Love a Little Sideways by Shannon Stacey

Grade: B
Hotness Level: Blaze
Kink Level: No Kink
Genre: Contemporary
Series: Kowalski Family #7

Published: 11/26/13

Reviewed by Anne

195 pages

Liz, the youngest of the lodge-running Kowalskis is moving back home.  The only drawback to this situation is that she had a one night stand with Drew Miller, best friend to one of her brothers and chief of police.  That shouldn't be too awkward, right? All she has to do is avoid him.  Except that as soon as she gets into town, she spins off the road and it's Drew that comes to her rescue.  And he just keeps coming to her rescue.

This was a good story that I enjoyed, but it was always be "the one where they went camping again!" when I think of it.  Hilarious!  It was full of other enjoyable moments, too, though.  The pacing of Liz and Drew's relationship was actually pretty slow and enjoyable. 

The main sources of conflict in the book were 1.)keeping their relationship a secret from Liz's brothers and 2.) Liz not being sure what she wanted out of life and Drew knowing that he wants a wife and family.  The first one was resolved to my satisfaction.  The second one, after the leisurely pace of the rest of their relationship, felt a little rushed.

The Kowalski camping trip was great fun.  There were a LOT of secondary characters from other books that were getting jumbled in my head.  I finally decided I just didn't need to try to keep track of them, and things went more smoothly from there.  Don't get me wrong - I've read the other books and I like cameos from previous couples, but I think this book would stand alone just fine, since that's essentially what it did in my memory!

It was interesting and enjoyable to read a story where the man was the one who was anxious to settle down and start a family.  That was a very nice twist.  But it's really the relationships between Liz and Drew and their family and friends that make the book and keep me coming back to this series for more!