PB Romance Linz
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Teen librarian Marissa Bennett has just went through a painful divorce and wants to start over in her hometown of Hopeful, OH. Unfortunately, she doesn't exactly make the best first impression when she makes a wrong turn and accidentally crashes the Founder's Day in her beat up lime green VW bug. She's pulled over by hunky cop Connor Doyle. Doyle is a former, third generation Chicago police officer who moved to Hopeful after seeing too many of the teens he was trying to protect from gangs wind up murdered. He also has a history with Marissa. They dated when she was in high school and they worked at the same pizza place. Connor dumped her with not even so much as a phone call. Naturally, she still hates him.
However, the fates seem to keep on pushing them together. First, Marissa and Connor are forced to work together on a teen group. Then, Marissa accidentally signs a lease next to Connor. No way these two adversaries get over their mutual disdain and find true love, right?
Praise: Cathie Linz is a former librarian, so the portrayal of Marissa's job is pretty accurate. I like the support characters a lot, especially Connor's extremely proud, Polish granny. Marissa's dad, a history professor who turns every conversation into a dissertation on ancient Egypt, is pretty funny too. Also, I found the obstacles to Marissa and Connor's relationship refreshingly realistic. Marissa is on the rebound and has been hurt by Connor once before, and Connor isn't ready to settle down yet.
Quibbles: I'm kind of tired of the police officer/ librarian pairing. This is the third library romance where the love interest is an officer. Nothing against dreamy cops (or anyone dreamy), but I'd like a little more variety! Why not a dreamy firefighter or chef for a change?
Overall, this book was pretty enjoyable. It's not too sappy or emotional like some of the romances that I've read. Some parts of the book are laugh-out loud funny. Tempted Again reads more like witty chick-lit than a traditional romance novel.
