Release Blitz + Review: "Bitter Love" by Emily Goodwin

Today, I'm pleased to take part in the release blitz celebrating "Bitter Love" by Emily Goodwin, book #2 of the Silver Ridge series. ("Backup Plan" and "Desperate Times," the duet that kicked off the series, are in the process of being combined into a single book.) Characters from the previous book (as well as the earlier Dawson Family series) make brief appearances in this one, but it reads as a standalone. 

Becoming a mom at 17 meant that Josie Walker had to give up her dream of being a veterinarian, but there's nothing she wouldn't do for her 14-year-old daughter Everly. When she learns that Everly is being bullied and school officials aren't doing anything to address the situation, single mom Josie decides to pull her daughter out of class and take her to visit her Aunt Kim in the small town of Silver Ridge. Everly shares Josie's love of horses, and she hopes that spending time with the animals at Kim's horse rescue will be therapeutic for them both. When Kim suddenly passes away shortly after their arrival, leaving the farm to Josie, she decides to stay in Silver Ridge permanently and take over her aunt's rescue work. Unfortunately, local veterinarian Jacob Harris isn't pleased with Josie's decision; he doesn't think she fully understands the amount of work or the financial commitment involved in caring for Kim's animals, many of which have been traumatized by years of neglect and abuse. She's determined to prove him wrong, no matter how difficult it may be.

The enemies-to-lovers aspect of Jacob and Josie's romance was very well done. There was genuine conflict and a constant push-pull between them that gave their relationship a great deal of depth and complexity. That said, while I am generally a huge fan of the slow burn trope, the slow burn between Josie and Jacob was almost painfully slow. They didn't even kiss for the first time until 85% in the Kindle edition! It was ON after that, however; things got very steamy, very quickly. I will also note that this is a slow-paced, character-driven story, complete with lots of introspection from both Jacob and Josie. For the most part, that didn't bother me, though TBH I could have done without a few of Josie's inner monologues (particularly the one on her aunt's cremation).

Overall, I did enjoy "Bitter Love" and would recommend it for fans of angsty/emotional contemporary romance. It's certainly a unique story, and the author's passion and love of horses shines through in her writing. I look forward to picking up the next book in the series, hopefully featuring Jacob's brother Mason.
 

*Review copy provided by the author via Valentine PR. All opinions expressed are my own.

 

About "Bitter Love"

If there's one thing I know to be certain in life, it's to expect the unexpected. I never expected to become a teen mom or have to flee a toxic relationship years later. And I certainly never expected to go head-to-head with Jacob Harris, doctor of veterinary medicine, to prove I'm worthy of running the struggling rescue full of misfit animals I suddenly inherited.

Jacob is as smug as he is good looking, and I refuse to let that cocky grin or sharp jawline distract me. I won't go down without a fight, and this time, it'll be easy to stand my ground when my opponent is someone I can't stand--even though my body reacts whenever he's around. This time I'm not backing down no matter how much he gets under my skin.

But the more I push, the more he pulls...until I don't know what I'm more at a risk of losing: the rescue or my heart.