Then Came Alexandra (Southern Love, #1) in WACKY READING CHALLENGES

Mar 15, 2014 Lesley rated it liked it

Shelves: read-in-2014

I received a copy of Then Came Alexandra in exchange for an honest review.

Alexandra moves from NYC to Georgia quite abruptly. She has just broken up with her boyfriend (who she had discovered had been cheating on her) and she lost her confidence as a nurse when someone died on her watch. She arrives unexpectedly at her aunt's in Georgia and her aunt welcomes her with open arms, simply because they're family and that's what families do.

She enrolls back in college because she just can't see hers I received a copy of Then Came Alexandra in exchange for an honest review.

Alexandra moves from NYC to Georgia quite abruptly. She has just broken up with her boyfriend (who she had discovered had been cheating on her) and she lost her confidence as a nurse when someone died on her watch. She arrives unexpectedly at her aunt's in Georgia and her aunt welcomes her with open arms, simply because they're family and that's what families do.

She enrolls back in college because she just can't see herself returning to her nursing career, but she does take a part time job as a tech at the local hospital. She makes friends, including Gabe, who makes it quite clear that he'd be interested in taking her out, but she turns him down telling him that she's not looking to date right now. But she doesn't feel comfortable with any of her new friends to let them into her secrets of why she left NYC.

And then she meets Blaise. Blaise has dreams of being a lawyer but his dreams are somewhat on hold for now. After his dad was killed in an accident, Blaise became the owner of a cotton farm and feels the pressure of keeping a business he never wanted afloat. But if he caves into and gives the business to his brother or his uncle, he knows the business is as good as gone. His plans also were derailed when the girl he'd been seeing said she was pregnant. He agreed to marry Danielle for the baby's sake but after she'd had a miscarriage, even though he grieved the loss of the baby, he couldn't help but feel relieved that he no longer had any obligations to Danielle and breaks up with her. She however is reluctant to let him go or move out of his house, as she has a psycho ex-boyfriend who has threatened her safety numerous times. As much as Blaise tries to get her to leave his house, she refuses to go.

Alex and Blaise fall into a quick friendship and both of them feel a spark for the other. As much as they try to fight their attraction they aren't able to do so and fall into a relationship. She wants to keep it a secret, so that she doesn't hurt Gabe's feelings and naturally he's fine to keep it a secret too, since his ex-girlfriend is still living at his house for her safety and since he knows she'll be apt to try to destroy his newly found happiness. Will all of these secrets be too much for them to make things work.

I love the premise of the book and it's safe to say that Blaise has been added to my list of book crushes. But things were a little hurried for me between him and Alex. They went from meeting each other while working together on auntie's farm to a quick friendship to the I Love You's. And while I was glad that Alex felt comfortable enough to confide in Blaise about her relationship with her ex and about why she left her nursing career, I kept waiting for Blaise to let her in and tell her all of his secrets only to have those secrets come back to bite him.

And then there's the cliffhanger that just ended the story abruptly. Even though I read lots of series books that end with cliffhangers, I'm really not that much of a fan of them. I much prefer continuation series books where there's full resolution with situations at the end and then part 2 begins with a new set of issues to overcome.

But with all that being said, I'll be watching for book 2, Then Came Indecision, as I'm interested in seeing if/how things work out for Alex and Blaise. ...more

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