Title: Only the Beginning
Author: Daphne Dubois
Author Links: Website | Facebook | Twitter | Goodreads
Publisher: The Wild Rose Press, Inc.
Release Date: April 25, 2018
Genre: Contemporary, Romance
ARC Received From & Hosted By: Xpresso Book Tours
After a heartbreaking betrayal, Melissa Legacy shuns romance. So when her best friend joins the Lovers Oasis website and fears her fiancé will find out, Melissa agrees to meet the anonymous Romeo, prepared to explain her friend’s change of heart—then she sees him.
Failing restaurant entrepreneur, Craig Wheaton hasn’t been home since his mother’s tragic death. Now he’s back to confront his demons and stand beside his brother as best man. Dreading the reunion, he agrees to meet his avatar lover, but at the last moment he reconsiders the arrangement—until he lays eyes on her.
When Craig assumes Melissa is his online consort, she impulsively plays along, resulting in an afternoon of unexpected intimacy. But with Melissa using her friend’s identity and Craig dealing with a family fallout, is a future together impossible, or will they discover that love at first sight is Only the Beginning?
Old demons and an omission of truth are black marks in any relationship, fictional or not. While one can be faced and overcome, the other is harder to move past because trust and honesty are part of any healthy relationship.
Craig and Melissa's relationship is conventionally unconventional. Online dating is a modern marvel. The anonymity allows for freedom that even mutual friend set ups did back in the day. There's security in hiding behind an avatar, but there's also room for so many errors. Like omission of truth, whether that be appearance, actual relationship status, age, etc.
While I enjoyed the ease between Craig and Melissa, while I smiled at their chemistry and attraction, I struggled with her pretending to be her friend as well as why she met Craig in the first place. I get cold feet while planning a wedding. The task and stress of making sure The Day is perfect is enough to send any bride into a spiral of crazy, but to head into online dating? That really boggled my mind.
It was certainly different to read about.
Blatant dishonesty is hard for me to accept in a story, even though, in some cases, it's a necessity to endure because of the outcome. That being said, Craig and Melissa's story isn't all sunshine, roses, and Central Park picnics. It has those moments of incredible sweetness, tenderness, and warmth that made me yearn for their combined happiness. But it also moments of turmoil, emotional upheaval, and struggle, that made me frustrated and wanting to yell at them and everyone else.
The road to happily ever after isn't easy. The pitfalls encountered can be more damaging than encouraging. There was plenty of smooth traveling and bumps along the way in this story, but the ending made the journey worth experiencing.
Daphne Dubois writes contemporary romance and believes the right book at the right time can make all the difference. When she's not putting her characters in compromising positions (ahem), she works as a registered nurse. A member of the Writer's Federation of Nova Scotia, she lives in Eastern Canada, the most romantic place in the world.
You can also find her writing for teens as B.R. Myers.
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