Series: Cat's Paw Cove (Book 6)
Former ugly duckling Sydney McCoy yearns to break into
television. And the hottest guy she works with -- TV sports personality, Chip
Haggerty -- could be her ticket to the airwaves. Too bad that Chip hardly knows
Sydney is alive. Worse, she has no clue how to speak Chip's sports-oriented
language.
Up-and-coming real estate agent Levi Barnett is desperate
to convince the owner of a hot downtown property to sell so the company Levi
works for can redevelop the site into a multi-million-dollar complex. When he
literally crashes into a woman he knew in high school who could champion his
cause, he'll do anything to get Sydney's help. All she wants from him in return
is help communicating with her office crush. No problem! But when Levi starts
to fall for the beautiful Sydney, he wonders if he's making the worst mistake
of his life by being her would-be Cyrano de Bergerac.
Good story about two people who must overcome their
insecurities before they can find the happiness that each wants. Sydney is a
reporter for the local paper. Her dream is to move from print journalism to
broadcast journalism, and she knows how to do it. All she needs to do is engage
the interest of fellow reporter and local TV sports personality, Chip Haggerty.
The problem is that his conversation is loaded with sports metaphors, leaving
her clueless and unable to talk to him, much less attract him. What she needs
is an interpreter.
Levi is a real estate agent who has been tasked with
convincing two hold-out property owners to sell so that the site can be
developed into a modern complex. His boss is dangling a partnership in front of
him for extra motivation. What he needs is someone impartial who can help point
out the benefits.
I liked both Sydney and Levi. They knew each other in
high school, where the shy, nerdy, overweight Sydney tutored the good-looking
football player that she had a crush on. Though she never expected anything to
come of it, she was still hurt when he ignored her after he no longer needed
her help. In the years since high school, Sydney made herself over into a
beautiful and talented woman, though she frequently still sees herself as that
high school loser. Though Levi is successful at his job, he still sees himself
as that kid from the wrong side of the tracks. He's willing to do anything to
gain the respect that he craves.
I liked their first meeting. Sydney recognized Levi
immediately, though Levi didn't recognize her. He did notice how beautiful she
was now and intrigued when he learned that she is a reporter. He has no trouble
asking her to help him again, this time by writing a positive article about the
redevelopment plans. Sydney is determined not to be taken advantage of this
time and agrees to look into writing an unbiased story if he will help her land
Chip as a boyfriend.
I enjoyed the development of Sydney and Levi's
relationship. The sparks are there from the beginning, but both try to ignore
them in pursuit of their individual goals. Sydney is focused on getting Chip's
attention and tries to ignore the signs that her high school crush isn't as
over as she thought it was. Even worse, Chip isn't showing up too well when
Levi is around. For Levi, it doesn't take long at all for him to realize that
he'd like to get a lot closer to Sydney for himself, not help her get closer to
Chip. For both of them, their own insecurities work against them. Levi spent
his whole life listening to his father put him down, wanting nothing more than
to be respected for who he is. Though he looks confident on the outside,
there's always that little kid inside who remembers being poor, laughed at, and
mistreated by his father. Why then should beautiful Sydney want him when
hot-shot Chip is there? For Sydney, she may be thin, beautiful, and respected
now, but she can't forget the plain, picked-on, and almost invisible teenager
who had a crush on Levi. He could have anyone he wanted, why should he look
twice at her?
To make matters worse, Levi's boss makes it plain to Sydney
that he expects Levi's previous relationship with his daughter to start again,
and he wouldn't be inclined to give Levi that partnership if someone interfered
with it. There were some interesting twists as both Levi and Sydney discover
that they have to love themselves before they can accept the love of someone
else. I enjoyed the ending, and seeing Levi and Sydney find the love they both
wanted and deserved.
Secondary characters were well done. Levi's boss and his
daughter, Beth, were both people it was easy to dislike. He was the
stereotypical uncaring boss, who is only interested in the bottom line. I was a
little worried about his influence on Levi at first, but Levi was up to the
challenge. Beth was a piece of work. Definitely a spoiled daddy's girl, she did
what she wanted without care for the consequences. I was very happy to see that
Levi had her number. Chip was the illustration of the dumb jock. He had all the
charm and charisma he needed to get by, often by convincing someone to help
him. I was irritated by the way he talked Sydney into editing (read
"rewriting") his columns for him. Even when he was supposed to be
with Sydney, he saw nothing wrong with ignoring her to be with the people
fawning all over him.
There wasn't much magic in this book, mostly just a
couple examples of Levi's talent, and a mention of Fiona's potions. That's okay;
the story was fun even without it.
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