Saturday, July 20, 2019

The Coppersmith Farmhouse (Jamison Valley #1) by Devney Perry ~ Review

The Coppersmith Farmhouse (Jamison Valley, #1)Source: Purchased.

The Coppersmith Farmhouse (Jamison Valley #1) by Devney Perry


One old farmhouse brought them together. It could also tear them apart.

Gigi has just uprooted her whole world to start a new life. The unexpected gift of a farmhouse in small-town Montana is just what she and her daughter need to escape big-city loneliness. The last thing she needs is attitude from the town’s sheriff, the most perfectly attractive and ruggedly handsome man she’s ever laid eyes on—and a complete jerk.

Jess knows all about women like Gigi. Beautiful. Sexy. Scheming. She’s stolen his sanctuary, the farmhouse that should have been his. But along with a face full of freckles, she’s got a sharp wit and a backbone of steel—something he doesn’t discover until after making a complete fool of himself. If he can earn back her trust and win her heart, he might just find the home he’s always needed.



I've been scrolling past this one on Goodreads and Amazon for a while now, unsure on whether or not I should pick it up. Then a friend of mine recommended it, saying it read like a Kristen Ashley book. So then of course I had to give it a shot. Turns out, my friend wasn't really wrong but The Coppersmith Farmhouse ended up falling short regardless.

It's tough with this one, because there were so many aspects that added up in a way that should have had me loving this book. The way the romance developed. The heroine, who was awesome, for the most part. The alpha sheriff hero. The sweet daughter who was fun to read but also added some layer to the relationships building in the story. When everything is listed out, this adds up to what should have been a great book.

But then, for me, it flopped on execution. I think part of that might have been because I went into it expecting a readalike to KA, so I was comparing a little even though I tried hard not to. But I think a majority of it is just that the writing wasn't to my taste for this one. 

A few specific reasons this one didn't quite work for me: Jess. There's a fine line to walk between a hero being alpha and a hero being an asshole. Jess landed on the wrong side of that a lot of the time. Throughout the book he was a jerk, then apologized and said he'd do better. But this happened multiple times--clearly showing that he didn't learn anything and wasn't improving. Also, the romance was never fully convincing to me. Gigi was holding back and then all of a sudden wasn't and things didn't really *develop* they were just at Point A then suddenly were at Point C. This is something I probably wouldn't have cared much about if not for the way Jess was--part of the reason Gigi held back in the first place was because of his behavior. So if he was relapsing into the same jerkish habits, why did she keep brushing it off? And lastly, this book just wasn't memorable to me. It's not one I think I'm going to think about often--I haven't been thinking about it a lot so far and it's been a couple of weeks since I finished it. I'm probably not going to re-read. 

All that said, I did really enjoy the beginning of the book. Meeting the people of the town and getting introduced to everything was great. And this is a big deal for me because I have no patience for the exposition pieces of books. But in this one, I had a good time with it. I think that may be why I'm so bummed about this one--the beginning was so good but the way the rest of the story panned out didn't work for me. I also loved the characters--all except Jess. The town and its inhabitants are cool. 

Overall, The Coppersmith Farmhouse unfortunately did not end up being my cup of tea. That said, I did read the preview for the next book in the series, The Clover Chapel, and I think I'll probably give it a try sometime. As I said, there was a lot about this story that had potential and that I think I could have liked if only the specific aspects that *didn't* work for me weren't so prominent. So hopefully I won't have those issues with the second book when I get around to reading it, and I can just love it :)


3.5 stars - So much potential, but the execution fell short for me.


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