Standalone - Against All Odds #1
Release - June 11, 2020
Genre - Contemporary Romance / enemies-to-lovers
Dual POV - 1st person
Heat Level - THERE WAS NO SEX!
Format/Source - Kindle purchase
Length - 276 pages
Publisher - Indie

Joy: Are we allowed to see other people?

Lang: Yes, but not to date-text other people. We are texting—steadily.

Joy: I’ve never gone steady via text. This is… I mean, we just met, and how do I know we are the right fit?

Lang: Well, you can always wait for something better. Maybe it is right around the corner. Just know, if the occasion arises … I’ll make sure it fits.

Joy: No dirty texts. I’m watching you.

Lang: You walked right into it, Baby.

Joy: Ugh… Maybe we are not right for each other. But what if I spend my whole life waiting?

Lang: I hope you don’t change your mind. We could be great together. I could promise that no one will text you the way I do.

Joy: Fine. I’d rather give this a shot than live the rest of my life textless.

Lang: I like you, Joy. You are refreshing.

Joy: It’s a gift—and I like you too.

Lang: How was your week?

Joy: It was long. There’s a lot of stuff going on in my mind, and when that happens, I spend a long time working.

Lang: What do you like to do when you aren’t busy?

Joy: Hmm, let see. I like to read. Sometimes, I read a classic book in several different languages—that takes me about a year. It’s interesting to see how some translations are almost perfect, while others are not as close to the original version.

Joy: How about you? What do you like to do on your free days?

Lang: Wow, I got myself a smart texter. Maybe we’ll be in a relationship where we can talk a very dirty version of Jane Austen’s classics.

Joy: :wink: :flustered face:

Joy: Don’t ignore my question, what do you do with your free time?

Lang: I’m always busy. Like you, sometimes I get engrossed with work, and I spend hours if not days testing, changing… I have a confession. I’m a workaholic. But that’s enough about work. Where are you?

Joy: I’m at the Botanical Garden.

Lang: Which one?

Joy: Downtown. It was between that or the zoo. What about you?

Lang: I’m at Garden of the Gods. Just finished climbing.

Joy: I never thought about going there to climb. We usually hike there and then go to Manitou Springs shopping. I should tell my brother. He’s the only one who would go with me.

Lang: What are your favorite things?

Joy: Precipitation. I know it’s so random, but I love to watch the rain and the snow fall. The scent of flowers. Except the Titan Flower.

Lang: Which one is that?

Joy: It’s the one that smells like a rotting corpse. My parents took us to see one in bloom. They only last about 24 hours open. 48, if you are lucky.

Lang: Why would you want to see and smell a flower that reeks and doesn’t last for too long?

Joy: It’s an experience. I guess that’s another one of my favorite things: to experience the world. What about you?

Lang: Favorite things … figuring out how things work. I used to take apart electronics to see what each component looked like and what it did. Then, I’d put it back together. Sometimes, I would combine appliances. My father didn’t love it.

Joy: You recreated Frankenstein’s monster out of kitchen appliances?

Lang: It was entertaining, but never worked out.

Lang: And I wasn’t going for Frankenstein. More like a waffle-blender machine, or a toaster-mixer gadget. I built my first computer at thirteen.

Joy: Most children would be proud of joyriding at that age—after borrowing their parent’s car without permission. Apparently, you weren’t most children.

Lang: That’s what my father used to say. It drove him insane. That doesn’t mean I didn’t steal his bike, or his car, or the boat. We were a lot younger than thirteen. I hung out with my brother—a lot. He followed the school of Evel Knievel.

Moment of Truth: I actually failed to connect with the main characters. I think the biggest problem was that I felt like I was dropped into a story that had already been developing before this book. This is book 4 and mainly about the Aldridge brothers, whose relationship has solidified over the previous three books. It's like watching a show, but starting it in season 3. You've missed the bonding, you're unaware of the inside jokes, the personalities, the connections. That's what this was like. And then there's the whole 'secret agency' part. WHAT?! I think I would have been more sold on Beacon and Grace if they featured more heavily and if Grace acted more like an adult. Oh, and if there were more of an ending than the one I got.