Meg Cabot
August 11, 2020
William Morrow Paperbacks
Blurb: Welcome to Little Bridge, one of the smallest, most beautiful islands in the Florida Keys, home to sandy white beaches, salt-rimmed margaritas, and stunning sunsets—a place where nothing goes under the radar and love has a way of sneaking up when least expected…
A broken engagement only gaveMolly Montgomery additional incentive to follow her dream job from the Colorado Rockies to the Florida Keys. Now, as Little Bridge Island Public Library’s head of children’s services, Molly hopes the messiest thing in her life will be her sticky-note covered desk. But fate—in the form of a newborn left in the restroom—has other ideas. So does the sheriff who comes to investigate the “abandonment”. When John Hartwell folds all six-feet-three of himself into a tiny chair and insists that whoever left the baby is a criminal, Molly begs to differ and asks what he’s doing about the Island’s real crime wave (if thefts of items from homes that have been left unlocked could be called that). Not the best of starts, but the man’s arrogance is almost as distracting as his blue eyes. Almost…
John would be pretty irritated if one of his deputies had a desk as disorderly as Molly’s. Good thing she doesn’t work for him, considering how attracted he is to her. Molly’s lilting librarian voice makes even the saltiest remarks go down sweeter, which is bad as long as she’s a witness but might be good once the case is solved—provided he hasn’t gotten on her last nerve by then. Recently divorced, John has been having trouble adjusting to single life as well as single parenthood. But something in Molly’s beautiful smile gives John hope that his old life on Little Bridge might suddenly hold new promise—if only they can get over their differences.
Clever, hilarious, and fun, No Offense will tug at readers’ heartstrings and make them fall in love with Little Bridge Island and its unique characters once again.
By now, I have read a LOT of Meg Cabot books. I have been happy with the vast majority of them. She’s a good writer. She deftly handles conversational narration probably better than most any writer today. Yet, when it came to No Offense, I felt adrift for a little bit.
I feel like Meg Cabot is trying something different in her approach to the romance of librarian Molly and Sheriff John, and I’m not certain it always works.
First off, her writing as always is stellar. You’re grabbed immediately into the story and move through it seamlessly. Molly and John have an immediate attraction, but it’s not completely there. Molly doesn’t like John’s tone on things. He’s blunt with a minor filter.
Molly and John could be actual human beings–meaning that their reactions are not just the stuff of a romance novel. John isn’t careful in what he says. Molly isn’t idealistic in how she behaves. No offense.
The title isn’t just a fluke, just as it wasn’t in the previous Little Island novel. No offense carries over in many segments of the novel.
While I initially wasn’t sure where the novel was going, the more I read, the more I liked. While it’s funny in some spots, it may not be as hilarious as the blurb indicates.
What kept No Offense from being a really good novel was that it felt like a skeleton. I thought there should be more. More definition to the characters. More definition to the plot. I came away feeling like something was missing. I enjoyed my read, but still.
I don’t want to give you the wrong impression. For 75% of the folks out there writing, this would be an extremely readable novel. But for Meg Cabot, I just felt like something was missing.
But, it still made me happy to read and maybe at the end of the day, that’s what it is all about. Read for diversion and happiness.
I received an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
rating:
3 butterflies and a ladybug out of 5 butterflies
will read this one 🙂 for sure
Yay. Let me know what you think of it. Many reviewers were rather hard on it.
As soon as I get the copy 😉