little fact that she didn’t change the goddamn locks after splitting with her ex; isn’t that the first thing you do, especially if he has a violent streak and won’t give his key back?
But what really pissed me off was the way she let Doug walk all over her at that restaurant. I was so outraged and lost so much respect for her, for the book, that I nearly quit it. But I had to find out if she did as Doug told her and attended that party . . . if she had, I’d have been done, period. But thank fuck she didn’t, and she made much better decisions from that point on, so she redeemed herself.
Speaking of, I don’t recall any closure on the Doug drama; we knew she didn’t plan to have anything to do with him or his reality show, but we never saw a final confrontation, didn’t see Doug get his ass handed to him, and that’s unfortunate.
Stewart’s writing is friendly and energetic, well suited to the genre, and she kept a steady pace aside from their falling in love so quickly/easily. There were far fewer cliches here than in The Ticket; this actually felt pretty fresh to me, which was great.
Overall, though one character briefly tread into the danger zone and one subplot didn’t quite get tied up, it was a pleasant and amusing story.
