Winning Her Guarded Heart by Cora ReedMy rating: 2 of 5 stars
I wanted to like Cora Reed's "Winning Her Guarded Heart" so much more than I actually did. Unfortunately, I didn't find either of the main characters to be particularly likeable and there was a lot about the story that didn't make sense to me. The female lead, Joanna, was particularly frustrating. I'm not sure she should have been counseling others when she seemed to be in need of counseling herself! She couldn't admit to her fear of commitment for most of the book, instead claiming that she didn't want to be in a serious relationship only because she "liked her life the way it was." In addition, I couldn't figure out why Joanna had waited to lose her virginity until she moved back to her hometown. She spent several years living in another city for school and work, so it's not like she was still living under her parents' roof. Did she never date at all? Was she looking for a way to lash out at her father because she knew that he was likely to hear gossip about her behavior after she returned home?
I also found the story to be very slow-paced at times. It dragged through most of the middle and didn't start to pick up until the suspense plot involving male lead Micah's poaching investigation became the main focus, about 2/3 of the way through the book. Around that same time, however, I really started to notice the author's gratuitous use of adverbs. Nearly every line of dialogue ended in "...said, ...ly." ("Gently" seemed to be a favorite. So many people said things to Joanna "gently" that I actually began to wonder if she was a skittish horse instead of a person.) Once I noticed the pattern, it became pretty much the only thing I could see and distracted me from the story greatly. I became so annoyed with the repetition that I almost quit reading several times, but since I was close to the end, I decided to stick it out.
Overall, while I can't say that "Winning Her Guarded Heart" is the worst book I've ever read, I certainly didn't care for the story and the author's writing style drove me crazy. I cannot recommend this book, and I don't think I'll be picking up any of the author's other books, either.
*Review copy provided by the author via Hidden Gems Books. All opinions expressed are my own.
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