MADE FOR US is the first book in author Samantha Chase's
new series about the Shaughnessy family. The first two
chapters are fast-paced and contain the right amount of
emotion, drama and dialogue. These elements drew me into
the story immediately because they set the stage for the
emotional conflict within the novel and provided insight
into the characters of Aidan and Zoe. Both Aidan and Zoe
have suffered the loss of a parent and they handle their
losses very differently. Aidan can't move past his grief
and although Zoe misses her mother deeply, she has accepted
her death and is ready to move forward.
The character of Aidan Shaughnessey resonated with me.
Kudos to Samantha Chase for creating a hero who is a bit
rough around the edges, very demanding and controlling.
Aidan doesn't possess the qualities found in a typical
romance novel hero, but he's an awesome real-life hero
with real-life issues! The oldest of six children, Aidan
loves his family. He is a successful contractor and thrives
on routine and wants every thing to be the same ALL of
the time. Change is not Aidan's friend. That's why is was
so much fun to see Aidan fall for Zoe!
Zoe Dalton was not what Aidan expected. The honest
conversations between the couple are superbly crafted. Zoe
went toe-to-toe with Aidan and didn't give in to his
demands. She wanted Aidan to respect her as a woman,
decorator and friend. Loved how the author compared and
contrasted the simmering passion between Aiden and Zoe with
the hurricane moving towards the North Carolina coast. The
scene where Zoe figures out that Aidan was helping himself
to her Oreos was hilarious and the scene where Aidan wakes
Zoe up to tell her about the storm damage was heartbreaking.
I was invested in the characters and read the last few
chapters of the novel in an afternoon. Samantha Chase could
have written a formula romance novel to start off her new
series -- death , grief and destruction are not what a
reader expects in a contemporary romance. I am so pleased
she chose to tell Aidan and Zoe's story that at times was
passionate, exasperating and heartbreaking. It sets the
stage for the new series perfectly with its elegant prose
and honest dialogue. MADE FOR US contains a few neat,
unexpected plot twists which adds to the story's
authenticity. I loved how the storm and flower images are
subtly tucked into the story line. Will Aidan see the signs
his Mother is sending him?
Can't make time for love?
The Shaughnessy brothers have spent the years since their
mother's untimely death taking care of each other and
trying
to make their father proud. Oldest son Aidan is
hard-working, handsome, successful-and still single.
Sure,
he'd like to have his own family someday, but who has the
time?
She'll show him how to find it
Zoe Dalton, a stunning designer Aidan meets on one of his
construction jobs, has the beauty and heart to make Aidan
realize how much he could be missing. But it's not easy
to
break down walls you've spent years building up. Now
there's
a major storm bearing down on the North Carolina coast,
and
it could be catalyst enough to force Aidan and Zoe into
some
major decisions of the heart.
Excerpt
So many things were on the tip of Zoe’s tongue, but she
kept them to herself. No need to cause an argument. In
another ten minutes she’d be at her door and saying
goodbye to him. Surely they could go that long without
arguing. Maybe.
“Have you eaten dinner?” he asked casually.
“As a matter of fact I haven’t. I had planned on
grabbing some takeout and going home. You know, before
the whole tire thing.”
Aidan nodded and turned in the parking lot of the local
pizzeria. He parked his truck in front and climbed out,
walking around to open Zoe’s door. “This place is the
best Italian in town.” Once Zoe’s feet hit the ground,
Aidan turned and walked toward the entrance.
Zoe stood there for a moment, a little shell-shocked. He
didn’t ask if she wanted to eat with him or if she even
liked pizza!
“Um…I don’t eat Italian,” she said, arms crossed.
So much for going for ten minutes without arguing.
Aidan turned and looked at her as if she had grown a
second head. “What do you mean? Everyone eats Italian
food.”
Zoe shrugged. “I don’t.” She tried to keep a straight
face and not giggle at the indecision on Aidan’s face. He
clearly didn’t know what to do with people not just
immediately going along with everything he said.
Taking a step toward her, he said, “We can grab something
else if you’d like.”
Ah, there it was. He was actually taking a moment to
think about someone else’s feelings. She considered it
for a moment, walked by him to the door to the
restaurant.
“What are you doing?” he asked.
“I actually love Italian food. But I prefer being asked
first if I’d like to have dinner someplace, or with
someone.” Before he could respond, Zoe went through the
door and up to the hostess, who led her to a corner
booth. Aidan joined her, his expression guarded.
“So that was…what? You were teaching me a lesson?” he
asked as he sat down.
Picking up the menu, Zoe simply shrugged. “It would have
been nice if you actually asked me what I’d like to eat
rather than just making the decision for me.”
Aidan was stumped. What was the big deal? He was
hungry, she was hungry and neither of them had eaten
dinner. They were passing the pizza place, end of story.
Aidan wondered why he didn’t just take her home and get
something to eat on his own. Trying to get this woman to
soften up toward him was starting to feel like more
trouble than it was worth. Not that he cared what this
woman in her sexy pencil skirts thought about him. No
sir.
Zoe’s face was mostly hidden by the menu, but he saw her
smiling eyes peek at him briefly, and he could see her
shoulders shaking.
She was laughing at him? Seriously?
“What is so damn funny?” he demanded.
“You have a lousy poker face,” she said, putting down the
menu. “You looked like your head was about to explode.”
Nailed it in one. “Okay, fine. You had your fun. If
you didn’t want to eat with me, you should have just said
so.”
“Um…when? You pulled in the parking lot and climbed out
of the truck without asking if I wanted to stop.”
Aidan looked up at the ceiling and then back at Zoe. “Do
you want to eat or not?”
“That depends,” she said sweetly.
“On?”
“Are we going to share in conversation or are you going
to be all bossy and dominate the whole thing?”
If Aidan didn’t know any better he’d swear that Zoe had
talked to his family, or at least Darcy. Doing his best
to relax, he picked up his menu to give himself something
else to look at besides her distracting eyes, distracting
hands, distracting everything. “We can talk about
whatever you want.” His teeth were clenched so tightly
that he was sure he broke a molar. He’d dealt with quite
a few difficult clients in his line of work with no
problem. Why did this woman make him so damn
uncomfortable?
“If you weren’t grinding your teeth when you said it, I
would have believed you.”
That was it. He was done. She was fired. He’d find
another design firm because nothing was worth all of this
aggravation. Slamming his menu down, he went to slide
out of the booth when the waitress came over.
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