Book Review: His First and Last by Terri Osburn

Summary (GoodReads)

At eighteen, Lorelei Pratchett couldn’t wait to get out of her hometown. Twelve years later, her Hollywood dreams have fizzled and she’s back—temporarily, she thinks. Though she throws herself into saving the old theater and starting a baking business, small towns have long memories, and Lorelei’s wild past still haunts her. It doesn’t help that her ex-boyfriend, Spencer Boyd, is even hotter, smarter, and more distracting than before.

The fiery Lorelei that Spencer knew years ago may have become closed off and cautious, but their chemistry hasn’t faded one bit. Losing her a second time is unthinkable to him, yet Lorelei is convinced she doesn’t belong in Ardent Springs. Somehow, Spencer needs to show her that everything she needs is right here: family, friendship, new beginnings…and a man who’s never stopped loving her.

Warm, sexy, and laugh-out-loud funny, His First and Last is an irresistible story of first love and second chances

My Thoughts:
All in all, I liked His First and Last, even though it was a bit of a shift to move from Anchor Island to Ardent Springs and start over with this series. But by now I trust Terri Osburn enough to just run with it.

The story does start a little slow as we establish whom Lorelei and Spencer are and whats their story, and then it starts to build in layers. But the author keeps Lorelei and Spencer in the center and actually takes the time to explain why Lorelei hates the town so much and kind of why Spencer loves it. That was very interesting.

I got distracted with the setting up of the town, though, it didn't always feel organic, but all in all I'm growing to like Ardent Springs and I was REALLY intrigued by the next book up! I think I'm going to really like that one.

As for His First and Last, it was a nice read, if a bit slow in places.

Excerpt: His First and Last by Terri Osburn

Hello everyone!! It is no secret that I really enjoyed Terri Osburn's Anchor Island Series -which finished last year - and now I'm really excited to get to know the people of Anchor Springs in her new series. 

The first book is called His First and Last and today I bring you an excerpt of it!! :D 

Enjoy!

Exclusive Excerpt from His First and Last

“Do you want something to drink?”

“Not unless it’s hot chocolate.” Lorelei shivered again. “This blanket isn’t helping.” Spencer knew one way to warm her up, but he didn’t think she’d be open to his idea. “Get over here,” she said, holding the blanket open for him to crawl in with her. Spencer hesitated, trying to determine if she was setting him up for something. “Come on. I know you’re a damn heater over there. Help a girl out.”

He could help her out all right. Obeying the order, he scooted down the couch and put his arm around her shoulders as Lorelei settled the blanket around them both. “That’s better,” she sighed, cuddling in tight against his side and laying her head on his shoulder. When she dropped a kiss on his neck, Spencer pulled her in tighter. “Lorelei?” “Mm-hmm?” she purred.

Spencer gave the question real thought. There was still a lot of fragile ground between them. She wasn’t offering a lifetime or, for all he knew, anything beyond one night. But when she threw a leg over his lap, his brain function faltered, and the feel of her warm body wrapped around him squelched any ability to protect himself from harm. This had been what he wanted from the moment he’d spotted Lorelei sitting on that airport bench. What he’d dreamed about for years before that.

“Did you come down here to seduce me?” Another kiss, this time on his collarbone. “Would that be a bad thing?” “Should I take your lack of argument as encouragement?” she asked, lifting off the couch and sliding across his lap until she was straddling him between her thighs.

“Yes,” he said, the word coming out as a croak. Spencer cleared his throat. “I highly encourage you to keep doing what you’re doing.”

Book Information

Title: His First and Last

Author: Terri Osburn

Release Date: April 21st! April 21, 2015

Publisher: Montlake Romance

Genre: Contemporary Romance

Summary

At eighteen, Lorelei Pratchett couldn’t wait to get out of her hometown. Twelve years later, her Hollywood dreams have fizzled and she’s back—temporarily, she thinks. Though she throws herself into saving the old theater and starting a baking business, small towns have long memories, and Lorelei’s wild past still haunts her. It doesn’t help that her ex-boyfriend, Spencer Boyd, is even hotter, smarter, and more distracting than before.

The fiery Lorelei that Spencer knew years ago may have become closed off and cautious, but their chemistry hasn’t faded one bit. Losing her a second time is unthinkable to him, yet Lorelei is convinced she doesn’t belong in Ardent Springs. Somehow, Spencer needs to show her that everything she needs is right here: family, friendship, new beginnings…and a man who’s never stopped loving her.

Warm, sexy, and laugh-out-loud funny, His First and Last is an irresistible story of first love and second chances.

Goodreads Link: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/24602229-his-first-and-last

Buy Link: http://bit.ly/HisFirstAndLast

Author Biography

Although born in the Ohio Valley, Amazon and Wall Street Journal bestselling author Terri Osburn found her true home between the covers of her favorite books. Classics like The Wizard of Oz and Little Women filled her childhood, and the genre of romance beckoned during her teen years. While Osburn went on to gain a degree in business administration, she couldn’t shelve her love of love stories. In 2007, she put pen to paper to write her own. Just five years later, she was named a 2012 finalist for the Romance Writers of America’s Golden Heart Award. The author of the Anchor Island contemporary romance series, Osburn resides in Virginia with her daughter, an assortment of pets, and her bookshelves full of keepers.

Links

Website: http://www.terriosburn.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TerriOsburnAuthor

Twitter: https://twitter.com/terriosburn

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6873792.Terri_Osburn

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Book Review: More to Give by Terri Osburn

Summary (GoodReads)

Callie Henderson had to fight to put her tragic past behind her, but now the up-and-coming player in the hospitality industry is well on her way to happiness. She has her sights set on the lead renovation position at the Sunset Harbor Inn - an inn that just happens to be owned by Sam Edwards, the man who comforted her in her grief and gave her one night of passion before walking away.

Sam is searching for someone who can turn his quaint inn into a premier boutique hotel. He just never expected that someone to be the one woman who knows his deepest secrets. But he needs Callie, and Callie needs the job. Throw in a talking parrot with a cracker addiction, some uncooperative islanders, and enough sexual sparks to light a beach side bonfire, and they've got their work cut out for them.

"More to Give" is a story of heartbreak and healing, of facing the past and having the courage to believe in a future.

My Thoughts:

I love Anchor Island and I love visiting it over and over again, and I'm sad to see that More To Give is the last book of the series, but I think it ended well. 

Callie and Sam were a little different from previous couples of the series in that they were both kind of outsiders. Sam used to visit when he was a kid but never lived there full time, and Callie was entirely a new arrival. I loved how that bound them together a little because they kind of were the only person the other really knew as they had a shared past. 

I liked the way said past was explored but that it wasn't allowed to overpower the present. They both felt like they had a lot to prove and they were ambitious in that way, which was fun. I liked seeing Callie actually go to work with the tearing down and refurbishing of the inn.

It was a nice visit, and I liked how their relationship grew. Yes, they had a shared past but they were pretty much hitting the reset button while on Anchor and that was nice.

A sweet, sweet read and a good way to finish the series. 

Book Review: Up to The Challenge by Terri Osbourne

At First Sight: Lucas Dempsey never intended to stay in Anchor Island once he graduated high school, in fact, he doesn't even like to go back there with any frequency, and certainly not now when, during his last visit, he lost his fiancée Beth to his older brother Joe.

But when his father suffers a heart attack, Lucas is forced back to the Island and gets roped into day-duty tending the family's bar & restaurant; along with Sid Navarro, a long-time family friend and all around awesome boat mechanic.

Sid has been in love with Lucas since they were children but, even though they were the same age, she was always more Joe's friend than his, but now that they are working together, he can't help but notice her.

Sid can swear like a sailor and dresses like a 14 year old boy, but under all that there is a body he can't ignore, and a quick witted mind that makes him laugh.

Sid doesn't want to get involved with Lucas, not when she knows that he's only in town temporarily and that he'll go back to his life as a lawyer soon enough; but before long, the attraction between them is too much to resist. 

Second Glance: First off, I loved visiting Anchor Island again, I really enjoyed Meant To Be (Joe and Beth's story) and I was happy to see them and Anchor again.

And, over all, I quite liked Up to The Challenge, I seriously loved Sid in the previous book, she was a lot of fun and I wondered about Lucas who was sort of in the background during much of Meant to Be.

Seeing things from his perspective helped me understand him better, though I do admit I liked Joe a little better. That's probably my one trouble with the book: I liked it, but I liked the previous one better, and a lot of it was because I didn't like Lucas as much. I understand him but I just wasn't as involved.

Sid I loved and I loved the way the collective story of Anchor moved forward, so I'm very excited for the next book: Home to Stay

Bottom Line: I definitely recommend Up to the Challenge and it's predecessor, they are both smart and funny contemporaries, with a lovely setting I'm happy to visit again and again. 

2/3

Book Review: Meant To Be by Terri Osburn

At First Sight: Beth Chandler has made it her life's work to please other people: she became a lawyer to please her grandparents, lives in Richmond because it was close to them, agreed to marry to her boyfriend Lucas - even though he's a workaholic - to make him happy... and she found herself alone in the ferry, going to visit his family because he was called back to the office and sent her along. 

At the ferry going to Anchor Island, and in the throws of a panic attack, for she does not like the water at all, she meets a dog named Dozer and, more importantly, the dog's sexy owner Joe. He talks her down, and stays with her during the crossing and they even flirt a little. All perfectly harmless, until Joe reveals his last name is Dempsey, same as Beth's fiancé Lucas; and she realizes they are brothers. 

Upon officially meeting Lucas'-Fiancee-Elizabeth, Joe is none too pleased to discover she's the same Beth he had been flirting with earlier. Joe might not see eye to eye with Lucas in a lot of things, but he loves his brother and would never flirt with his brother's girl. Yet, the damage is already done, the attraction is there and there is no denying it.

And when Lucas has to return to Richmond and leaves Beth alone in the island for two weeks, things get very complicated. Beth knows she shouldn't feel the way she does with Joe, but in Anchor island she feels at home, and she feels like her self for the first time ever. Joe doesn't ever want to hurt his brother, but Beth seems to fit his life, love his island and drive him crazy more than any other woman he has ever met.

Second Glance: Meant to Be turned out to be a delightiful surprise for me, and look that I was a little iffy about it because from the get go it's pretty obvious that the romantic pairing is Beth and Joe, not "Elizabeth" and Lucas; yet they remain engaged or pretty much the duration of the story. 

That can be quite tricky to pull off but Meant to Be manages pretty well. I think that one of the author's smart moves is that you never actually see Beth and Lucas together doing couple-y things, Lucas is off being a workaholic most of the time, and Beth is pretty aware that's not going to change anytime soon, she's just not ready to admit to herself that they aren't going to work out in the long run. 

So, as you see Joe and Beth hang out and Beth making herself at home in Anchor, you start buying it pretty early on. Plus, Joe and Beth have good chemistry together, they argue and the flirt and they care about each other. Joe is kind of surly, but Beth doesn't take it personal. 

There are a few subplots of this story that also keep things interesting: mostly, Joe's ex Cassandra is trying to buy the Island and make it into a luxury resort, so everyone is banding together to keep that from happening. 

Bottom Line: I really had a great time reading Meant to Be, I liked the characters, even workaholic Lucas (props to the author for not making him an asshole just to make it okay for Beth and Joe to be together) and I loved the setting of Anchor Island, it sounded like an adorable place. The only bad point in all of this is that the second book of the series (featuring Lucas) won't drop for another year.

Meant to Be comes out May 21st.

Love, 
Ps. Review copy provided by the Publisher via Net Galley in exchange of an honest review