Reasonable Adults by Robin Lefler ~ A Review

by Susan Roberts

At a crossroads both personally and professionally, a newly single, thirty-something marketing exec takes a chance on a too-good-to-true winter job at an exclusive artists' retreat in the wilds of Canada – only to find out she's way in over her head.

Amazon affiliate links are used on this site. A free book was provided for an honest review.

October 2023; Kensington; 978-1496741325
audio, ebook, print (304 pages); romantic comedy

This debut novel is a cute little rom-com that has some issues.  

What I enjoyed about the book - The main character Kate was fun and well-written.  After she loses her job in advertising and her boyfriend over a post on social media, she isn't sure what she wants to do with her life.  On a whim, she applies for a job at Treetops, a swanky, off-the-grid creative retreat in northern Canada, complete with meditation circles, deluxe spa, and artisanal cocktails.  Her goal is to increase the number of guests but she's shackled by a mean boss with an old-time set of rules.  As Kate gets more sure of herself, she begins to come up with some good ideas and tries to make a success of Treetops only to get thwarted on every improvement that she wants to make.

I really enjoyed some of the secondary characters especially bubbly Tania and hypercritical Kevin.  They both added a lot to the story Tania as a friend and a 'cheerleader for Kate's new ideas and Kevin as a negative person who doesn't think she should have even been hired.   There are also other interesting secondary characters that bring fun to the story.

The setting was beautiful.  The story took place in Northern Canada in the winter and the description of the snow and the cold wind made me feel cold, too.  Kate's dog also added a lot to the story.

What I didn't like -- I really didn't get the relationship between Kate and Matt.  Yes, he was handsome and sexy but the way he treated her after an attempted rape was absolutely terrible.  The two characters just didn't seem to have much in common to base a relationship on.

The ending wrapped everything up too quickly and too neatly and everyone got their happily ever after - whether they deserved it or not.

This is a debut novel by this author and based on the enjoyable parts of this book, I see some interesting books in her future.

Trigger Warning - attempted rape

Buy Reasonable Adults at Amazon

Susan Roberts grew up in Michigan but loves the laid-back life at her home in the Piedmont area of North Carolina where she is two hours from the beach to the east and the mountains in the west.  She reads almost anything but her favorite genres are Southern Fiction and Historical Fiction.   

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