4 Stars
Publisher: Dragonfly Press
Date of publication: September 12th, 2018
Genre: Romance
Series: Welcome to Otter Trail
An Unlikely Setup—Book 1
Can’t Stand the Heat—Book 2 (review here)
Life Rewritten—Book 3 (review here)
For Baby and Me—Book 4 (review here)
Where you can find An Unlikely Setup: Amazon | Barnes and Noble
Goodreads synopsis:
Maddie’s teenage crush humiliated her fifteen years ago. Now Quinn runs the Otter Tail pub that Maddie inherited and needs to sell. Too bad Maddie’s high school crush on Quinn is still alive and kicking.
Quinn wants to buy the pub, but can’t afford Maddie’s price, so he plays dirty. His smile, bright blue eyes, and broad shoulders are just his first bid. As they get reacquainted, they realize someone else has plans for the pub. Plans that endanger Maddie and Quinn – and the rest of Otter Tail.
Can Maddie and Quinn save the pub? Can they put their past behind to create a future together?
My review:
Maddie has returned to Otter Tail after leaving 15 years earlier. When her beloved godfather passed away from leukemia, he left her a house and a pub. Otter Trail has no good memories for her and Maddie plans on leaving as soon as the pub and house are sold. But she is forced to face those memories when she learns that Quinn is managing the pub. Quinn is the reason she never returned to Otter Trail. Quinn and Maddie are soon at odds over what will happen to the pub. Can Maddie and Quinn get over the past? Will they have their HEA or will everything blow up in their faces.
I enjoy reading books where the hero and heroine have to overcome the odds to be together. An Unlikely Setup is such a book. Maddie had to overcome what happened in the past to be with Quinn. Quinn had to overcome his anger and grief to be with Maddie. Both had a hard time of overcoming past and current hurts to forge a relationship with each other. I loved it. I loved that it showed how hard it is to overcome the past. Maddie and Quinn struggled with it. Quinn more than Maddie.
I did like Maddie and I did feel bad for her about what happened between her and Quinn in the past. I had some of the same issues that Maddie did when I was a teen. It hurts to be rejected like that. But, dwelling on it for 15 years? That was a bit much. And judging a whole town on how their teenagers treated her 15 years past was a bit much too. I did like that Maddie was able to finally reconcile her hurt feelings when she talked to Quinn about what happened.
I wasn’t too sure about what Quinn wanted with Maddie. I was starting to think that he was only doing things for her because he wanted the pub. And that the attraction he had to her was part of his end game. I hate writing that because he did keep me guessing. But after Maddie’s house got vandalized, I realized that he cared for her. I do wish that his “secret” was addressed sooner in the book. I did kind of figure out what was going on but still. It would have been nice to hear about it upfront.
The sexual attraction between Quinn and Maddie was understated at times but when it flared up, it was red hot. I loved the whole scene when she wore the skirt to work. I loved seeing Quinn getting turned on. I loved knowing that Maddie knew what it was doing to him. The sexual attraction gave away to some amazing sex scenes. I had to fan myself after some of them. Sex on the beach in the moonlight? Thank you very much!!
The plotline involving Maddie, her secret, Quinn and the pub was well written. I was surprised by Quinn’s reaction to the naughty secret (you have to read the book). His reaction to her main secret was what I thought it was going to be. I mean, how else was he supposed to feel? Happy that he destroyed a teenage Maddie’s confidence. His reaction to Maddie meeting with the store rep was a bit much. But I get it. I would have freaked out too.
The secondary plotlines and characters were as well written as the main plotline. I liked how she merged the secondary plotlines with the main one at the end of the book. Also, I liked how the secondary characters added that extra “Oomph” to the storyline.
The end of the book was amazing. I had a huge smile at how everything ended. It was perfect!!
I gave An Unlikely Setup a 4-star rating. This was a fast-paced romance novel. The plotlines were fantastic. The characters were well written. This was a book that I enjoyed reading. I also cannot wait to read book 2!!
I would give An Unlikely Setup an Adult rating. There is explicit sex. There is language. There is violence. There are triggers. They would be the death of a parent/parental figure and bullying. I would recommend that no one under the age of 21 read this book.
I would reread An Unlikely Setup. I would also recommend this book to family and friends. I would include a note about the triggers, though.
I would like to thank the author and Dragonfly Press for allowing me to read and review An Unlikely Setup.
All opinions stated in this review of An Unlikely Setup are mine.
**I voluntarily reviewed a complimentary copy of this book**
4 thoughts on “An Unlikely Setup (Welcome to Otter Trail: Book 1) by Margaret Watson”