Reviewed by Larissa

TITLE: Clean Slate

SERIES: The Goode Life Book 1

AUTHOR: Isla Olsen

PUBLISHER: Self-published

RELEASE DATE: February 3, 2021

LENGTH: 164 pages

BLURB: 

Zack

Twelve years ago, I thought I had everything figured out: I’d go off to college, get my marketing degree, come back to my charming little hometown of Finchley in California’s Gold Country, help my high school sweetheart build his carpentry business, and live happily ever after…

Ha! That’s teenage naivety for you.

Instead, on the eve of my college departure, Slater Goode (henceforth known as The Devil) ripped my heart out of my chest and stomped all over it. Figuratively.

But I don’t care about that anymore. At. All. I have a great life in Chicago… I mean, things aren’t exactly rosy right now, what with my boyfriend slash boss cheating on me, and then losing my job over that little vandalism incident… But that’s just a blip. Things will get better. They have to. I’ll be damned if I’ll be returning home to Finchley with my tail between my legs.

But then I get some news: The Devil’s grandfather, whom I love as if he were my own, has passed away in a tragic mishap of the coital nature, and missing his funeral is not an option.

Despite my desperate prayers, when I return home I’m appalled to find The Devil has not been the victim of some disfiguring flesh-eating disease. Nope, if anything he’s even hotter. And he’s sweet, and funny, and everything I remember falling for back in high school. But he’s still The Devil who shattered my heart and there’s no way I’ll give him the chance to do it again.

Exes with benefits, though? Now that could be an idea…

Come visit Finchley, CA, where the sun’s always shining, the locals are always gossiping, and you won’t walk two steps without bumping into a member of the Goode family. If you’re lucky, you might find gold; or, even better…true love. 

REVIEW: 

You know the expression, “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it”?  That apparently served as author Isla Olsen’s motto when penning Clean Slate, the first book in her new The Goode Life series.  Ms. Olsen’s predecessor Love & Luck series followed the lives and romances of the large Kelly family (eleven Kelly siblings), their significant others and friends.  The Goode Life series appears to follow suit.  It revolves around the Goode family.  An apparently huge family who almost all live in the small-ish town of Finchley, California.  There are thirteen grandchildren, and all of those cousins, and their friends, will no doubt be the focus of the romances portrayed throughout the series.  

Different family, different place, same blueprint.  

Even one of the hallmarks of the Love & Luck series, the inspired, hilarious Kelly clan group text chats, is cribbed. Those Kelly group texts consist of rapid dialogue, ping-ponging back and forth between eleven or more people about all kinds of topics ranging from serious to ludicrous. There’s an attempt to reproduce that through the private Facebook group “Finchley Locals Community Hangout”, although less successfully. 

All of this is to say that Clean Slate doesn’t deliver a whole lot that is “new”.  But honestly, I don’t think I expected much deviation from what came before.  I happen to really like the Love & Luck series so I don’t mind getting more similar content with different names and faces.  However, I hope that the mold starts to at least chip, if not break, as the series moves on.  Even great writing and clever material can stagnate.

Our couple, Slater Goode and his erstwhile boyfriend and childhood sweetheart Zack Cartwright, are adorable.  (Although, I did have to get past the presumably unintended throwback reference to the 80’s sitcom Saved by the Bell). They are both sweet and sexy with off-the-charts chemistry.  

Slater’s got a cocky edge to him.  He’s ostensibly a cool, self-confident character.  In fact, he appears so sure of himself and the outcome of his reunion with Zack that initially it reads as presumption. That is until you get to know Slater better and realize the cockiness is hiding insecurity and desperation. Slater is wholeheartedly in love with Zack, has been since high school, and desperately wants him back.  He hides his vulnerability behind his swagger but as the book goes on, all that hidden emotion starts to show through.  His attitude actually presumes nothing, but rather attempts to wish what he wants into existence.  To create a self-fulfilling prophecy of sorts. 

Zack, for his part, seems a bit lost.  It’s clear there’s been a Slater-sized hole in his heart since they parted ways after graduation.  He’s wounded and confused and is fighting against his instincts because … well, hell if I know.  His resistance didn’t make a whole lot of sense to me, frankly, although I heard the justification he was selling.

Together, Slater and Zack really worked.  As the story progressed and things picked up steam, the story, and their romance, got into a groove and I was there for it.  By the time the dual epilogues rolled around, I was already eagerly anticipating Book 2.

However, one thing I haven’t yet mentioned, but I would be remiss if I didn’t point out, is the return of one other aspect of the Love & Luck series:  the author’s “sink or swim” writing style.  Ms. Olsen does not attempt to ease the reader into the story by slowly introducing the cast in small groupings.  Instead, she drops the reader into the deep water with a slew of characters and activity and assumes we’re willing and able to swim. There’s a perfunctory list of characters provided at the front of the book, but that’s hardly a life vest. 

Sure, we’ll eventually (presumably) figure it all out, but it takes a lot of mental energy to try to keep track of who’s who when you have no reference point.  It’s distracting.  Also, I’m one of those readers that likes to understand the details, so it’s equally frustrating to know you’re missing content and context because you’re confused about character identities and connections. 

So be forewarned, if you are like me, you’ll find that the beginning of Clean Slate is rough.  First, the prologue drops you into the middle of a private scene between Slater and Zack.  Then we are immediately thrown into the middle of a backyard BBQ with Goode cousins and relatives right, left and center, as well as friends and acquaintances including Slater’s roommate, Chance, and members of their old Finchley High School baseball team.  My head was spinning.  All the random people in the periphery distracted me from Slater and Zack’s romantic storyline. It took awhile for things to settle down enough for me to focus.  

Overall, though, Clean Slate is a sweet, sexy, if similar story, with strong MCs who have smokin’ hot chemistry, and a smorgasbord of characters with stories to tell.  If you liked Love & Luck, you’ll like this book.  If you haven’t read Love & Luck, you definitely should, but you can also start on The Goode Life too. 

Ultimately, I think the book’s title reflects the story: Clean Slate creates a clean slate for Slater and Zack to start over and flourish in their second chance romance.  But for the reader, the slate really wasn’t cleaned at all.  So long as you are good with more fun stories premised on the tried and true, you’ll find Clean Slate to be a fun, amusing, irreverent, sexy and ultimately heartwarming, happy read.

RATING:

BUY LINK: 

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