Love or Luxury by Heather Thurmeier - Virtual Book Tour and giveaway

(Full length, contemporary romance)

This review is done in conjunction with the author's virtual tour with Goddess Fish Promotions. The author will be awarding one ebook copy of both "Love and Lattes" and "Love on Landing", the first two books in the Meadow Ridge Romance series, to a randomly drawn commenter during the tour, so comment today AND follow the tour (if you click on the tour banner above, it'll take you to a list of her tour stops) -- the more you read and comment, the better your odds of winning. You could be introduced to a great new author AND win an awesome prize!



Rebecca's life of luxury in Meadow Ridge is vanishing faster than the designer clothes from her closet--unless she finds someone to share her life and her rent.

When she meets Finn, the rugged, sexy motorcycle hunk, she thinks her luck has finally changed. There's just one problem--he's not from Meadow Ridge. Reid, her high school flame, comes back to town as the Meadow's most eligible bachelor, with a tendency to spoil his girlfriends, and a gorgeous mansion--everything she's always wanted.

Now Rebecca's torn between Finn, the man who lives a simple life outside the Meadow and Reid, the man who can give her the life she's always wanted.


I admit to having a tough time getting into this story.  The heroine, Rebecca, is who we meet first and I disliked her very much.  She seemed superficial, careless, and very much a snob more concerned about coordinating her name brand handbag with her wardrobe than paying her rent.  Thankfully, as time passes, we see a different side to her, but the two sides vie for position through much of this book.

Finn, though, was amazing.  A not-quite-perfect hero with traits that were just awesome.  He was handsome, thoughtful, kind ... a bit hung up on not ever getting married which, along with his lack of a trust fund made Rebecca cross him off her list of potential husbands.  She figured he was good enough for a fling, though.

Reid was sort of a cardboard cut out of a rich doctor.  Nice enough, but nothing really made him stand out as a viable contender for Rebecca's affections. Yes, he could offer her everything material that she wanted, but the sparks just weren't there like they were with Finn.  Still, I really felt sorry for him when things ended up they way they did. I'm not sure if he was heartbroken or just horrified at the potential scandal, but either way he ended up being used a bit by Rebecca, and he didn't deserve it.

With a large cast of  secondary characters to round out the story (I did enjoy Finn's family, especially in the final scene), Love or Luxury is a somewhat predictable story, but still heart-warming to read as we see Rebecca mature and change the more time she spends with Finn.  Truthfully, I probably wouldn't have made it past the first chapter if I hadn't been reading this for a review, but I'm really glad I did.  The author has a way with words that really paints a picture.  I wouldn't have been so annoyed with the heroine if Ms. Thurmeier hadn't made her feel like a real person.  A different reviewer here at our site reviewed the first book, so this was my first trip to Meadow Ridge, but I enjoyed it enough I'd pick up another book in the series.

 3.5 Flowers - This was a good book. I liked it.

Heather Thurmeier is a lover of strawberry margaritas, a hater of spiders, and a reality TV junkie. She was born and raised in the Canadian prairies, but now lives in upstate New York with her own personal romance Hero (aka her husband) and their two little princesses. When she's not busy taking care of the kids and an adventurous puppy named Indy, Heather's hard at work on her next romance novel.

"Heather Thurmeier's hunky heroes and feisty heroines will have you laughing out loud, falling in love ... and coming back for more!" ~ Carly Phillips, NY Times Bestselling Author

"Heather Thurmeier writes sweet, funny romances that capture your heart!" --NYT and USA Today bestselling author Jennifer Probst

Love and Lattes, Love on Landing, Love or Luxury, Bunny Hills and Bikinis, Falling for You ~ Available now!

Stuck on You, Lost without You ~ Coming Soon!

Website: http://heatherthurmeier.com
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Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5211580.Heather_Thurmeier