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Friday, February 27, 2015

Review: "Garrett" by Sawyer Bennett

Carolina Cold Fury star Garrett Samuelson never wants to miss out on a single minute of fun. Whether he’s playing hockey, hanging out with friends, or walking the red carpet with a new date on his arm, he lives every day to the fullest. When he meets Olivia Case, he sees someone who’s exactly his type—confident, sexy, smart . . . his next fling. But the more he pursues her, the more Garrett shares a side of himself that other women don’t normally get to see. Olivia has been keeping a secret. While Garrett lives for the next thrill, Olivia’s not sure she’ll live to see the next day. She’s undergoing treatment for some serious medical issues, and she doesn’t have time for a relationship with no guarantees—especially one with a hot-as-sin womanizer who won’t take no for an answer. But as she gets to know the real Garrett, Olivia can’t help falling for him . . . hard. To reveal the truth would mean risking everything—but you can’t score without taking the tough shots.

Thank you to Loveswept Publishing via Netgalley for the free review copy in exchange for my honest opinion.

Did I like this book?

Meh...I don't know.  It was okay.  The thing is, I'm getting really tired of the same old storyline when it comes to romance.  It seems like every second book features a "man-whore" (and I really hate that word, by the way!) who is blindsided by the oh-so-special girl who is the only one who can make him want to change his ways.  I suppose this does happen in real life, although I can't think of one instance where it has, at least with people I know.  Possibly I don't know that many man-whores (men-whores?). Anyway, doesn't matter.  My point is, this storyline has been done repeatedly, it's old, it's not fresh, everybody stop writing these books!  Or maybe I just need to stop picking them...

There's nothing inherently wrong with this book, nothing that really got my goat, but there is a lot of "smirking" and "eye rolling" going on.  I didn't count, but it was enough for me to notice, and it's things like this that separate the wheat from the chaff.  

The characters were actually quite likeable!  I didn't think I'd like Garrett from the first page - oh great, one of "those" guys! - but by the end, he'd grown on me a bit.  Olivia was great - she wasn't whiney or annoying, and considering everything she was dealing with, she certainly had every reason to be.  Her character, for me, is the most memorable part of this book.

As for the hockey, it could have been baseball or football for all it factored into the story.  I expected the hockey aspect to add something fresh and interesting to a tired storyline, but in this I was disappointed.  However, I found that Olivia's illness succeeded in this area, being handled quite well and keeping the plot from being too typical.

So yeah, things I liked and some I didn't. Kinda places "Garrett" in the middle of the pack.

Will you like this book?  

I'm not sure.  This book has a relatively high rating and it seems like I'm in the minority, so you just might like it more than I did.  I guess it depends what you're looking for, but I have others on my list that I'd recommend first.

Will I read more by this author?

Probably not.  I wasn't impressed with the writing style, which is too bad because the next in the series is about a character who could have a very interesting story.  

My rating:  2.5 stars 

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