Her Kind of Trouble

AUTHOR: Sarah Mayberry

GENRE: Romance

RELEASE DATE: April 1st, 2014, Harlequin

SOURCE: Digital ARC (Netgalley)

It takes one to know one

The moment Vivian Walker spies Seth Anderson she knows they’re a match made in hedonistic pleasure. And they both agree their one night together is all about fun, not forever.

Now, years later, Seth remains a favorite memory. Surely the sizzling chemistry has faded, though, right? Apparently not. Because he’s still sinfully attractive, and she likes the man he is. When he suddenly becomes a full-time dad to his newborn daughter, Vivian falls hard. Yet despite the responsibilities, he’s not a good bet for commitment. And she needs to guard her heart before she gets into trouble! (from GoodReads)

If you are a regular reader of A Novel Idea, you probably know that Sarah Mayberry is one of my all-time favourite romance authors! Once again, she doesn’t disappoint with Her Kind of Trouble.

I loved how the story starts with a bang. Vivian and Seth are the black sheep of their families and of course they cannot resist each other when they meet at her sister’s wedding to his brother. Even though we are quickly introduced to our lead characters, I connected and became attached to them immediately. Mayberry does an excellent job of presenting to us the classic “party girl” and “bad boy” characters without making them out to be clichés. In fact, the whole story does an excellent job at avoiding clichés! But the best part is the time jump! We get a quick glimpse of a young Vivian and Seth instant attraction and then are fast forwarded to their current lives and much has changed…
The story picks up nine years later. Vivian and Seth have barely seen each other over the years and have grown up, a lot. This was one of my favourite things about the story. Vivian is never apologetic for having been a party girl (or Seth for that matter). She was having fun, doing what she wanted, but also pursuing a career and eventually her life just naturally shifted towards being a focus, successful career woman. I love this! This is how life is. You aren’t the same person at 20 that you are at 30. But it doesn’t mean that person you used to be was bad or someone to be ashamed of! Sure they both recognize their are choices they made that were’t the best but I liked how you never get any guilt landed “we were bad but now we’re good!” clichés.

The minute Vivian and Seth meet up again their chemistry is explosive. But so is their judgement. I really enjoyed how they both assumed the other was still the same as when they first met as kids, despite the fact that they have changed! Vivian is a spite and has wonderfully snarky attitude and comebacks. She is a confident, strong woman (as our all Mayberry’s female characters).

I really loved the story. Mayberry is excellent at writing characters who are going through difficult times and experiences, while giving readers a satisfying and beautiful romance. In Her Kind of Trouble, the catalyst that throw Vivian and Seth together is a horrible car accident which leaves Seth’s pregnant ex-girlfriend on brink of death. The drama is not over done but still heart breaking. I really enjoyed the way Vivian pushes aside all her anger and prejudice towards Seth in order to help as much as she can while struggling with her emotions towards him and her growing attraction. Seth’s growth from having to deal with his ex’s accident, being the pillar of strength for her parents as well as suddenly being the primary care-giver to his newborn daughter was really well done. I loved seeing Seth step up. And while he struggled, he never faltered.

The romance between Vivian and Seth grows naturally out of an attraction they have for each other. And it’s hot! They come together not in the usual way but rather out of acknowledgement that there’s this thing between them that has always been there and even though they are now older, it just means they are finally in a place that they can recognize what they have. I won’t go into too many details here, since it really is fantastic how they come together and reveal their feelings to one another but I’ll end with that it felt right and you can’t help but cheer as these two ex-misfits finally get their happy ending!