Love on a Spring Morning by Zoe York | Book Review

Series: Pine Harbour Series #3
Publication: June 2, 2015
Genre: New Adult Contemporary Romance

Synopsis

Ryan Howard has zero interest in the movie being filmed in Pine Harbour or the high maintenance stars staying in the cottages at the end of his lane. He’s just barely holding on to the raw remains of his life and the fantasy world being concocted around him is, as far as he’s concerned, a complete waste of time and energy. The one bright light in his life is an intern on the set, Holly Cresinski, and their quiet conversations at the end of the day on his back porch.

Holly hates her life, too, which is entirely unfair because she’s blessed beyond measure. She’s at the top of her career–as film actress, Hope Creswell–and surrounded by people that mean well. But Ryan makes her laugh, and cry, and before she can find the words to explain her deception, he kisses her.

My Review

I started reading this book months ago, but I was only able to finish it recently because I keep on putting it down to do other things. At first, I thought it was just because I wasn’t in the mood to read, but after I’ve finished two 600-page novels, two novellas, and a comic book trilogy, I’ve realized that it was actually because there were parts of the story that don’t appeal to me.

The book follows a ruggedly handsome single father from a small town and an up-and-coming actress from the big city, as they develop feelings for each other. Normally, I would enjoy this kind of plot. But, while there were some parts of the story that I really liked, such as the uncomplicated writing style and the female lead who remained kind and sweet despite her personal struggles, they weren’t enough for me to forget the main problem I had with this book—the unlikable male lead.

Even though I know that Ryan deserves to be happy after the tragedy that happened in his past, I couldn’t make myself root for him because he was a very unfair person. He was so unwilling to change for the better and he gets pissed easily when he doesn’t get his way or when other people try to give him advice. His attitude gave me the impression that he was the type of person who wouldn’t let people in their life unless they were willing to let him be as grumpy as much as he wanted to.

Moreover, I hated that he never made any compromises when it came to his relationship with Holly, the female lead. It annoyed me that she seemed to always be walking on thin ice around him because he gets upset easily. It also bothered me that she was the one who organized the “grand romantic gesture” when he was the one who needed to ask for her forgiveness.

I wasn’t satisfied with the ending of the story because I wasn’t convinced that Ryan was genuinely in love with Holly in the end. I even got confused when he suddenly said he loved her because there was no build-up of his feelings for her. TBH, a part of me feels like he just stayed with her because it was convenient since he was physically attracted to her and his kids adore her.

I think I would have enjoyed it more if Ryan and Holly’s respective personal issues shared an equal amount of spotlight and the plot focused on them healing together so that it didn’t seem like she was just someone whose purpose in the story was to heal him.

My Favorite Lines

“That’s the thing about loss, Ryan. Out of the other side of it? You discover just how tough you really are. “

“Forgiveness means letting go of the hope for a better past. You won’t be able to forgive yourself for not doing things differently until you stop wishing things were different.”

“You just remember that life is too short for regret, got it?”