Photo credits: Crissa (pixabay), LevaNevsky (pixabay), Lisa (pexels) Edited by Vaishali Title: Falling For You Series: Annapolis Harbour #1 Author: Lea Coll Publisher: self-published Year of Publication: 2021 Format: E-book/kindle app Genre/Themes: Contemporary romance, Adult fiction Workplace romance/sports romance Review So much like Take a Chance On Me, sixth in succession to Lea Coll’s All I want series, this fifth in her Annapolis Harbour collective, Falling For You is poised with a passionate pull that pushes and challenges the weight of a fallible relationship that's not at all ready to rise and yet wants to thrive in its own way. Isn't that always the way with a searching romance? Falling For You's storyline is quite a simple one, its challenges more personal, its trope positively familiar, its characters honest, pained and feasible but Lea Coll assures a delivery synonymous with her predilection for heartfelt discovery. With protagonists that arrive layered and laboured, both Jonah and Callie's togethered pathway carves a connection rippled with difficulty. Not a linear road to love by any means, these complicated characters tiptoe the delicate skin of a developing intimacy that feels like it could fall at any moment, that could flame with a push too hard. Contrary to my leading impressions though, Falling For You developed into a romance that I was disappointed to not love. And one that I walked away from not quite feeling the plumpness of a romance that meets with a reassuring gist. As a subscriber to Lea Coll's newsletter, I had free access to a first-chapter excerpt, and easily drawn in by what appeared to be a hero in the rough of it and a heroine in the thick of it who both share a drunken kiss, I had to make my purchase. But with a few books from this series tucked away safely in my kindle app, I steadily wondered If another in her series would have been a better pick for me. A ball player who's usually easy, blithe and ready to mingle with nothing but the game and the green field on his mind has to face a life that might not ever Include playing with passion again. With burnt edges and a past well-hidden, sport was always Jonah's getaway, his escape from something long ago that had struck him at the knee. Seated so deep that he'd never let himself believe in a full life for himself. Things get dark for Jonah every time he comes a little bit closer to the reason that keeps him running. Suddenly disabled from his sport by a threatening injury pushes him closer to facing what he's never let himself recover from. To distract him from what could be career-damning damage, his teammate - Reid - pushes him to become a more involved member In the emergence of their sports complex. But he who was supposed to be nothing more than a distant investor ruffles the newly-appointed manager. Because Jonah’s more sceptical of her hasty promotion. Callie gets an opportunity of a lifetime from Reid (whom she's had a professional relationship with as his assistant) just out of college, and having landed a role that would've taken her years to reach, she's moved to be the best she can be. There are few parts in play with the relationship here. First, we have the opening scene kiss (which is drunken on Jonah's part and eye opening on Callie's). Where both have been in each others' orbit since she's been Reid's assistant, Callie's attraction and curiosity to Jonah felt too sudden for me, whereas Jonah feels more preoccupied by the state of his athletic career and disturbed by the likelihood of a comeback that might never come. The attraction is there (but I only felt it because both protagonists told me so to begin with). As a slow build, my connection to their chemistry could neatly be dubbed a slow build too, though the steamy in-betweens have a great sexual energy. And the author’s penmanship with bedroom scenes is a much more improved part of the narrative here. Then begrudgingly arrives the office, boss-employee dynamic which bothers these two in different ways. Callie, because she believed she'd be running the complex independently, and Jonah because he's not as confident in her ability to perform. Then there's the forbidden fruit element. On the surface, the 'you're off limits' taboo rests upon an aversion to avoid disturbing the established friendship between Reid and Jonah. Since Callie's seen as the pseudo little sister to Reid, it's a no-breach no-brainer. But really, it's a much much more personal battle that boils down to this hero's undersupply of self-worth, and hence, to resist giving himself completely in any substantive way. Safe to say there's a few mites chipping at the grain, but in addition enters the struggle of each of their personal difficulties. Callie has many too; financial responsibilities, pushing through the abandonment of losing her parents so early in life, hurting from the grief of knowing she'll one day lose a grandad with early onset Alzheimer's and having to finance her living amidst her grandad's care. The author pointedly sets the groundwork, most notably with Jonah's self-sabotage and self-limiting beliefs. Hell bent on his own suffering as someone who sees himself as a bad-doer, in many ways Jonah's an interesting hero with the makings of some tragedy, but in other ways, he's incredibly impervious to moving forward with his life in a meaningful way. And I was disappointed by the performance of that part of the story. I wasn't sure how to feel about him when I began to steal a read on him. Then some depth was founded, which brings in the draw of a complicated past and a now complicated present day. I wouldn't say there are any unnecessary conflicts, but Jonah's past is pulled so thin over the entire stretch of the book that, while he does make some incrementally important steps with Callie as he mulls over a life that he could have, the vulnerability of his past felt very flimsy. His reactivity to the subsequent reveal and fallout in particular felt wasteful. Especially as his resolve takes a quick turnaround and an even quicker settlement. Coll's hero also uncharacteristically accuses Callie of something he wouldn't ordinarily accuse her of, and that comment (along with a few other things) passes overlooked and overturned. There's plenty of suggestion to sure up and understand what must have transpired in Jonah's past, and the author solidifies his being a major driver in his own suffering. The author also habitually hints of bigger flawed decisions to be made on Jonah's part. And thus, we know he's going to trip up over himself and their relationship (which he does). But it feels poorly arranged when the climax hits, provided that I was both more or less in the know and that it became resultingly underwhelming. And yet his recovery is wrapped up in a pinch. He seems so disconnected from his value, and for something that has hounded him for a lifetime - and thus through the entire story also - that when it comes to the fore, the quick turnabout almost nullifies that piece of his past as much as it hurts his own growth in the relationship. Perhaps felt differently from the eyes of other readers but for me, It just doesn’t mesh well. With another side to Jonah that surfaces his gentle warmth and growing adoration, let there be no mistake that he's a big support to Callie. His general reserve is balanced with his affection for Callie quite well, side that favours him well enough. He cares for her, always wants to be a presence through her difficulties (especially with her grandad) and tries his best to turn his mistakes around. It's also known that he's neither ready nor willing to accept the same in return because of that aforementioned past. So while there’s clearly a driving level of resistance on both sides for a number of reasons (mainly not wanting to be/feel abandoned for Callie and not thinking he's worth her life for Jonah), they still both somehow decide that unprotected bedroom time is the acceptable way forward. That decision doesn't really fit into their cautionary profiles or current desires, and if their reaction to the near-scare was of any suggestion, I'd have thought they'd be more thoughtful in how they went forward. The contradiction of being careless when both are so careful about supporting some distance between them, It arises as an inconsistency with both being removed from the possible consequences. All things considered, I think Jonah's past should have cleared itself earlier on, especially since that impersonal distance with a deeper relationship is something he's not actively trying to close the gap on. And always placing limitations on what they can and can't have, can and can't be, his decisions almost always motivated by each plane of his fear. Alternatively, Callie's relatively open with him about her grief and grievances but she doesn't really know more about him bar his passion for sport. Because their relationship is a predominantly tenuous sort of creature (with tests included), they're not exclusively honest with each other about everything. Even the small things sometimes. I don't know that I really know else about Jonah except for the ways he's operated from a place of fear and sabotage, the blueprint of his guilt and sport being the mover in his life. I'd like to have had more commentary on his route forward, what he'd do differently and who he becomes post the release of his past. One can certainly form a story of a man who wishes to pass through life unaffected by love, so common a theme that we’ve all found ourselves at the mercy of such stories, but it doesn’t always receive or even convince well. You'll definitely enter the fragile tide of a push and pull, dithering hesitation, but there's also the thoroughline of a gentle rise, tonally resonant with a sense of trying, and a sustained heartfelt drift that Lea Coll massages into each step the story takes. Callie's a pulled-together and independent sort of heroine, but as a personal opinion, I just wanted her to own her place in the story a bit more. She's focussed, bright and full of the drive needed to do and be her best for everyone who needs her. From what I've described of the romance thus far, I think it's easy to believe that these two do indeed have an affair with a shy sense of communication. One of the biggest falling points for me is that Falling For You plays a big game of circles by rotating a march of repetition. Where I was hoping for movement forward, the story seemed to either want to stall, repeat itself or tiptoe forward before denying a need to step forward again. By and large, the storyline felt too drawn out, and despite being the slow reader that I am, I was left to work through wondering why I was making my way so slowly through a book that should have perhaps been quicker to move through. On page, I did feel the presence of both protagonists, and the author successfully gives us a growing picture of these two, what their relationship could look like, in addition to what we can expect. No unsuspecting surprises, but Falling For You embraces a trying spirit perhaps more than a winning one. By all standards I wouldn't say the romance rests upon a solid stump, but it does have a gentle centre. It's suggested that there's representation in previous books (one of which being Reid and Dylan's as they’re the most present in this one) with reference to discourse over Reid's speech impediment. Within this read, there's the theme of sports Inclusivity and making local communities accessible to sports schemes, which is a familiar signature parted to Lea Coll's books; providing a light to realist social obstacles. What she also does particularly well is to break from the role that traditionally typifies leading men. And her heroes usually embody a feeling heart, whichever trope they’re expected to be in. In this series of books, she ostensibly does it with the profile of the athlete by sourcing them with some depth and difference. The forcefield of the relationship for Jonah and Callie wasn't as compelling as I'd expected. I was hoping for more advancement, even if it was a cause for interest at the same time. In tone, the emotional resonance speaks for itself, but between Jonah and Callie, that was the feature of resistance. So I was looking for more shared emotional situations since the book assumes that thoroughline really well. But between the pages binds fear, love and possibility into a workplace sports romance. The sensitivities, the desires, the anxiety and the worry, the intensity and the unfamiliarity - they all compile into something that strokes a convincing poignancy while scraping by some edges of anticipation. With multiple layers that stretch through, I did experience some ‘will they’ anticipation, but I still unfortunately felt my heels dragging as I made my way through the remainder of the romance. While some situations still appeared to feel underdeveloped and excused, Falling For You still arrives with the warmth, Intensity and emotive difficulty of a Coll romance. I gave this book 3 stars - Content Warning/Listing: Mentions a past car accident and past parent deaths. Alzheimer's (a character with Alzheimer's). Mentions MS. Multiple bedroom scenes. Some drinking. Extra Thoughts: (Beware: spoilershish!)
--------------------------------------- M Y R A T I N G S Y S T E M: ★ - 1 star: I did not like the book ★★ - 2 stars: The book was okay ★★★ - 3 stars: It was a good, solid read ★★★★ - 4 stars: A great book ★★★★★ - 5: A phenomenal read --------------------------------------- ____________________________________________________ R E L A T E D P O S T S: ● BOOK REVIEW: Take a Chance On Me by Lea Coll ____________________________________________________ I love interacting with fellow readers, reviewers, bloggers and writers. Hearing about reader opinion is the fuel to my reader appetite, so get in touch and comment below! SHARE ON FACEBOOK Leave a comment and let's talk about |
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