Review: Surrender (Seaside Pictures, #4) by Rachel Van Dyken


Print Length: 368 pages
Publisher: Van Dyken Enterprises LLC (June 23, 2020)

From Goodreads.com:  I've always been pretty bad about following the rules.
And my protégé only gave me one.
Stop hitting on his mom.
But I can't stop thinking about her, and as a famous rockstar, I've always gotten what I wanted.
One week. I asked for one week of her time, where I would help Bronte get her groove back.
And then I'd walk out of her life the way I came storming in—through her front door.
The only problem is, now that I've had a taste, I've developed another addiction—her.
It doesn't help that all of my bandmates are finally settling down and getting married, but I've always sworn never to surrender.
Until her.
 



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My Rating: 4 stars out of 5

This was a thoroughly enjoyable stand-alone story set in the world of Seaside, Oregon. It was nice to see some familiar faces, but not having read many of the Seaside Pictures spin off of books, I didn't feel like I was lost or missing out by having characters mentioned that I hadn't seen before. 


Speaking to the characters, I definitely liked Bronte a heck of a lot more than I liked Drew. She was relatable, she was realistic. A broken woman who threw herself into being the best mother to her kids that she could be (even if her kids were basically grown). I definitely would have liked to see more wooing from Drew and less sexual innuendos and flat out sex talk. Especially when he propositions her and she gently, but firmly tells him no and he retorts with how she "needs it". Dude I know you're famous and not used to hearing that word, but you know the woman has been celibate for fourteen years (because you ASKED her), let her enjoy "dating" you before she jumps into bed with you.

In fact, a big part of what was so annoying about his character is that there was no reason for all the "dirty talk" - there were so many scenes that were just SO romantic (like when they watched the sunset together), that when he suddenly would ask her things like can she wrap her legs around his face - the entire moment was ruined for me. It made it seem like while Bronte was interested in ALL of him, he was only interested in getting between her legs in any way he could. That made me lose interest in him fairly early on, and continue to be annoyed with him when this happened over and over again. Although I have to laugh at the very inventive ways Bronte continued to turn him down.

There were some definite moments of character growth for Bronte, one of the biggest being her learning to overcome her fears and let her guard down enough for Drew to become a part of her life in the first place especially given the fact that it was only supposed to be for a week. And Drew (when he wasn't being the aforementioned horndog) did do a great job of being "not-dad" to her youngest daughter Amelia. In fact, numerous times I found myself laughing out loud at the antics not only of Drew and Bronte, but of her daughter Amelia as well. 

Long story short - this is a quick read that is perfect for a day on the beach. I just wish there would have been less sex talk and more romance. I would definitely read more from this author! 

DISCLAIMER: I received a complimentary copy of this novel in exchange for my honest review. This has not affected my review in any way. All thoughts and opinions expressed in this review are 100% my own.


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                                       Surrender is available from Amazon.com

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