As a child working alongside her father’s knee, Brynn Palmer had dreams of overseeing her own construction site. Being a woman in a man’s world didn’t bother her. She had it covered and was making it work. Until she realized it really wasn’t working at all. Then one night all her dreams came crashing around her.
Alec Harper took one look at Brynn Palmer and knew she was the one for Harper Construction, and the one for him. For years he had watched all his siblings and friends tumble like dominoes into love. All the while he sat back waiting and wondering when his turn would come.
But now that he found her, could he convince her to roll the dice and give him a chance?
I got halfway through, but I just couldn't finish this one.
The book gets points for attempting to deal with the issue of sexism in the (male dominated) workplace. But once you explicitly start dealing with a feminist issue like that, you have to be careful what goes into the rest of the book. It sets a kind of expectation. It's not necessarily right. But it is what it is.
Unfortunately, the hero didn't quite live up to this expectation. The reader was told multiple times that he was a good guy etc etc, but he was incredibly dismissive of the heroine's boundaries. She told him multiple times to not kiss her in public, not kiss her where their colleagues might see, to STOP during two separate makeout sessions. And he ignored all this and just did whatever the hell he wanted. I know this is a common trope, but it isn't one I like to read. Doubly so when a book has pretensions towards feminism. Also, when called on a dickish thing he did, his apology sounded a lot like "I'm sorry you were offended", which is not a good way to apologise.
He also wanted a woman that was feminine, but also liked construction. Like, ok, sure you have your type. I get wanting to share interests with your future partner. But are women SO AWFUL if they don't want to wear dresses and makeup? Seriously.
So, I didn't really get into the romance, but there were other flaws.
The book introduces like 20,000 characters, presumably from previous books. It was overwhelming. I didn't know who they were or why I should care about them. Which sucks when large chunks of time and dialogue are featuring them or talking about them. Why would I care what such-and-such's mother-in-law's step-son's half-brother's cousin's wife is doing?
Oh, and everything is hella hetero- and gender-normative. (This goes back to the hero's ideal woman needing to be feminine.) Every woman was pregnant, apparently. The heroine cooked and baked, but the hero lived on takeout. The heroine even baked for the construction crew (her colleagues) that were working next door every morning. I don't know about most people, but I don't bake for my colleagues on the regular. That's just weird and domestic in an uncomfortable way. The whole plot was about her wanting to be taken seriously at her job and wanting to be treated like any other contractor. So is it really the best idea to play homemaker for them all? Ew.
And the pacing was weird. Huge chunks of time were skipped for no reason. (Why put a '30 days to test the waters on the dating a coworker' thing and then skip the first two weeks? It was a weird choice that sucked out a bunch of sexual tension and just made no sense. If you didn't have enough scenes to fill the month, then why not make it a two-week time limit? It was arbitrary anyway.) Also, important scenes were told in past tense. (Like of the "last night when they'd kissed" kind of variety). It felt like telling and I just started rolling my eyes at it.
Finally, what made me give up was the fact that the hero and heroine were together and happy at 50%. I just really didn't want to find out what kind of drama the author was going to trot out to keep the characters apart for the last 50%. Not worth it.
I enjoy a good love story series where you get to know the characters and they feel like family. Sometimes the love scenes seem a little too descriptive, but that's just me. I like that most of the characters have respect and morals, something that is lacking in today's society, so it's nice to sit back, read and appreciate . All in all, I am really enjoying the series.........on to the next, book 4.
You know you've found an amazing author when you search for her next book as soon as you finish the last. Once again, I loved the characters. The author creates a rich, fabulous group of characters that I wish I could be a part of!!!
Very enjoyable. I loved the characters and the work settings along with their relevant discussions. I also find the ongoing family connections heartwarming.
To say that this ARC arrived at a perfect time, is an understatement. It’s December, everyone is arguing Happy Holidays versus Merry Christmas and then there was just a mass shooting in California. Believe me when I say that I was feeling overwhelmed. Then I opened my e-mail and was able to read a perfect love story, so thank you to the author, Natalie Ann, for rescuing me from the bad news and letting me escape for just a while.
All the Way is the story of Alec and Brynn and is the continuation of The Road Series and The All Series. These are eight books about members of two families and while each is a stand alone story, I recommend starting at the beginning with Road to Recovery. Not because you will be lost if you don’t, but because I have enjoyed them all.
Alec owns a very successful construction company with his twin brother Phil (featured in All of Me). They are so successful that they need to hire someone with construction/realtor experience to take some of the work load off of them. Brynn is perfect for the job. She has supervised a construction crew and for the past few years has worked as a realtor. The sparks start to fly between Alec and Brynn almost immediately, but Brynn insists they wait 30 days before they date, because she has a rule against dating anyone at work, especially after what happened at her last construction job.
All The Way is a good story, with likeable characters, and a couple of not so likeable characters too. I enjoyed the book and think that anyone who likes a HEA ending will too.
I would have purchased this book no matter what because I like the series, but I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. These opinions are solely my own and I was not compensated in any way.
I loved this book. I love this series! I'm super excited that there are 3 more books to read. I highly recommend this series to anyone. It's a series, but each book can be read alone and you can easily keep track of what is going on. The characters are all wonderful, some sweet, some funny, and no one is really perfect. They are all perfectly flawed, but each find their way in the end. I true love story that you need to read!
Alex and Brynn had a fairy tale romance once they got through a few bumps in the road.Brynn was carrying around a big secret that she was afraid to tell Alex about.Her job in the construction industry was no bed of roses.Brynn made the decision to move on and it was the best thing she ever did.She had been attacked buy one of the workers on the job sight.Brynn did not want Alex to find out what happened.You should never keep secrets.
For the past couple of years I must have been reading the wrong happily ever after books. Natalie Ann's books are like a breath of fresh air. No major drama. Adults working out problems without screaming, insults or running away. We are taught, yes taught as the books teach us a lesson. Communication. What a concept.
Looking forward to reading more of Natalie Ann's books. Enjoy as much as I.
This book wasn't bad, but it ran on a little too long for me. The secret Brynn was keeping from Alec was slightly different from what I expected. Based on her behavior at the beginning of the book, the reality of the situation didn't seem to connect.
By the time I got to the end, I was just tired of the tale.
I loved this book as much the second time if not more.
What a great book! I absolutely loved Alec and Brynn. I loved that Alec finally found a person that was perfect for him and loved the kind of things he did and the same went for Brynn. They were absolutely perfect together. I loved catching up with all of the others from this series, as well as the past one. Amazing book!
Wonderful addition to the series. I love how strong of a character Brynn was, and how laid-back and funny Alec was. They meshed well together. Natalie Ann always brings her characters to life and I can't wait to read the next book in the series!
This is a heartwarming love story that will make you remember that old saying never judge a book by its cover because you could just miss out on the Best gift of your life so relax and enjoy each and every book in this series.
Such a fast paced book. I read it in one sitting. I couldn't wait to read Alec's story and was thrilled with it. It was everything I hoped it would be. I can't wait for Sean's story next!
Brynn is a construction worker/ realtor starting a new job in a new city. Alec is the co-owner of the company she is going to work for. She has a firm rule: no dating co-workers.
This was a good book to read. I loved the continuation of this series. I loved the characters. I cannot wait to read the next book in this series. Great author