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MuseAndRamble

Musings and Ramblings

Of a self professed bookworm and geek girl.

The Reason is You

The Reason is You - Sharla Lovelace This book is a stand alone, not part of any series (that I know of). I will be honest and say that I signed up for this book tour and review because after reading the first chapter, I was excited and hooked. Add in the paranormal romance genre and I was soooo there. Now after reading the book, I feel exhausted, simply wasted emotionally. This book ran the gamut of emotions and took me on a roller coaster of highs and lows, moving from one extreme to another.

This is the story of 40 year old Danielle Shane. She is moving back to Bethany, Texas and her father's house with her 16 year old daughter Riley in tow. Dani has lost her job as a graphic designer in Texas and hasn't been able to find work. To keep a roof over her daughter's head and food on the table, the options are limited. She is just worried that her reputation as the "weird girl" will taint Riley. That is until she finds out that Riley has her same weird gift - the ability to see and talk to the dead. How does she explain this to Riley without sounding crazy?

On the job front, Dani manages to get a job working in the local Bait 'n Feed scheduling the fishing charters and selling bait. This is such a step down from what she was doing, she refuses to list her former job history on the application. But since she is a hometown girl, and her father is still a large part of the fishing community, she easily gets the job. Dani finds out that the Bait 'n Feed has a new owner, a smoking hot new member of the community, Jason Miller. Dani is introduced to him after she rear ends him on the way into work, and only later finds out that he is her boss. Watching Dani and Jason dance around each other, striking sparks and trying to figure each other out was a great part of the story.

Then there is Dani's relationship with her daughter Riley and her dad Nathaniel. Being a part of their interactions and dynamic gave some much needed comedic relief to some of the heaviest emotional parts of this book. I had figured out Dani's unique relationship with Alex before she did and I can understand why she was blind to the connection. What a massive discovery to make and have to deal with.

I spent quite a few sections of the book in tears. Typically I just don't read books that I know will make me cry. However, I quickly was invested in the story and just had to see it through. But this story also had me laughing and snickering out loud as well as repeating dialogue to myself. This is what I meant by the emotional roller coaster.

This book felt much more like contemporary romance or even chick lit than it did paranormal romance. Yes, there are definitely paranormal aspects and it's a romance, but it just didn't have the feel of other books in the genre. That is not necessarily a bad thing as other people may prefer chick lit to paranormal romance and this could be a nice bridge to the genre. It was a good book, with humor and great dialogue, but I am not sure if I like feeling this wrung out from reading the book. Although I am sure that will be just the thing that others love about this book. Bottom line, I am giving this book 3 stars on Goodreads and a suggestion to check it out for yourself.