A Chance to Come True by S M Spencer

A Chance to Come True (Copperhead Creek - Australian Romance Book 1)
by S M Spencer

Kindle: 992 KB
Print Length: 198 pages
Publisher: S M Spencer (November 25, 2015)
ASIN: B018JNTALO
Available on Amazon

A Quiet Love Story in a Small Town

This is a pleasant, charming romance set in a small town of Australia. Caity has just moved there from her desk job in the city, to get over a bad break-up and start her life over. She's going to write books, take care of her horse, and forget about men. Of course one of the first people she meets in town, the owner of the feed store, makes her forget about her decision to forget men. Tom is tall, good-looking, a bit older, with three kids. His wife walked out on him five years ago and that has made him wary of getting hurt again, but still, Cait is the prettiest lady he's seen since.

The story is fairly slow-paced, the romance develops naturally. I liked it. I thought it was maybe a bit "talky" and I wished the author had developed the setting more - since this was in Australia I was hoping to get a mini-vacation while I read it. But it could have been set anywhere. I did like the bits of Australian lingo that came through - like cooking "snags and steaks on a BBQ" or using professional "removalists" when moving into a new home.

The characters were likable without being perfect. Cait is a bit neurotic but has a sense of humor, while Tom, who starts out as too good to be true, can be pig-headed. But their romance works. I also liked that they are older, and that there are kids involved, which made it feel a bit more real.

While I was reading this I felt a bit like I was reading an old Mills & Boon from my teen days. That's not a complaint - it had a retro sort of feel, I'm not sure why. The characters are modern though, maybe a bit too modern for my taste - they have sex on the first date, which becomes a source of misunderstanding between them. That said, the sex is not described - from kissing it basically goes to behind a closed bedroom door, so this is a clean romance.

I don't usually read contemporary romance these days, so I don't know if I'm a good reviewer for this. Overall I did like it.

Reviewed by VM on March 3, 2016