Preservation
The Walshes #7
By: Kate Canterbary
Releasing June 13, 2017
Vesper Press
Two lonely hearts.
Just once, she'd like to be someone's first choice.
She's strong-willed and spunky, but she's left picking up the pieces from her ex's lies and manipulations, and daydreaming about taking a scalpel to his scrotum.
Flying under the radar is what he does best.
He's laid-back and loyal, but he wants the most off-limits woman in his world, and nothing will ever make that a reality.
An arrangement of mutual benefit.
Two months, four dates.
Five, if things go well.
Five at the most.
But possibly six.
Definitely no more than six dates.
Only the appearance of a romantic relationship is required, and they expect nothing more from their time together. There will be none of those benefits involved.
One wild weekend.
After waking up in bed together—very naked and even more hungover—the terms and conditions of their arrangement no longer apply. Now they're faced with something riskier than exposing their fake relationship: letting go of the past and zipping up the future.
Some things have to fall apart before they can be put back together.
5 Stars
Preservation is the seventh title in The Walshes series, and features the second youngest sibling Riley in his search to find love. I really didn't think Riley's story would top the previous books in this series, as I have loved each and every one, but I was wrong and Kate Canterbary knocked it out of the ball park.
Riley otherwise known as RISD, is clumsy, a bit of a klutz, at times he's socially awkward, accident prone, often with food adorning his clothes and has a tendency to have his fly unzipped. He's also loyal, caring, loving and quite brilliant in his role in the family architectural firm.
The lady that captures Riley's heart is strong, intelligent, impressive and very intense.
This pairing of characters are complex, unique, endearing and completely intriguing. They both are quite vulnerable, and have perceived deficiencies, that cause them to struggle to live up to not only the expectations others place on them, but the ones they place on themselves. They are perfect for each other, although in some ways they are quite opposite, in others they have are incredibly similar and complement each other beautifully.
I adored the banter that this pair share throughout the story line. Whether it was in person, or their favored form of communication,text messages, that had me continually laughing out loud.
If you are a fan of this series, you will be invested in this family and thoroughly enjoy seeing them all appear throughout the story line. I loved that Riley and his lady love's story is told from a dual perspective and we once again, have the opportunity to understand their thought processes.
Preservation is a heartfelt romance full of emotion and humor, a story of friendship and family and above all love. This story had me both in laughter and tears, and I cannot recommend this title and this series enough to anyone who loves contemporary romance, and in particular a series of titles that are interconnected and continue with each additional title. The Walshes have put Kate Canterbary up their as one of my all time favorite authors, and I will be eagerly anticipating her next title, that I am sure will once again highlight her special brand of sass, wit and humor.
Kate Canterbary doesn't have it all figured out, but this is what she knows for sure: spicy-ass salsa and tequila solve most problems, living on the ocean--Pacific or Atlantic--is the closest place to perfection, and writing smart, smutty stories is a better than any amount of chocolate. She started out reporting for an indie arts and entertainment newspaper back when people still read newspapers, and she has been writing and surreptitiously interviewing people—be careful sitting down next to her on an airplane—ever since. Kate lives on the water in New England with Mr. Canterbary and the Little Baby Canterbary, and when she isn't writing sexy architects, she's scheduling her days around the region's best food trucks.
