The Triple Date Dare by Lauraine Henderson (Blog Tour Review, Excerpt & #Giveaway)


I wasn't too sure about this debut, but it interested me enough to be willing to give it a go. I'm quite happy I did! Read my full review as well as an excerpt, and enter the giveaway below...

The Triple Date Dare
by Lauraine Henderson
LDS Contemporary Romance, Christian
Paperback & ebook, 212 Pages
December 8th 2016

Summary

Writer Laura Nelson can’t believe her luck. Since staying in a beach house on the Oregon coast, she’s had two run-ins with the police. The upside is that handsome Officer David Harrington handled both situations.

Laura, still stinging from years of making poor choices, has come to Oregon to take control of her life. She recently renewed her relationship with God and the church, and she’s in the process of writing her next mystery. But is she ready for romance?

David has a rule: don’t get close to women. He is ashamed of his unlawful past, a father in jail and an alcoholic mother. His triple date dare is a sure-fire way to keep women at bay. Who would love him with all his baggage anyway?

When he asks Laura out, David figures she will crash and burn as planned. He had no idea she would not only change the rules of his famous dating dare, but sneak her way into his heart.


My Review

THE TRIPLE DATE DARE was a sweet story about redemption and finding love when you least expect it. With strong characters who were easy to fall in love with, a little danger, some rather awkward and humorous circumstances, and chemistry-filled romance this was an enjoyable story from beginning to end. Recommended to Christian and LDS Romance readers.

I loved Laura and David! I loved them as individual characters and how they complimented each other. I loved the humor, the craziness (mostly on the side of Laura), the talks and special moments between these two, the twists and turns, and the romance, of course. There was some fabulous dialogue and chemistry between Laura and David. I also loved the inspirational aspect. It felt authentic and was general enough for any Christian to connect with. I loved that Laura is finding her way back and still figuring things out and that David believes he knows what his future will hold and Laura challenges that.

I did struggle a little with Laura changing gears so much with her moods or thoughts that she didn't usually follow through on. I also struggled a little with respecting David when he was rather rude. Thank goodness they both redeemed themselves.

In the end, was it what I wished for? I was happy to be surprised by how much I enjoyed this story and I'm looking forward to seeing what the author writes next!

Content: Clean

Source: Received a complimentary copy through Singing Librarian Book Tours, which did not require a review nor affect it in any way.

Excerpt

He could hear her voice. The stories she had told him about her childhood and the blunders she’d made when she was too fuzzy minded to know what she was doing where funny, and he caught himself laughing out loud, usually when it wasn’t a good time. As when he and Ramirez were investigating a domestic dispute and his mind simply wandered. The woman holding the frying pan probably wanted to hit him with it when he laughed after her endless dissertation about her husband’s drinking and rane when he got home that night. It wasn’t a funny situation, and David was normally a very compassionate and understanding officer. He was certainly mindful of the seriousness of abuse, but something the woman had said had sent him down a path to one of Laura’s stories, and he was lost.

Then, at the grocery store, he was certain he saw her in the produce aisle, looking over boxes of fresh strawberries. She had lifted a plastic box in the air, turning it this way and that. He was going to sneak up behind her and whisper in her ear. But when he was within reach and leaning into her hair, she turned, and suddenly she wasn’t Laura. The woman shrieked, backing up into the produce stand of strawberries, and boxes of berries tumbled onto the floor. It would have been funny if she hadn’t started accusing him of attacking her. After apologizing for what seemed like hours and picking all the berry boxes up off the floor, he told her he was a police officer and certainly wasn’t going to attack her. She finally calmed down, grabbed her berries, and left muttering about the nerve of some people. What nerves? Surely David had spent his last one.

At home he burned his dinner twice. And he didn’t even cook that much. He paced through the house, took long walks on the beach, and paced some more. Something had to be done. He didn’t want to be thinking about a strange woman who was here for a short time to write a novel. He didn’t want to be distracted. And he certainly didn’t want a relationship. That path lead to nothing but hurt and annoyance. Hadn’t his parents’ lives taught him well enough? The only relationships worth his time were with his sister and the Lord. That was enough for him. Oh, it was ok for other people to fall in love. They could have their happy lives with their happy families and their happy happiness. It was all a smoke screen in front of real life.

About the Author


I recently moved back to Oregon with my husband of 31 years, where we’ve built a house on 68 acres about 40 miles outside of Portland. After growing up in Oregon, we’ve lived in Utah, Arizona, and Hawaii. We have three children, two girls and a boy, all grown and all writers themselves. We also have a dog (Golden Retriever) and a cat (Black). I love to write inspirational romance and hope my readers will be both entertained and uplifted by my stories. When I’m not writing, I love to paint (watercolors, oils, and acrylics), sew, knit, crochet, and read (of course)! My second novel will be published in 2017.


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