Tidal Patterns by Rachelle Paige
Released: April 12, 2016
Contemporary/Inspirational Romance
Self Published

Reviewed by Kini

The premise of this books sounded very promising to me. The hero and heroine work together yet get in each other’s way. I’ve read books with this trope before and it can lead to some serious sexual tension, so I was in.

Lizzie is the only wedding planner on staff at a resort hotel. Her parents recently passed away and she is living in their beach home. Mark is in charge of the business side of catering and is kind of broody, has no family and one good friend on the island.

They both end up in contention for a promotion to be Manager of Special Events and because the big boss of the company is a ginormous dick, he dismisses Lizzie for the promotion and gives it to Mark instead. Lizzie is miffed at first, but quickly agrees to work with Mark. Lizzie is fantastic at her job, organized, customer focused and three steps ahead of Mark. I liked Lizzie’s confidence about her job, that was probably the best part of this book. There is a major event that falls and Mark almost lets it fall apart, but Lizzie saves it. He acts horribly and there was not nearly enough groveling.

This book dragged for me. Lots of things were happening, but never in a lot of detail. Lizzie’s parents died and in the will demanded she return to art school in order to get her share of their estate. I was never convinced that she felt like she had to have that inheritance. There was a minor mention that she may have been in the car with them, but I never saw more about that. I never felt connected to Mark, nor did I buy into his intent to have a relationship with Lizzie.

When I got the book link, I saw it is tagged as Clean and Wholesome and Inspirational and I tried to keep an open mind. I prefer books with open door love scenes but I am willing to give others a chance. This book could also be described as a slow burn. Like super slow, pretty much non-existent. I think clean and wholesome can still express feelings and desire. Maybe I am wrong. I felt no inspiration from it either.

I didn’t hate this book, but I didn’t really like it either. I felt like there was a lot of potential in this story between Lizzie and Mark. I just felt a little empty after finishing the book. There were a lot of spelling errors. Although this is marketed and labeled as a Romance, I felt like it was more Women’s Lit and more about Lizzie’s growth and not so much the romance.

Grade: C-

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