Abby Hendrix would do anything to help with her beloved
sister's wedding, even play tour guide to the off-puttingly brilliant—and
unexpectedly gorgeous—brother of the groom. She's a small-town schoolteacher;
he's a gifted surgeon. Nothing intimidating about that! She'll just ask him to
help her plan a top secret surprise for the wedding. No pressure.
Joaquin Kincaid has always been book-smart and
people-awkward, and Abby's sweet and social nature triggers an unexpected
yearning inside him. His whole life, he's been an outsider, while she's so
popular she's able to convince an entire town to go along with her wild ideas.
For the first time ever, he's met a woman who accepts him as he is, quirks and
all, and he feels himself falling in love. Could Abby love him, too? Or, when
she discovers the real reason he came to Fool's Gold, will he lose her forever?
This was a lovely visit back to Fool's Gold. Abby
Hendrix, daughter of Ethan and Liz (Sutton) Hendrix (Almost Perfect), and
soon-to-be teacher, is spending the summer helping her sister Melissa with her
wedding. She's taken aback when Melissa asks her to take her fiancé's brother
under her wing when he comes to Fool's Gold three weeks before the wedding. Joaquin,
a brilliant and busy surgeon, hasn't made it to any family gatherings, so no
one has met him yet. All she knows is that he's scary smart, so she'll put him
to work if she needs to.
Joaquin, who was in college by the time he was ten, never
developed social skills the way others did. He focuses exclusively on his
career and dismisses other peoples' lives as "mundane." When he loses
a patient to her burns, he applies and is turned down for a fellowship program
with Dr. Simon Bradley, who just happens to be Abby's uncle. At the story's
beginning, Joaquin plans to use Abby to get to Simon and plead his case
directly. Those plans go out the window when he meets Abby.
I enjoyed the first meeting between Joaquin and Abby.
Neither looked forward to their forced companionship but planned to make the
best of it. I had to laugh at Abby, who was utterly flummoxed by Joaquin's good
looks and took a few minutes to get herself together. Even then, she babbled a
bit before settling down. Likewise, Abby differed from what Joaquin expected. Her
energy drew him right away, and he noticed her beauty in detail that was
unusual for him. I loved seeing her give him a tour of the town and its history
while he marveled at the fact that he didn't feel awkward talking to her.
I loved seeing the development of the relationship between
Joaquin and Abby. Before he arrived, Abby asked her Uncle Simon how best to
entertain Joaquin since they were so different. He pointed out that Joaquin
wouldn't have had a normal childhood to show him her everyday life. So she did.
They spent a lot of time together working on wedding stuff. Joaquin's enjoyed
it far more than he expected and liked getting to know more about Abby. The
more she learned about him, the more she ached for the things he missed in
life. I loved the sweet scenes of the things they did together. Neither
expected the attraction that grew between them. I loved how they looked at it
practically, realizing that Joaquin would leave Fool's Gold after the wedding.
However, neither could deny the feelings that grew between them, though they
certainly tried. He's not into relationships, and she wants the whole marriage
and family thing. But Joaquin has an ax hanging over his head and putting off
dealing with it just makes it more difficult.
Shortly after he arrived, Abby introduced Joaquin to
Simon when they had dinner together. Simon invited Joaquin to meet with him,
where he confronted Joaquin about his reason for being in Fool's Gold so much
before the wedding. Simon told Joaquin why he was turned down for the
fellowship. He also asked if Abby knew the truth and advised Joaquin to tell
her asap. He didn't want Abby hurt, and if Joaquin didn't tell her, Simon would
do it himself. While Joaquin insisted he had no intention of hurting Abby, he
also kept putting off his confession. As his feelings for her grew, so did his
guilt. Simon ticked me off when he followed through on his threat after Joaquin
didn't move fast enough for him. I ached for Abby and her feelings of betrayal,
hurt, and anger. I also hurt for Joaquin, who realized too late how badly he
screwed up.
It hurt to watch the two of them struggle with their
feelings, and I kept my fingers crossed that they would find their way through
it. I liked seeing Abby's Aunt Montana (Simon's wife) get involved, help Joaquin
know the truth, and offer to help him win Abby back. Joaquin won my respect and
admiration with his heartfelt apology and determination to show her how he changed.
I liked that Abby made him work for her forgiveness but didn't draw it out too
long. There was a nice twist involving Simon that helped move things along. I
appreciated that both Joaquin and Abby didn't rush their relationship. The
epilogue was fantastic and a perfect ending for the story.
No comments:
Post a Comment