5 SMOOCHES!
SYNOPSIS:
“Sometimes love happens when you least expect it.” That was what my husband’s mistress told me the day I found out about their affair.
I didn’t believe it until five minutes later when mouth-watering celebrity chef Tanner Reese walked up, tossed his arm around my shoulders, and told my cheating husband to take a hike.
Tanner and I couldn’t have been more different. He spent his weekends at clubs, rubbing elbows with fellow A-listers. I spent mine in yoga pants with cheese boards and a glass of wine—or six.
Our relationship shouldn’t have worked, but it did. That is until Tanner proved to me that even though love happens when you least expect it…
So does heartbreak.
REVIEW:
This was my first time reading Aly Martinez, and I’m sitting here kicking myself for not doing it sooner. I mean, really now, where the heck have I been?! Across the Horizon was a wonderfully sweet, heart-tugging, sexy romance between two characters that I absolutely adored and wanted together from the start. Aly’s writing here was quick-witted and easy-to-read, the story flowed beautifully, and despite having not read the Darkest Sunrise duet from which this book spins off, I didn’t feel like I was missing anything—well, except for what clearly promises to be a breath-taking love story that I need to read as soon as humanly possible.
Hands down, Rita and Tanner had the craziest meet-cute of all time, and things just got better between them from there. Honestly, I don’t think I’ll ever think of an alligator without thinking of this couple. Things were just so easy and so right between this couple that it was literally impossible for the reader to not root for them. Rita was at the low point of her life when Tanner rode in to the rescue, and Tanner was floundering at the surface as the sharks in his life circled him. Their timing wasn’t exactly ideal, but it’s true that “love happens when you least expect it.” Their love story wasn’t exactly smooth sailing, though, and it took a lot of faith, an abundance of patience, some real work—and scaling a wall—for them to really get there.
One of the big reasons why it was so easy for the reader to buy into the fastest moving, slow-going love story in romance novel history was the unmistakable chemistry between this couple. It was present and palpable in every facet of their relationship, and it wasn’t only sexual. But they were incredibly hot together, and my Kindle was practically smoking in my hot little hands. Add to that some brilliantly timed, clever and uproariously hilarious back-and-forth bantering, and Across the Horizon officially ticks off all my boxes of what I hope for when I pick up a contemporary romance or a romantic comedy. There was just enough angst to keep me on edge without pushing me over, and that was exactly what the story called for and what I wanted. These two were simply meant to be together, they meshed in every single way. Where there is a will, there is a way, and they just needed the determination to deal head-on with their baggage and the resolve to be patient while they each worked through it.
I don’t know why I haven’t been reading the extraordinarily talented Aly Martinez before this, but I’m here to stay now. Part light-hearted romantic comedy and part emotional contemporary, Martinez aptly and accurately describes Across the Horizon as a dramedy. For me, this was the kind of story that I just couldn’t bring myself put down. I devoured it in less than a day, and unlike Tanner, I found that I could go slow because that’s exactly what I did when I realized I was nearing the end. I simply didn’t want to leave these endearingly charming characters or their world. Five smooches from me for Across the Horizon by Aly Martinez!
~Danielle Palumbo
