A Girl Like Her by Talia Hibbert
Title: A Girl Like Her (Ravenswood #1)
Author: Talia Hibbert
Publisher: Nixon House 2018
Genre: Romance
Pages: 288
Rating: 4/5 stars
Reading Challenges: Library Love; She Reads Romance - Reverse Grumpy Sunshine
Spice Meter: 5
Ruth Kabbah is okay with being an outcast.
Between her autism, her comic book nerdery, and the whiff of scandal her small town can’t forget, Ruth will always be Ravenswood’s black sheep. Since she prefers silence and solitude to gossip and pub crawls, that suits her just fine—until Evan Miller comes to town.
Ex-military man Evan is gorgeous, confident… and he’s Ruth’s new neighbour. Unlike everyone else, he doesn’t seem to mind her crotchety ways or her cooking disasters. In fact, if Ruth didn’t know any better, she might think Evan likes her.
But Ruth’s been burned before, and some lessons are hard to forget.
She can’t let her guard down—no matter how many home-cooked meals Evan brings over. Because affection is temporary, trust is made to be broken, and the heat of desire is a dangerous thing to play with.
So why does this man feel so safe?
CW: Domestic Violence (in past, but discussed)
After reading the third book in this series and picking it for my book club selection, I decided to circle back around and read from the beginning. This one did not disappoint. We get a reverse grumpy sunshine trope with two seemingly different people. In fact, these two people are perfect for each other, challenging and complementing each other. Ruth is not an easy person to be with and Evan may be too easy to be with. But together, we get to see them fit together to form a great partnership. The sections detailing the domestic violence in Ruth’s past were difficult, but Hibbert always the space I needed to process it and continue to read. It helps that those conversations are not in the same chapters as the spicy scenes. I like a bit of separation. (As opposed to how my previously read book, Under Her Skin, approached the conversations.) I got to the end and had that warm and fuzzy feeling to their relationship. That’s what I want in my romance.
Ravenswood
#1 A Girl Like Her
#1.5 Damaged Goods
#2 Untouchable
Next up on the TBR pile: