Second First Impressions

February 15, 2021
Thorne (99 Percent Mine, 2019) returns with a cozy romance set in a high-end retirement community. Young and beautiful Ruthie, the retirement villa's manager, is an old soul looking for a man who wants to snuggle up on the couch and watch her favorite shows. Despite her coworker's pleas to set her up using her "Sasaki Method," Ruthie's demanding job and trauma over her previous relationship make her reluctant to seek out love. When the CEO of the company that has acquired the retirement community coerces his carefree son, Teddy, to work for Ruthie while living on the property, she finds that maybe love is just next door. Thorne injects humor and emotion into Ruthie's story, along with a great cast of characters that make the setting come to life. Teddy is an easy-going, tattooed biker who drifts in and out of people's lives, while Ruthie is a steadfast, tidy worker reluctant to give up on her dreams for order and duty. They clash, but always in a playful, fun way that makes this romance the perfect low-angst read.

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March 1, 2021

Ruthie Midona has a perfectly safe life. During the day, she cares for the residents and the endangered tortoises at Providence Retirement Villa, and at night, she manages the online forum for her favorite TV show from her townhouse on Providence's property. Two simultaneous events cause Ruthie's world to tilt on its axis: two of the residents, the nonagenarian Parloni sisters, need a new assistant to boss around, and Providence's owner comes for an unscheduled visit to evaluate the grounds for a potential build site, with his hot, tattooed son in tow. Ruthie suddenly has carefree Teddy Prescott working as an assistant for the women while living in the townhouse next to Ruthie. As Teddy charms his way into her life, Ruthie begins to see how small and lonely her world has become. She'll have to decide how much of her heart and her safety she's willing to risk, while also trying to keep the place she loves up and running. VERDICT Following 99 Percent Mine, Thorne's latest novel is a sweet story, merging a woman whose fears tend to overpower her dreams, and a slow-burn romance that turns her world upside down.--Kellie Tilton, Univ. of Cincinnati Blue Ash

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March 15, 2021
A kindhearted, by-the-book heroine is drawn to a playful, charismatic tattooist. A preacher's daughter who was disgraced by making out with her boyfriend on prom night--when said boyfriend went to her father for counseling the next day--25-year-old Ruthie Midona has found refuge as the live-in office manager of the Providence Retirement Villa and creator of a fan forum for a wholesome TV show called Heaven Sent. Just as she's getting ready to date for the first time since that disastrous prom, other changes threaten her safe routine, including a corporate takeover of the retirement community and the arrival of the new owner's ne'er-do-well son, Teddy Prescott. Though Melanie, the Villa's office temp who's serving as Ruthie's amateur dating coach, judges Teddy as too risky for Ruthie, his disarming behavior undermines Ruthie's pragmatic judgment that he's a rolling stone. When Teddy needs a place to live and his father lets him move into the Villa if he earns his keep, he becomes the temporary caretaker for two eccentric seniors, and Ruthie glimpses signs of a compassionate character and a skilled artist under his careless facade. Writing from Ruthie's first-person perspective, Thorne manages to bring all the characters to vivid life, endearing them to the reader through the enumeration of their quirks and fleeting revelations about their pasts. Each scene between the protagonists--whose first meeting will make you laugh and wince simultaneously--is a delight, as is Ruthie's motley found family. The turning point in Ruthie's professional and personal arc is unsurprising, but the denouement is joyful in more ways than one. Charming, funny, and heartwarming.

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