Review: Love Overcomes by Angela Schroeder

Love Overcomes
by Angela Schroeder
Adult Contemporary Romance
November 4, 2014 by Anaiah Press                

Summary

Single mother Arabella Mackenzie never imagined that going to California with her sister Clara would have such a huge impact on her life. Since the end of a disastrous relationship, Arabella has been wary of wanting or needing anyone other than her family. But when she meets hunky actor, Jeremy Fowlis, she begins to have feelings for a man for the first time since her three year old son was born. Now, she needs to try to overcome her past and learn to trust again.

Jeremy is not used to women who don't want to date him, or at least show him off to their friends - he is an in-demand actor, after all. He is tired of the shallow, avaricious attention that he gets from the public, but when he meets intelligent, cautious Arabella, she doesn't even know his name. Arabella’s grounded beauty captivates him instantly, but, he is wary of getting involved with a single mother with a complicated past.

Can Arabella and Jeremy both overcome their doubts and fears in order to find love? 
  

My Review

Love Overcomes is about Arabella, a single mother with a painful past, and her sister Clara. They both have love interests in the story, Jeremy and Jack. There was a strong feeling of loyalty and family, not only between the sisters and between Arabella and her son, but also between them and their family (who they are with during a portion of the story). The farm that they grew up on and that their family still runs was definitely a part of the make-up of both characters. They were both used to the small town, quiet, and peaceful life and LA was quite a bit of a change for them. The focus of the story definitely was mostly Arabella's story, but included Clara's, and Arabella and Liam's relationship.

I had some issues with the story that I'm going to go ahead and get through here. Much of the story dragged for me. There were a lot of descriptions and repetition, such as Liam's bedtime rituals and what the characters were doing. I also had trouble differentiating between the characters' voices. None of them were distinct enough for me to know who was saying what and so it made it a little confusing until I figured that out. This made it feel like a lot of the dialogue wasn't authentic, making the characters somewhat one dimensional. There were also some places that weren't consistent, so then I'd go back to figure out exactly what was going on. I also could have used a little more flirting or some climax to the romance. There wasn't a lot of feeling put in to how attractive the characters were or building on the small things (like holding hands, hugs, etc.) and the few kisses weren't really thought about, mentioned, or brought up in any way afterwards for most of the story. It made them seem inconsequential and as a reader made me feel disconnected.

What did work for the story was the family aspect, how these sisters were so loyal to each other. I also loved Liam. He was a sweet and great kid. I loved how Arabella put him first and was such a good mom. There was also some good tension in regards to Arabella's ex and the danger that he might post to her, Liam's, and Jeremy's future. I loved that this was clean and sweet. I just would have liked a lot more depth and the romance feeling more climatic.

Content: Clean

Source: From the publisher, which did not affect my review in any way.

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Want to know more about Love Overcomes? You can check out the excerpt, book trailer, all about the author, and a giveaway by going to my tour stop here.

What do you think? Will you be reading this one?

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