Cooper’s Charm

Lori Foster

July 31, 2018

Harlequin

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Blurb: One summer, two sisters and a chance to start over…

Before the burglary that shattered her confidence, Phoenix Rose had a fiancé, a successful store and a busy, happy existence. After months spent adrift, she takes a job at the lakeside resort of Cooper’s Charm. Surrounded by beautiful scenery, friendly colleagues and a charismatic, widowed boss, Phoenix is slowly inching her way back into the world.
Visiting Cooper’s Charm to check up on her little sister, Ridley Rose impulsively agrees to fill in as housekeeper. Still reeling from an ego-bruising divorce, she finds satisfaction in a job well done—and in the attention of the resort’s handsome scuba instructor.

For Phoenix and Ridley, Cooper’s Charm is supposed to be merely temporary. But this detour may lead to the place they most need to be, where the future is as satisfying as it is surprising…

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SASCHA DARLINGTON’S REVIEW

I never thought I was the kind to judge a book by its cover, but it does seem that by merely putting a dog on the cover, there is a strong likelihood that I will want to read that book.

Fortunately, the blurb for Cooper’s Charm made it sound like a women’s fiction in the vein of Jill Shalvis, which was another win for me. Alas, Lori Foster is no Jill Shalvis.

Phoenix Rose is a quirky, attractive character, a landscaper who was robbed and terrorized and who has now come to Cooper’s Charm to escape and maybe start over. Despite not having been interested in having anything to do with men in months, she is very, very intrigued by Coop, the owner of Cooper’s Charm.

Coop also has a tragic past as his wife was murdered only two years after they were married, and he felt like they were still in the honeymoon phase of their marriage. Despite being a tree-of-a-man, Coop is a nice guy with a good heart, and he is as immediately drawn to Phoenix as she is to him.

And they have no issues between them

And they get together.

And they have sex. Lots of sex. Which is good, don’t get me wrong, but come on, that’s it?

Then there is Phoenix’ sister, Ridley, who is just coming out of a bad divorce. She sets her sights on Baxter, the playboy scuba instructor for some boinking-fun. They spar for a paragraph.

And they have tug-o-war.

And they have sex. Lots of sex.

And she makes him jealous.

And they have sex.

Meanwhile, there is someone playing pranks on Phoenix that escalate. You don’t need to have read a lot of detective novels to figure out who that someone is. Even the characters in the book can’t figure it out, but you will.

In my opinion, this is neither a good nor a bad book. It’s a book that had so much unfulfilled promise. The blurb leads you to believe that you are going to be reading about two sisters re-discovering themselves. It’s not women’s fiction. It’s romance. And the secondary romance isn’t very good, but it could have been if sparks had been allowed to fly. It felt like a missed opportunity.

Perhaps it’s because Foster tried to have too many things going on and introduced too many storylines and characters and was perhaps too ambitious, that I never really got into Cooper’s Charm. The characters never achieved depth because of the multiple povs. Not to mention all of the needless repetition by having a character review a scene and judge it as if we had not just participated in that scene. All of the ingredients were there, but the cake never rose.

For you, perhaps the recipe will work.

Cooper’s Charm is the first in the Love at the Resort series. I don’t think I will be returning.

I received an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Cooper’s Charm goes on sale July 31. You can pre-order from Amazon here.

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