Outdoors type’s review:
So, the thing with a few Melissa Brayden books (see also How Sweet It Is) is you think they’re going to be nice and fluffy and a light read, but they have these horrible backgrounds of grief or loss. And unpleasant family circumstances or abandonment.
In this one, our opening chapter lets us know that all is not great between the two lovebirds, before we go back in time to see them get together, knowing it’s going to go bad. Then it goes bad, and we watch while it goes good again. This is all ok, I guess, but so much of it is around the ‘bad’ that actually it just made me feel a bit anxious.
Long Tall Sheriff’s review:
Mmm, strawberries. Strawberries are great. Really sweet. Now you mention it, I really like strawberries. Actually, who doesn’t like strawberries? And that’s about as far as this book goes. I’m usually a big fan of Melissa Brayden (much more so than Outdoors Type is) but I could barely drag myself to the end of the epilogue on this one.
Small town nonsense where gay teenager has zero angst at all: she fits in socially with a minimum of fuss, is good looking, becomes buddies with local football hero, has a ridiculously cool older brother, has zero coming out trauma, dates gorgeous exotic city girl, has lots of sex in lots of rural settings with said exotic city girl, who it turns out is really fucked up (but not really, oh look a tractor accident). Plot consists of lots of:
- Lots of teenage sex = everlasting love
- Series of grand gestures = replacement for talking seriously about anything of any significance
- Strawberries! Mmmm, pie……
Go check out First Position, Waiting in the Wings or any of the Soho Loft romances for some decent Melissa Brayden, and consider giving this one a miss. Unless you’re REALLY into, like, strawberries.
She Sighed! 
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