Book Bites: 3 Sentence Intro About What This Story Is

After issues arose at the LAPD, her former workplace, Sloane McBride escaped to the quiet but charming small-town of Nugget, California to try to get her life in order again. When she takes a new job as an officer at Nugget Police Department, she ends up living next to the handsome and talented local chef, Brady Benson, who she later finds out is living in Nugget to escape his own past. As the pair work together and develop their relationship, they have to figure out if their romance is worth it or if they are just borrowing trouble.

*Includes romance and sexuality

*As usual, to see the official book teaser/summary of this, go to anywhere books are found and read up more about what this book is about.

Now on to My Commentary (**May Contain Spoilers: Read at Your Own Risk)

I was looking through OverDrive to find something toned down to read because I was taking a break from paranormal (ahem – erotic) romances. I craved to read a sweet love story without being bombarded with very erotic love scenes. When I read the teaser for Borrowing Trouble, I was hooked!

Sloane McBride and Brady Benson both had a good career in Los Angeles. However, trouble from their workplaces leeched into their personal lives and eventually forced them to leave the metropolitan to move into a small town, Nugget. Each person was there for one thing: to find a temporary gig until their problems were handled and they could move onto bigger and better things back in the city. Neither had come to Nugget expecting to build a good life in the town. Let alone find love where they weren’t looking for it to begin with.

This was my first impression of Stacy Finz’s work and I’m excited to read more of her stuff. She’s my style! This was also one of the rare moments where I’m not reading a fantasy or paranormal romance. Who knew how interesting normal humans can be in a love story?!

I love the length of book. It’s short and sweet but has a memorable story and great cast of characters. I usually read novels that average close to 400 or 500 pages. So I wholly appreciate a feel-good romance in what I consider “nibble” size (like having just a few chocolate samplers without eating the whole chocolate bar or box).

Finding a Permanent Place from a Temporary Home

This is what you really want to know, right? How’s the romance?!

Even though this is a feel-good sweet romance, don’t be fooled. Love scenes are steamy enough to get your heart pumping without getting into too many details about sexy time! *swoon* Think PG-16 (yeah, I just made that rating up). And let me tell you, Brady Benson, fantastic chef and Southern sweetheart, is a heartthrob *fans herself*. And Sloane is a kickass, smart and beautiful female cop who pursues the moral way in career field that’s often filled with crooked individuals. I’m all for strong female leads!

I loved Sloane and Brady’s characters! Both individually and together. Loved how Finz switched up the “traditional” gender roles by writing about a female cop and male chef. This presents them with an interesting set of challenges like how people viewed Sloane’s authority as a female cop (which affected her career and confidence in herself) and how Brady was the only male in a women’s cooking club with a bunch of gossipy women who only really drink and don’t do much cooking (this was hilarious!).

Let me say, thank you for having the characters actually do their jobs throughout the story! Sometimes when characters are written in love stories, their jobs fall to the background and the characters seem to forget that they work once their romance starts. Like, what happened to your life?? Suddenly a love interest comes into the story and they become your whole life??

Maybe it’s the love stories that I generally read but I was like a breath of fresh air to read about two characters who weren’t overly lusting after each other and seemingly codependent. Each had their own lives, friends, aspirations, and work. They were very talented in their own respects and it felt like two remarkable people coming together as a couple – which I think is how it should be. Again could be what I normally read for romances but it seems like every love story I read, each love interest abandons their life, role, and goals, in favor of making their relationship work with their “one-and-only-true-love-soulmate”.

Yeah, yeah, I’m harping on that a lot. But I’m still a sucker for really any romance. And still giggle like a school girl as the two characters get more and more drawn to each other. Never gets old to read a romance blossom.

Minor note. Sloane and Brady’s romantic development felt choppy here and there and rushed at the beginning. I couldn’t quite place the progression of their feelings in accordance with their actions. But it doesn’t detract from the story. And you quickly immerse yourself in the romance as the story goes on.

The minor and supporting characters were colorful and added a lot of personality to the quaint town of Nugget. It really did feel like the close-knit family that the characters praise about experiencing when they’re in Nugget. And a story with a small town where people actually cared for each other rather than gossip, hold secrets, and bash on each other?! Good writing! The supporting characters intrigued me. Luckily, if you’re also interested in how the other pairs in Borrowing Trouble came together, read the rest of The Nugget Romance series by Stacy Finz to find out.

I was deeply engrossed in the mystery and suspense in the story! I hadn’t expected that! Great pacing to unfold the mystery that it kept me turning the pages. What past has caught up to Sloane and Brady as the lovebirds are trying to gain their footing in their new life? Will their pasts prevent the two from having a future or even a present together? And does Nugget have a past of its own that is being unearthed?

Final Thoughts

One thing that really bothered me (but might be a minor detail to anyone else or honestly not a damn problem at all) is how Finz described the characters when their love interest sees them – the guys are always saying how beautiful the girl is, how she’s heart-stopping, gorgeous with her body and takes their breath away. The girl usually describes his toned body, arms, ass, abs, you name it. To me, it felt pedestrian…and kind of like I was a teenager thinking those things. We get it! They are hot characters! But I already got that from how they interact with each other.

Personally, I would have preferred a subtler way of describing their physical attractiveness. Something like “She felt his hands rove over her middle. His thin sweater allowing her to get a taste of every curvature beneath the damn fabric. As strong arms suddenly locked her against his solid body, she felt the entirety of him. A man built from time spent in the outdoors rather than the conscious bulky result of a gym routine.” Or “As he watched her stroll up to him, hips swaying in the dark gown draped over that luscious olive skin, it took him a moment to realize that he had stopped breathing. And she was now nestled on his lap with her warm breath against his ear.”

Borrowing Trouble is more of a beach read or snuggle-up-next-to-the-fireplace cozy read. Get to know the personalities of Nugget, California. You won’t be disappointed! While you’re at it, read the rest of The Nugget Romance series to experience the beautiful romances of the other pairings from Borrowing Trouble.

Check out this book if it piques your interest. Hope you enjoy it as your next read or a re-read!

And remember, “Every story is worth the read. Someone (some poor, overworked, ink-stains-on-the-clothes lovely soul) took the time to write it.”