Format read: ebook provided by the publisherFormats available: ebook
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Series: Real Men #1
Length: 235 pages
Publisher: Entangled Publishing
Date Released: December 10, 2012
Purchasing Info: Author’s Website, Publisher’s Website, Goodreads, Amazon, Barnes & Noble
Ally Griffin is horrified to learn her new landlord is none other than the infuriating playboy Nate Hardy—the man whose wiles she just knows got her jilted at the altar six years ago. Add to it that her ex-fiancé Seth is showing up in her hometown of Burronga, Australia, to marry his beautiful new bride…for real this time. But the kicker? Everybody’s treating Ally as though she’s still heartbroken. She’s just fine, thank you very much, but could The Jilter have the decency not to hire her sister as his florist?
Nate Hardy is tired of his high-flying city career and bachelor lifestyle and is looking for something more real. The last thing he needs is to find himself undeniably attracted to Ally, the woman with whom he never saw eye-to-eye. But is he even capable of what Ally wants and deserves?
As Ally tries to pull her life out of the rut it’s fallen in, she doesn’t count on Nate stirring up her emotions. A short-term fling with the resident bad boy is practically irresistible, but only if she can guard her heart…
My Review:
Real Men Don’t Break Hearts by Coleen Kwan is simply a light and fun contemporary romance from Down Under.
It’s never a good day when you discover that your ex-fiance is coming home to get married. Especially when he’s coming home to marry someone rich and famous.
Not that Ally wants him back. Not marrying Seth was probably the best thing that happened to her. It’s just that, well, the rent on her gift shop is two months behind. And when Seth left her at the altar, her dreams of a future pretty much got left at the altar as well.
Six years later, she still hasn’t found any new dreams. The gift shop isn’t even her idea. When her Nana’s health started to fail, Ally was the one who was available to take over the shop. It might be in her name, but it’s still really Nana’s shop.
Ally wanted to open a coffee shop. Or go to University. Instead her life is on hold.
Then it all blows up. Her elderly landlord sells the building housing her shop and her apartment to Nate Hardy, the town’s former bad boy. Her ex-fiance’s best friend. The man who had to deliver the bad news to her that her wedding was off.
Ally’s sure that Nate never liked her. That he’s the one who convinced Seth to dump her. That he was happy when Seth left her. And now he’s back in town, and she’s sure he must be thrilled that his buddy can rub salt into her supposed wounds. No one knows that those wounds aren’t quite the ones that everyone thinks they are.
She throws soap at him. She throws him out of her shop. Ally now is nothing like the little goody-two-shoes Nate remembers.
And he can’t get her out of his mind.
Nate isn’t the bad boy that Ally remembers, either. He’s not a boy any more. He’s also not bad. He’s come back to town to re-open his brother’s landscaping business. To make up for a lot of past mistakes. To make a fresh start.
And she can’t get him out of her mind.
Maybe they can both finally leave the past behind them. Maybe they can make a fresh start…with each other.
Escape Rating B+: This is a lovely contemporary romance that will put a smile on your face when you finish. You might have a couple of tissues by your side, but that’s okay. They won’t be too damp.
Nate is a former bad boy who grows up and comes home to find out what he wants to do with his life and who he wants to be now that he’s grown up.
Ally has been wounded and her family has been protecting her for too long. She needs to take charge of her own life and decide what she wants to do instead of just drifting. The wounds were very deep, even more so because she’s kept them secret for so long.
They find each other at the right time. Their relationship starts out as “friends with benefits”, then they go through a certain amount of misunderstandammits as they start negotiating towards more.
Their reasons for their caution with each other are well-done. They have history but six years is long enough to put it behind them, if they work at it. Which they do.
Read Real Men Don’t Break Hearts for a sweet and well-earned happy ending.
