- Title:
- Her Valentine Surprise
- Author:
- Ayla Asher
- Release:
- August 31, 2020
- Format:
- Audiobook
- Narrator:
- Kai Kennicott
- Wen Ross
- Series:
- Manhattan Holiday Loves #2
At first, I was slightly bummed this didn’t follow the couple from the first book. I don’t know why I thought this would be the case, it hasn’t been with any other Ayla Asher/Rebecca Hefner book I’ve listened to.
I notice a lot of the characters in her books and their romance reminds me of my lifemate and me. I guess we just have similar tastes in men. Sam reminded me more of my lifemate than any other character though. It amused me how they both had feelings for each other, they both knew it, and he outright refuses to admit it. I had to fight for my guy’s heart, just like Joy did, and I found it super relatable because of that.
I enjoyed that the characters from the previous book showed up again and played major roles…. even if it took me an embarrassingly long time to realize they were the same cast. I am just awful at remembering names.
Joy’s boss fires her, and then that plot point kinda takes a back seat. I honestly forgot about it, with everything else going on. It seemed like it just came back out of thin air and went “remember me!?” At some point, it became relevant and led to Sam and Joy getting into an argument, but the story is so short, that it feels like it was pointless tacked on. I genuinely thought the book was just a happy love story and was over until it kept going.
Sam and joy fight, but it doesn’t feel earned. They’re mad at each other for all of 20 minutes and then everything is fine again. The side plot about Joy’s firing seems to take a back seat again, only to be casually mentioned again at the end. I think it should have either been dropped from the plot, along with the silly fight, or given more attention. Neither the fight nor the tif felt as if they were needed or added anything to the plot.
Both narrators were great as always. There were times when the narration and characters sounded much too similar, but I still had no issues telling anybody apart.
NOTE: This copy was provided to me free of charge as a digital review copy. The opinions stated in this review are mine and mine alone, I was not paid or requested to give this book a certain rating, suggestion, or approval.