Review: "Keeping Mr. Right Now" by Robin Bielman

A temporary agreement neither could keep… Brainy, organized Sophie Birch is no beach bunny. In fact, she’s totally out of her element among the sun-bronzed crowd at a film festival in beautiful White Strand Cove. When a surf lesson introduces her to Zane Hollander, suddenly she's up close and personal with the world's sexiest surf star. But what can a great-looking, experienced athlete possibly see in a klutzy out-of-towner who’s never set foot in the ocean? Zane Hollander's playboy reputation has never been a problem…until recently. Now his management team wants him on his best behavior to entice a meaningful new sponsor. Sophie Birch is the perfect girl to help reform his image. She's genuine and respected—and their relationship is purely fictional. But the more Sophie blooms under the beachy sun, the more Zane knows he'll just break her heart. Because nothing's more important to Zane than following the tide.

Super cute book! This is pretty much the perfect beach read - not too long, with a beautiful setting and an evenly paced plot, as well as some interesting characters.  I really enjoyed both Sophie and Zane, and the supporting characters were intriguing enough to warrant a look at the next books in the series.

Although I was able to identify with Sophie, being that she's a nerdy, inexperienced career girl, Zane is the character I really empathized with. I can't imagine what it would be like to grow up with such an emotionally abusive father. Even being at the top of the surfing world isn't enough to erase the scars that were inflicted during Zane's youth. He's doing a good job of trying to get past all that, with the support of his closest friends and remaining family, but when his dream sponsorship opportunity comes up, he still needs to work through his self esteem issues in order to become a real contender. His friends also believe that his image needs a bit of an overhaul, and that's where Sophie comes in.

I really enjoyed the development of Sophie and Zane's relationship.  It was a bit of a slow burn, but it was never boring and I was never left hoping that they would just jump each others' bones and put an end to that ever present sexual tension. Plus, the slow build up seemed to suit Sophie's somewhat shy personality. It was great to see Zane share things with her that he'd never shared with others, and I was satisfied to see Sophie becoming more confident and self assured as their week together progressed. 

If I were to change anything about "Keeping Mr. Right Now", it would probably be the ending. Things just seemed to work out a bit too quickly and neatly. All in all, though, I still thoroughly enjoyed this novel and would be happy to check out more by Robin Bielman.

My rating:  3.5 stars