Dr Anna Morelli rarely makes mistakes. But this one is big, bordering on huge. Somewhere between sunset and sunrise at the simple beachside wedding of two old friends, she’s cried in the ladies bathroom, danced to too many ABBA songs and survived the best, knock-your-socks-off one night stand in recorded history. Has she gone crazy? She’s supposed to be running from the disasters in her life, not creating more.
Award-winning journalist Joe Blake is back in Middle Point to lick his wounds after being dumped by his wife and sacked from his Sydney job on the same day. But after one incredible night with Anna, he finds he’ll need all his investigative skills to figure out why she won’t give in to their sizzling chemistry….
Victoria Purman is an Australian bestselling author. If you want to know more about her and her books, visit www.victoriapurman.com or follow her on facebook at Victoria Purman Author or on twitter @VictoriaPurman.
Our Kind of Love is book three of the Boys of Summer series by Victoria Purman. Joe Blake came back home after he lost his job and found his wife in the bed with his good friend. Dr Anna Morelli came to visit friends at Middle Point after she realises her husband was sleeping with someone else. Both thought they would never find someone to love. However, at the wedding of mutual friends, Anna and Joe meet and click. Readers of Our Kind Of Love will continue to follow the twist and turns in Anna and Joe relations. Readers of Our Kind Of Love will love the ending of this book.
I have read a couple of Victoria Purman books now, and I enjoy them. Also, the way Victoria Purman portrays and intertwines her characters throughout the book. Reading Our Kind Of Love, I did like the way Victoria Purman describes living in a small tourist town. While reading Our Kind Of Love, I had to have a chuck at times especially when Joe was trying to learn to be barmen.
Readers of Our Kind of Love will learn how to run a pub in a small town. Our Kind of Love will help readers to understand the pleasure and the problems of running a small community medical practice.
Opening line: Anna Morelli plundered the deepest recesses of her brain for every Italian swear word she knew and let them rip in a furious, unadulterated tirade
Our Kind of Love is the final book in the ‘Boys of Summer’ trilogy that is set on the Fleurieu Peninsula of South Australia – not far from the McLaren Vale wine region. I am very sad to see the series finish. We have seen Julia and Ry get their act together (in Nobody But Him), followed by Lizzie and Dan (in Someone Like You) now we get to see Anna and Joe in action. Joe, Lizzie’s brother, has returned to Middle Point from Sydney because his wife ran off with his best friend on the same day that he had been made redundant from his investigative journalist position. To say he has been knocked for six is an understatement. Anna has problems as well; a successful GP in Adelaide she is reeling after a series of miscarriages and discovering her husband was having an affair and kicking him out. Somehow she needs to pluck up enough courage to tell her family – not an easy task when you are part of a close knit Italian family that is part of the tight knit Italian community who all keep an eagle eye on everyone else’s business.
Author Victoria Purman did a brilliant job of conveying the growing attraction between Joe and Anna while giving them very realistic complications to becoming a serious couple. The story takes place over almost a year giving them time to deal with their issues and get to know each other. As with the previous books, OUR KIND OF LOVE has a beautiful setting, wonderful believable characters that you care about, romance, drama, friendship and humour and it is just plain wonderful to spend time with all the characters. I am really going to miss Middle Point but just on the horizon is a new release with Halrequin MIRA to keep me happy, with new characters to meet. Set on Kangaroo Island ONLY WE KNOW and will be released in late April 2015 – A rugged island. Two people. Family secrets.
With thanks to Harlequin MIRA Australia and the author for my copy to read and review.
Our Kind of Love is the third and final book in Victoria Purman's wonderful coastal romance trilogy, The Boys of Summer, set on the Fleurieu Peninsula of South Australia.
This sweet and sexy installment sees Joe, Lizzie's brother, who has recently returned to Middle Point after his wife left him for his best mate on the same day that he was made redundant from his job as an investigative newspaper journalist, fall hard for Dr Anna Morelli, a 'good Italian Catholic girl' reeling after discovering her husband has been cheating on her for most of their marriage, who breaks all of her own rules when she spends the night with Joe after Ry and Julia's wedding.
Joe and Anna's story is all about giving love a second chance. There is plenty of chemistry between them, illustrated by a couple of toe-curling encounters, but their romantic path is strewn with obstacles. With the romance genre, it's important to me that I believe in the reasons for conflict between the couple. I felt that Purman managed this well, creating realistic emotional and practical issues to divide Joe and Anna, and as the story is set over a period of about nine months or so, the relationship is given the time to evolve naturally.
I love that Julia and Ry (Nobody But Him), and Lizzie and Dan (Someone Like You) play such a big part in this novel. It's lovely to see how their relationships have developed past their 'happy ever after' endings.
Our Kind of Love is a delightful read and I have enjoyed the romance, drama, humour and heat that has characterised the trilogy. I'm a little sad to say goodbye to The Boys of Summer but I am excited to learn what we can expect next from Victoria Purman.
Thoroughly enjoyed it. Our Kind of Love is the third in the Boys of Summer trilogy by Victoria Purman. It was a wonderful and very fitting end to the stories of three couples who find each other with the help of scenic Middle Point, South Australia and the match making ploys of certain women among them.
First we met Ry and Julia, then Dan and Lizzie. Now it is Joe's turn, he is the newspaperman and brother of Lizzie. He has returned to Middle Point after being made redundant and his marriage also breaking up. He is drifting and hopefully in the process of re finding himself. While doing that he meets Anna at Ry and Julia's wedding and they share a very passionate one night stand. Fast forward a few months and Joe and Anna meet up again and the sexual tension is still sizzling between them.
Anna too is just coming from the experience of a marriage break-up and a husband who has cheated on her. She has suffered a number of miscarriages and would really love to have a child. Her large Catholic Italian family feature large in her life - she has always been the 'good girl'. Now there is a challenge for her, can she break that mould a little and become who she really is at heart. I loved her big Italian family and the place family played in their lives. It's the exact opposite to what Joe has known, with only his sister Lizzie to count as family. His father walked out on their little family when Joe was only three, it has had a far reaching effect on him.
Our Kind of Love is the story of how Joe and Anna grow as people and how they slowly find their way into a relationship that just may last with each other. We also catch up with the other two couples and I loved how well integrated this was into the book. At times we were given short points of view from them and of course the update on their lives was just .... perfect.
A beautiful setting, well written, characters I loved and cared about - and what I like always in a romance - that little epilogue that made my heart sing as I finished the book. Delightful. I really look forward to finding out what Victoria Purman is writing next.
I have just finished this book it is the final book in the Boys of Summer Series by Victoria Purman. The final is about Lizzie's brother Joe and Dr Anna Morelli who was Dan's first girl-fiend and who appeared in the previous book. Anna meets Joe at Ryan and Julia's wedding they are both separated from their partners and both going through a divorce. After a night of dancing to Abba music and they find that they are attracted each other after being together. Joe has returned to Middle Point after losing his job and separating from his wife who fell in love with his best friend. Anna is Italian and comes from different world to Joe her family and extend family are close they go to church, christenings, Weddings and have big family gatherings. Anna and Joe try to make a go of being together he goes to a family dinner and an Engagement with Anna. Ryan, Julia are also featured in the book they come back from their honeymoon and Julia becomes pregnant and ask Anna to be her doctor. Lizzie and Dan are also in the book as Joe works st the pub for bit before going to work at a newspaper. Anna and Joe go through many things together like Joe teaching her to surf, discover they both want different things in life like Anna wanting a to have children and Joe not wanting to be a father. Even though they both can't escape their feelings for each other. Lizzie and Julia want to help them get back together but are warned by Ryan and Dan not to interfere with their relationship. Anna see's a review when she searching Dan up and is not happy what written about Joe and rings him leaves a message. He turn's up at Anna's surgery want to talk her about the phone call. Then end up making love there. A few weeks after that Anna visits her Nonna and she makes her think about her future so she goes back to Middle Point to find Joe but Joe is now working at a newspaper in Adelaide. She tells him about the people in Middle Point that are his family. Joe's divorce is finalized. Ryan and Julia have a baby girl. Dan and Lizzie have their overseas trip. But Anna and Joe still are not together until the Birth of Julia's baby girl that Joe realizes that he might just want to be a father. Anna and Joe meet again at the naming day of Ry and Julia's baby Mary. Joe try's to tell her he wants her back but she stops him and tells him that she is pregnant with his baby and that she can raise the baby on her own and he had the right to know before she told her family. Joe decides that he wants them to be together to raise the baby she tells him yes even though her divorce is not final. In the end they end up living weeks days in the city and weekends in Middle point. Dan Lizzie are now married and Joe is welcomed into the Morelli family as their new son in law. At the baby shower Joe is happy tell everyone in the room if it hadn't been for his sister, Ryan and Julia wedding that he would have met Anna. Anna is happy to be loved by her family and Joe and goes into. I was happy to read this trilogy of books loved how the characters followed through to the end.
Some books you just know are going to be great before you’ve got to the end of the first sentence. Our Kind of Love is that kind of book. The final in the Boys of Summer trilogy, this book shows just how much both the book’s characters and the author, Victoria Purman have grown during the series. It was a great read, full of characters with baggage and conflicting goals.
Although the Boys of Summer series is set in the South Australian seaside town of Middle Point (think close to Victor Harbor), one of the main characters, Anna, is city born and bred. Anna is the ex-girlfriend of Dan (who is involved now in a relationship with Lizzie) and friend of Ry. Anna meets Joe, Lizzie’s brother, at the wedding of Ry and Julia. She’s heartbroken and dreading telling her strict Italian family that she’s divorcing her husband for cheating on her. So when things get messy after a drink or two, why not have a night of fun with Joe? The next morning Anna thinks of plenty of good reasons why she should leave. She’s a busy GP with a community waiting for her each day. She’s got things to do; she needs to forget about Middle Point and Joe. But things aren’t that easy – is this a relationship or just fun? Anna’s just seen her happily ever after turn to dust, will she risk that happening again?
I loved the sense of community depicted in Our Kind of Love. So many different types, but all show the love and care for each other. There’s Anna’s family, fierce in their desire to protect Anna and the Adelaide Italian community, watching for their local doc carefully. Finally, there’s the less conventional community of friends – Anna, Joe, Lizzie, Dan, Julia and Ry, who love each other just as strongly as any family. The feeling of friendship and care just beams from the pages.
Anna was a great heroine for me, as she’s bold and feisty but also vulnerable and uncertain. I thought it was great how Victoria Purman revealed Anna’s concerns about her lack of children and letting the family down. It felt very realistic and I loved how Anna dropped an Italian swear word or two when she was frustrated! Plus the Italian food was heavenly… Joe was a hero who had lost his direction career wise and I felt that Anna played a very strong role in him helping to see himself as a worthy individual again. The relationship was more than just sex, but assisting each other to grow as a person and heal after difficult times.
If you’re read the other books in the series, there are plenty of scenes involving the other couples and progression of their lives. In fact, there are some very special moments to look forward to.
I’m going to miss Middle Point and Victoria Purman’s characters, who are as real to me as my own friends. I’ve loved this series which expertly balances romance and friendships in a beautiful setting.
Thank you to Harlequin for the eARC. I have provided an honest, unbiased review here.
Our Kind of Love is the third book in the Boys of Summer trilogy. Victoria Purman knows how to write/create a beautiful story, to keep the reader interested from the first page until the last and, to keep you wanting just that little bit more. The third book gives us Joe (Lizzie's brother) and Anna's story and the chemistry between them was hot and it sizzled throughout the book but, of course, before they can have their "Happy Ever After" there were challenges to overcome. And what a lovely surprise to find Lizzie and Dan and Julia and Ry from the previous two books play such a huge part in this novel. And we get to read of their relationships developing as well. Absolutely fabulous! All the characters are warm, sweet, loveable and so caring of each other. It made me want to jump inside the book and live with these gorgeous people.
Before I met hubby I was surrounded by Italians for a few years: Italian boyfriends, parents, family members and friends. And oh yes, the flinging of arms, the Italian swearing thrown in here and there, the family get togethers, the massive weddings, etc. Victoria Purman nailed the Italian way of life on the head. She did it so well I thought she might have an Italian background. Well done, Victoria! Brought back many happy memories.
What a wonderful conclusion to this beautifully written series. I was transported back to the beachside town that made me rethink the balance of life and work and I was hooked on the story of Joe and Anna.
Wow, the chemistry between them was so hot and I just melted as their relationship struggled to grow under the baggage of their previous marriages and the Anna's desire for children. I felt so much for her as she made the tough decisions and I was so proud of her for persisting for her heart's desire.
Thank you once again Victoria Purman for your beautiful writing and awesome characters. I had to finish this in one sitting last night and just felt so good but yet so sad as I said goodbye to Middle Point.
A magnificent story about love loss and second chances. Joe and Anna were just beyond sizzling with abundant chemistry all through the story. Anna and Joe's journey throughout the story pulls the heartstrings - heartbreak, longing, laughter rekindled passion. The reader can get completely immersed in the pages from the start to the finish of the book. An absolutely stunning read. *ARC received from the Publisher for an honest review.
I've really enjoyed reading Victoria's Boys of Summer trilogy. Someone Like You is still my favourite in the trilogy, so I had to give this book 4 stars. I loved learning more about Anna and her crazy Italian family and Joe's character grew on me through out the book. Was happy to see returning characters again like Lizzie and Dan, Ry and Julia...I love happy endings! :)
Enjoyed this final chapter of the "Boys of Summer" series :) The thing I really loved about this series is the continued inclusion of the main characters from the previous books and how they all keep playing integral parts within the storyline and "family".
Would have given this a 5 star rating if we had have been told the sex of the new baby....a minor detail, I know. Love it!! Well done on this trilogy Victoria.
A lot more enjoyable than book two. Wonderful to see the continual story of Ry and Julia. As always, Dan and Lizzie really don't shine. Anna and Joe are just adorable! I'm having to go back now and read book four.
We started with Ry and Julia's story in Nobody But Him, followed by their best friends Lizzie and Dan in Someone Like You. In the Boys of Summer final installment we join Joe and Anna on their road to happiness. Of course there's roadblocks and wrong turns, because if there wasn't that would be kind of dull ... and Victoria Purman writes anything but dull.
Joe is Lizzie's brother and Anna, an old friend of Dan's ... they're both carrying hurt and a load of baggage but a night of alcohol-fueled-toe-curling-knock-your-socks-off-sex slowly grows into new beginnings and more toe-curling-knock-your-socks-off-sex a second chance at love.
What I've loved about this series from the beginning is the feel of Middle Point, this fictional coastal town on the beautiful Fleurieu Peninsula in South Australia feels real. So real you want to live there, join the community and be part of the Ry and Julia, Dan and Lizzie, Joe and Anna circle.
You really can't go wrong with this sexy, steamy, sweet, funny trilogy. I've loved spending time with these couples, getting to know them and care about them and I'm a little sad to say goodbye.
But bring on May 1st because Victoria Purman has a new novel out, Only We Know, set on the wildly beautiful Kangaroo Island.
Which is essentially what the feel-good, HEAs all try to portray, and perhaps never more so here, which feels like the wrapping up of an era of sorts after three very rewarding books. Victoria Purman's love for this fictional slice of South Australia is evident in the description of the lovely Middle Point and constant reminders she puts out of the simple pleasures that the folks there take in the smallest things.
Our Kind of Love reminds me of the continuing soft spot that I developed long ago for for Ms. Purman's boys and girls in Middle Point and I'm sorry to see the trilogy come to an end. Joe's and Anna's story finally comes together in Purman's uncomplicated by heartfelt prose, aided in a large part, by Lizzie/Dan and Ry/Julie in the previous 2 books. The path that they take to get together is a long and winding one stretching 300 pages, but an unsurprising one considering the number of issues that they each face.
The same down-to-earth candour and spontaneity that could be found in the previous 2 books are present here and my only complaint is Anna's fixation on wanting children and preserving the family tradition seemed to override her feelings for Joe. I would appreciated some greater compromise on her part (and less cowardice really) and not have Joe only having the change of heart.
3.5* Joe and Anna met at the wedding of their friends in Middle Point, Ry and Julia. Both were betrayed in their own marriages and opt for some no-strings-attached dancing and sex which leads to something neither one of them expected. But can they both come to an agreement on what they want for the future.
I really enjoyed this next book in the Boys of Summer series. However, there were a few editing mistakes on the kindle version. They didn't interfere with the overall flow but they were enough to distract me and make note of it here. I also felt the drama was a lot more forced than in the previous two books but overall I enjoyed the difference in the direction of it.
The third in the Boys of Summer series that ties off some loose ends with all characters making an appearance behind the major storyline of Anna & Joe. Plot flowed really well with realistic events and turns. Spoiler alert - still not overly fussed with these authors taking females characters into pregnancy without informing the father scenarios. This is the second book in a month that has done this - in real life it does happen, I acknowledge that, but I'm sure if most men knew there would/could be a different outcome. What happened to living happily ever after?
I was not a fan of the hero or heroine in this one and I ended up DNFing this book after about 40 pages. The heroine still identified as married and slept with another still-sorta-married hero. To me, that just didn't work. I also felt like I was bashed over the head with the heroine's Italian heritage. It was mentioned several times on every page and I found myself rolling my eyes every time it came up. Overall, the book didn't keep me engaged. I won't be reading any other books in this series.