This RITA® Reader Challenge 2015 review was written by KellyM. This story was nominated for the RITA® in the Mid-Length Contemporary category.
The summary:
Marine Luke Fletcher is determined to do his duty—first to his country and now to his ten-year-old daughter, the unexpected legacy of a high school girlfriend. But his homecoming to Dare Island in North Carolina’s Outer Banks challenges his plans for the future and forces him to face everything that’s missing in his life. He wasn’t prepared to lose his heart to this child he never knew. Or to fall hard for coolly reserved small town lawyer Kate Dolan.
Former military brat Kate knows Marines can make lousy fathers…and she’s got the scars to prove it. Giving her heart to a man who’s bent on leaving seems one sure way to have it broken.
Now, no matter what it takes, Luke must prove to Kate and to his daughter that Semper Fi is more than a motto—and to himself that there’s more than one way to be a hero.
Here is KellyM's review:
Carolina Man is the third book in the Dare Island series, and it’s my favorite so far. Early in book one (Carolina Home), we’re introduced to Matt’s dog Fezzik, who’s named after a character in the movie The Princess Bride. Quotes and characters and bits from some of my favorite movies are a continuing theme throughout this series. Do you like The Princess Bride, Monty Python and the Holy Grail, and When Harry Met Sally? Good, because they all show up at some point in this series. And I bet I missed some others along the way. Did anyone catch other movie references that I missed?
Carolina Man follows Luke and Kate, who met earlier in the series when Kate had to tell Luke about a surprise kid that his high school girlfriend had. Taylor is ten years old, her mother just died, something bad happened to her while she was staying with her maternal grandparents, and she’s spent the series getting used to living with her father’s relatives who she’s just met. Now Luke is home from Afghanistan and he must try to build a relationship with Taylor. I usually don’t like when kids show up in my romance novels, but I liked how this story arc was done. Kantra spends quite a bit of time in the first two books building Taylor’s story, and it ties together well in Carolina Man. As a result, though you could probably pick up this book without reading the others first, I think you’d have a better reading experience if you read these three books in order.
The romance between Luke and Kate is a nice mix of instant attraction and a slow building relationship, which sets up a lot of delicious emotional and sexual tension. Kate is the daughter of a Marine. Her father was abusive, and she doesn’t have much of a relationship with her mother. Kate is guarded and suspicious of the speed at which she’s falling for Luke, who seems too good to be true. I liked her journey and how carefully he handled her.
Luke was, at times, almost too good to be true. But I think his near perfection was a prefect sticking point for Kate’s suspicious nature. He did mess up a couple of times but he always fixed things quickly when he needed to.
There are some pretty steamy scenes in this story – I particularly liked the best Christmas ever scene. I felt like Meg’s book, Carolina Girl, was a little light on sexy times. But this is definitely a kissing book.
There’s not really a big emotional dark moment for Luke and Kate in this story. This is more a simple story of two normal likeable people getting to know each other while carefully navigating a pretty quick courtship. There’s enough going on in other areas of their lives that a dark moment followed by serious groveling would have been overwhelming and ultimately unnecessary.
The introduction of Jack Rossi, the next book’s hero, felt a little obvious. Like planting an “insert hero here” flag in the middle of the story. But did his introduction put me off enough to skip his book? As Vizzini would say: Inconceivable!
I’m so glad to hear that you like it! I finished the first one in the series the other day and now I’m in the middle of the second. It’s good to know Luke’s story is one to look forward to!
Virginia Kantra is one of the first romance writers I ever read. (I started with her Children of the Sea paranormal series.) I think she is SO SKILLED as a writer, and I’m surprised I don’t hear more people buzzing about her. I liked the paranormals so much I ventured into a couple of contemporaries, and though I’m still not that interested in contemporaries, I thought she was so good with dialogue and characterization.
At KellyM, I agree with you on the Christmas scene! Nice review. Virginia Kantra is one of my favorite contemporary writers. I love how she has imagined the Fletcher family and their place on the Outer Banks. Luke’s story has been my favorite so far.