Review: Forever the One (Meadowview Heat #1) by Rochelle French

Years ago, Sadie Courant had been the frizzy-haired twerp next door. Now she’s drop-dead gorgeous and has, well...uh...breasts. It’s no wonder Broadway director Ethan Sawyer doesn’t recognize his best friend’s little sister when he sees her again.

Sadie has been in love with Ethan since she was in braces. So when he fails to recognize her at the bachelor auction she’s organized, she flips. Sure, she looks a little different now, what with the boobs and a little help from a flat iron, but really?

Deciding she needs to get the man out of her system, Sadie negotiates a way for Ethan to make up for his mistake: a one-night stand. She figures after they do the deed, he’ll head back to New York and she’ll finally be able to let go. But when Ethan has to move back to the small town of Meadowview and work side-by-side with Sadie, she realizes she couldn’t be more wrong about the letting go part of her plan. Because Ethan has and always will be…forever the one.

Sadie has had a massive crush on her childhood friend, Ethan, for a decade. She has kept this piece of info secret from everyone. Including Ethan. When Ethan rolls back into town, this is Sadie's chance to knock his socks off and make him realize what he's been missing all of these years. Not everything goes according to plan. Sadie didn't fathom that Ethan wouldn't recognize her. Ethan was just in town for a few days and he didn't expect to be falling head over heels for a blonde stranger. What he most certainly didn't see coming was that the blonde stranger would turn out to be Sadie.

I've not had the opportunity to read anything by this author before. Forever the One turned out to be pretty good. It's the perfect book to take with you to the pool or beach this summer. It's easy to read and it's a sweet story. 

That being said, I did find it a bit ... simple. There's nothing wrong with that, it makes for an easy read but I wish that the characters had a bit more to them. I would have loved to know more about each of them. The characters didn't feel fully fleshed out to me. Yes, I had the opportunity to know each of them but I didn't feel like I KNEW them. If that makes any sense. I just wanted a little more from them. The characters weren't all that bad ... I really liked them, actually. But I was left wanting more. You know, this could be a completely strategic thing ... getting you hooked on a series and then you learn more about them as the series progresses. But that's nothing that I enjoy, personally. I would rather know the characters inside and out in the first book so that it will urge me to read the remainder of the series. Anyway.

The story itself was also okay. I didn't find it boring or anything ... just again ... it lacked a bit of depth that I expected when picking this novel up. Most of the situations just seemed to brush the surface and not really delve into anything. There were so many background stories that I wish I was able to learn about because they were intriguing but those seem to be kept under lock and key in the Author Vault ... wherever that is ... I just know that they keep all of the alternate endings for novels and background info on characters along with lists of books with good ideas but horrible executions so that other authors can pick through and make better versions of things ... I'm pretty sure George R. R. Martin has his own wing and shit. Sometimes the only thing keeping me reading a book is the thought of an Author Vault out there ... somewhere ... and some day I might be able to find out more info on books that I almost really liked/loved/hated. Well. That was a nice little detour away from where I wanted to go with this. 

So ... pretty okay book. I wouldn't mind reading something else by this author to see if the writing is the same. If her other stuff is a bit deeper, I might have found a new author for my "Must Read Everything By This Person" list.

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