What it Takes by Shannon Stacey (Kowalski Family #10)
Released: February 28, 2017
Contemporary Romance
Carina Press
Reviewed by Mandi
I’ve really enjoyed the Kowalski series over the years. I’ve not read the entire series, but several, especially those in the beginning. It’s a nice contemporary series – it makes me laugh, and the heroes and heroines are nice and a little dirty. A good combination.
This book has a stand alone romance but is also a reunion book. We meet Laney, whose cousin lives in Whitford, Main, the main gathering place for the Kowalski family. She is recently divorced and takes a job at the Northern Star Lodge as a camp keeper of sorts. She is going to keep an eye on the campground for the summer season and help clean the camping bathrooms, among other chores. She was married to a wealthy man who took away her personality and free spirit. All Laney wants to do is to live in her little camper for the summer and find herself again.
Ben moves to Whitford from the city and is a paramedic. He is a little surprised how…country…Whitford is. He loves the people, but the fire department and rescue is not quite what he is used to. The Lodge has incorporated ATV trails into it’s entertainment packages, and that means a lot of people taking advantage of this. Good money for the Lodge but also a lot of accidents. Ben gets his fair share of patching people up in this book. I really liked the inclusion of the ATVs in this book – it added a lot to the campground experience.
Ben has never been married and very attracted to Laney when they first meet. But he can tell she isn’t ready for a relationship so they become friends first. When the entire Kowalski clan comes up to the Lodge for a two-week family reunion, Laney and Ben are kept busy but start to fall in love.
The romance in this book is definitely not the most passionate, or memorable romance in a Kowalski book, but I didn’t mind it so much because I liked seeing the family reunion. It’s just a nice, easy book that made me smile and entertained me for a few hours. I would have liked a little more emphasis on their romance but what we get is cute.
We also get Sean and Emma’s point of view for some chapters and I love me some Sean!! (he is the post-it-notes guy from Yours to Keep – which is a SUPER cute book and you should read it). They have a minor side story.
If you are a fan of this series, definitely pick this one up. If you’ve never read this series, you should try one or two from the beginning.
Grade: B
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