Tuesday, 29 December 2015

Review: Life's a Beach by Jamie K. Schmidt

Sex on the beach has never been so much fun! USA Today bestselling author Jamie K. Schmidt kicks off a series set in paradise with an irresistible tale of second chances, secret identities—and a connection that’s too sweet to miss.

When Amelia Parker arrives in Maui, newly single and unemployed, she’s shocked to discover the resort she booked is actually a ramshackle little beachside hotel. At least the scenery is easy on the eyes—as is the toned, laid-back snorkel instructor, “Dude.” After two weeks of sun, serenity, and mind-blowing sex, she even accepts a job as the hotel’s concierge. But what Amelia really wants is to relaunch the place completely. And that means convincing the absentee Wall Street billionaire owner, Samuel Kincaide, to take a chance on her.

Samuel has a plan, too: selling off every last reminder of his former life and chilling all day, every day as his slacker altar ego . . . Dude. He loves his romps in the ocean, and under the sheets, with the feisty Amelia. If she discovers his true identity, her boundless enthusiasm and innovative business plan will seriously diminish his hammock time. But when Amelia runs into real trouble on the island, he’ll put everything on the line to keep her safe. He just hopes that the woman who’s falling for Dude will feel the same about Samuel.



Kindle Edition
Expected publication: January 5th 2016 by Loveswept 
Series: Hawaii Heat #1
Genre: Romance/Contemporary Romance

Kristine's Thoughts:

** I received an advanced readers copy from Loveswept via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you!**

Amelia planned to surprise her boyfriend with a trip to Hawaii but circumstances found her unemployed and homeless without a boyfriend or a good cup of coffee. The only thing she had was her prepaid trip to Hawaii. With nothing more to lose she decided to take her eccentric aunt and follow through with her vacation plans. Even though her accommodations proved to be less appealing than the brochure, Dude the laid back hotel employee, was just the distraction that she needed. It didn't take long for fireworks to occur but with both of them keeping secrets it wasn't all the good fireworks.

What did I think?

I really enjoyed the setting and the descriptions of the different places in Hawaii that Amelia saw. The descriptions made me feel like I was there. I could feel the water and sand and it really made me wish I was there.

The plot was a little weak as far as I was concerned. The whole thing was a little bit of a stretch and because of that I had a difficult time believing in it. It was definitely a little far fetched but entertaining perhaps because if it. I think that many parts of the book were meant to be humorous but they sometimes fell short of the mark.

The relationship between Amelia and Dude was grossly underdeveloped for my liking. There was no build up or anticipation to draw me in and therefore I could not feel the chemistry between them. I wanted to feel the attraction and route for it but it just happened instead. There was more heat than the Hawaii sun to be found within the pages of this book but because I wasn't feeling the chemistry between the characters it was nothing more than sex, sex and more sex or what I like to call the wash, rinse, repeat cycle. I like the steamy parts of a contemporary romance just as much as then next person but I found that it was just there in this book if that makes sense. It didn't necessarily go with the flow of the story but was plopped in over and over again to satisfy readers of the more steamy variety. It wasn't well balanced at all.

If you are looking for a steamy romance for entertainment value only this would be a good book to pick up. As long as you don't analyse it or think too deeply it would do the trick. Although I wasn't a huge fan of this book I do think that I will continue with the series. With different main characters that are more likeable I could see this being a fun series to follow.






About the Author
USA Today Bestselling author, Jamie K. Schmidt is a hybrid author who has over thirty short stories published in small press and ezines, and a variety of novellas and books online. Her Club Inferno series from Random House has been in Amazon's top 100 ebooks sold and Barnes and Noble's top 10. She has a dragon paranormal romance series at Entangled Publishing. Book one of the Emerging Queens series is The Queen's Wings.

Jamie holds a Bachelor of Arts Degree from the State University of New York at New Paltz in Secondary Education English, which is a fancy way of saying she went to college to teach high school English. When that didn't pan out, she worked as a call center manager, a Tupperware consultant, a paralegal, and finally a technical writer for a major conglomerate company. She is an active member in the Romance Writers of America (RWA). When not writing, Jamie relaxes with a mug of hot tea and knits or makes beaded jewelry.

Connect with Jamie
 

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