Reviewed by Dee
TITLE: Vacationland
AUTHOR: Susan X. Meagher
PUBLISHER: Brisk Press
LENGTH: 477 pages
Release Date: December 28, 2017
BLURB:
Imagine five days in early March vacationing in Maine’s pristine wilderness. Snow-shoeing, cross-country skiing, even some ice-fishing, all spent in surprisingly pleasant temperate conditions.
Now re-imagine that scene, but make it a team-building exercise with co-workers you’re not overly fond of. The bloom falls off that chilly rose pretty quickly, at least from Sunny Thompson’s perspective.
But when they meet their guide, the remarkably pretty, stunningly fit Devin Savary, Sunny’s opinion starts to change.
Devin’s fun, playful, and patient, something the little group of Dallas natives desperately needs. Now all they have to do is bond, a silly waste of time in Sunny’s view. You can’t force people to rely on each other by fiat. That only comes from being tested, a situation unlikely to happen when you’re traveling with a woman everyone seems to agree is one of Maine’s best guides. What could possibly go wrong?
REVIEW:
This story is told in third person, past tense, and from both heroine’s points of view, that right there was a win for me! I love getting into both leads heads, and make no mistake, by the end of this full-length novel, these two will be ingrained in your daily life.
If you’re the type of reader who likes to power through a book every few days, you might find yourself frustrated with the languid pace. I must admit, after the first gut-wrenching, harrowing event, I wanted to put a firecracker up someone’s backside and leapfrog the plot, but that was the impatient reader in me bursting forth.
Although this story starts out on a rather depressing note, thankfully, it’s far from all doom and gloom.
These ladies have the road to love paved with obstacles. What I loved the most about that was it all felt so realistic, not once did this story come across as convoluted, drama for the sake of drama.
Quote: “They didn’t know each other well, but they’d bonded—deeply—over a tragedy that neither of them could have predicted.”
I take my hat off to the author for taking the time to fully develop everything about this story. The setting, the characters, the angst, the resolution; even an education on how to poop in the wilderness in sub-zero temperatures.
More than once, the country girl meets city girl aspect of this story reminded me of the movie Crocodile Dundee. And, that’s a good thing, it was fun!
The story contains a touch of spice but, for the most part, the sex scenes are fade to black. If you love a long, slow burn romance you can’t go wrong by picking up a copy of ‘Vacationland’.
RATING: 
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