In a nutshell, while I enjoyed the book, I think it suffered from the built up anticipation on my part. I pre-ordered this book MONTHS in advance and was SO excited, that I think that build up caused me to be a tad disappointed. However, that doesn’t mean it was a bad book. It’s not! I consider it a good introduction to characters we’ll hopefully get to know more in-depth as the series continues.
This is the condensed description for “Moments Like This,” courtesy of Amazon.com:
After Andrea “Andie” Matthews chooses her career over a marriage proposal and then loses a promotion she worked so hard for, she jumps at the chance to take a break and help run a friend’s coffee shop. Alone in Hawaii, Andie befriends the staff and quickly grows to care for them, making her determined to revive the company.
As luck would have it, she meets the mysterious Warren Yates on Christmas Eve. They share a cup of coffee, some conversation, and even a moment, which leads to many more in the coming weeks.
Unfortunately, the book had some issues that I hope will be resolved as Gomez and Polaha continue their writing partnership. While I loved the in jokes that were clearly a nod to Polaha’s lovely wife and his work on Hallmark, and most of the characters were likeable, I just didn’t necessarily feel connected to them, or heavily invested in their story.
That’s not to say there was no character development (I appreciated that the book told the story from both Andie’s perspective AND Warren’s perspective), but when I neared the end of “Moments” I was a bit surprised that Andie and Warren found each other again. We were were told he did things to win her back, but we didn’t get to experience them. And since we never got to see Warren’s attempts to win her back, the ending didn’t feel 100% earned.
Despite this, the book is absolutely a great beach read. Light and fluffy with a touch of humor, author Anna Gomez along with co-author Kristoffer Polaha are a winning combination. “Moments” is the first of a multi-book series called “From Kona With Love.” According to Polaha, they are already working on the next several installments. Even with its faults, the story moved along at a good pace, never lagged and entertained me.
Moments Like This is worth checking out and is an easy breezy summer read. I’m looking forward to future books in the series. I give it a solid 3.5 sunsets out of 5. The question we all ask: Will this be made into a Hallmark movie or series? Answer: I hope so!
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