Hold Me (Fool's Gold #16) by Susan Mallery
Hold Me (Fool's Gold series)
Synopsis:
Destiny Mills believes passion has its place—like in the lyrics of the country songs that made her parents famous. After a childhood full of drama and heartache, she wants a life that's calm. Safe. Everything that Kipling Gilmore isn't. Her temporary assignment with the Fool's Gold search and rescue team puts her in delicious proximity to the former world-class skier every day. Part of her aches to let go for once…the rest is terrified what'll happen if she does.
Though an accident ended his career, Kipling still lives for thrills—and a hot fling with a gorgeous redhead like Destiny would be a welcome diversion. Yet beneath his new coworker's cool facade is a woman who needs more than he's ever given. With her, he's ready to take the risk. But love, like skiing, is all about trust—and before you soar, you have to be willing to fall.
Review:
Hold Me was a frustrating read. While I understood where Destiny was coming from and why she might be the way she is, I couldn't understand some of her thinking and she just annoyed me.
Destiny grew up as the daughter of two country music legends. They married young, had her young, and divorces just as young. They didn't give Destiny a stable environment at all. They were always causing drama and falling in and out of love with people so they didn't set a very good example for her. Since there was always so much drama and her life was put in upheaval all the time she now wants a simple, safe, calm life. She wants a guy who will be a safe bet. She has seen how her parents and others act on tour and wants nothing to do with that. To her sex is the route of all evil. She will just stay away from that and be safe. Of course she will get married and then have sex for the purpose of procreating, but she sees no reason for doing it any other time. She also doesn't understand why anyone else would ever want to have sex either. That was the most frustrating part - she wanted everyone else to think the same way she did. She wanted everyone else to act as she does, to think as she does, to be like she is. It drove me crazy. I get why she was that way, but to not be able to understand that other people might want different opinions drove me crazy. It came up a lot and she just annoyed me.
"'But for every person who acts out, there are thousands who manage to have a sexual life and act responsibly. It's like saying you've seen one kid have a tantrum in the grocery store and you didn't like it so you're not going to have children.'...
'I stilltink sex is the root of all evil.'
'You know it's not,' he said gently. 'People act badly. Sex is just the delivery system.'"
She also doesn't really know how to connect with people. She has that not understanding normal social situations, but I found reading her thoughts frustrating. Felicia is similar in that way, but the way Felicia thinks and speaks I love so much. Felicia is charming in her awkwardness where as Destiny...not so much. I think it is that I didn't actually feel like Destiny was really that way. They way she was didn't ring true for me so it just annoyed me instead.
"You [Destiny] don't care about anything, ever. You're like a robot. You never get mad, you never get happy. You're the same all the time. Regular people don't act like that."
Kipling used to be a famous skier, but has had to retire since an accident. He moved to Fool's Gold and is starting up the local search and rescue. Destiny is in town to facilitate a new computer program to help find missing people faster. She is only supposed to be in town until the end of the summer so that is perfect for Kipling. Sure he wants something more than a temporary relationship with someone, but he can never quite figure out this love thing. Destiny intrigues him so he starts to pursue her. She doesn't make it easy on him, but he is not easily scared away. He really likes her and want to be there for her as long as she is in town.
Destiny also is responsible for her half sister she never met before. She had nowhere else to go so Destiny took her in. Can I just say I hope we get a story about Starr? Maybe starting in high school until she grows up? I would love to read that. Anyways Destiny has a hard time connecting with Starr and she again tries to push her thoughts, opinions and actions onto her. Destiny doesn't want anything to do with music so Starr shouldn't either. Argh she annoyed me. Her lack of being able to see why others might want something different from their lives frustrated me to no end. This does end up with a happily ever after for everyone, but getting there was a bit much for me. Definitely not my favorite in the series, though I will look forward to the next story.
Rating: ★ ★
Available on
Comments
Post a Comment