on the slopes of tahoe

Rating: ★★★★
Audience: Contemporary Romance
Length: 383 pages
Author: J.A. Forde
Publisher: Self published
Release Date: February 28th, 2025
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

Wanting each other is easy…
It’s everything else that’s hard.

Breck Kylie’s perfect life unravels in a squall of betrayal, leaving him and his seven-year-old daughter reeling. Choosing to retreat from the sunny shores of Sydney, Australia, they embark on an extended vacation to Lake Tahoe in hopes they’ll find a new ‘normal’ on the snowy slopes.

Rory Anderson had big dreams once, but years of living in a blizzard of impossible expectations has beaten her down. Stuck in a cycle of fear and self-doubt, she’s living a life she’s unsure she truly wants. So, when her brother asks her to help his best friend get settled in Tahoe, she agrees with a renewed sense of purpose.

When Breck’s personal hurricane meets Rory’s frozen fears, they find themselves in the eye of the storm—a quiet place where connection and clarity finally break through. For Rory, it’s a chance to focus on her own dreams. For Breck, it’s a glimpse of the future he thought was shattered.

Finding solace in each other is supposed to be a short-lived thing, but what happens when they find themselves feeling more than they bargained for?

Will they walk away, or will they fight to hold onto the peace they’ve only ever found in each other?

I LIKED IT WELL ENOUGH.

I expected to have some mixed thoughts on this one and I do but y’all know I appreciated a third act handled well (or that reasonably makes sense to the situation at hand) and I felt like this book did that. There were some genuinely big hurdles to think about and decide upon and the time and discussions actually moved the relationship forward.

What bugged me though is that this had a let’s just sleep together vibe. And I do not like those vibes. Especially since this was closed door I just don’t think it matched the energy of the story. It wasn’t necessary and the relationship could have been further without that point.

I did enjoy that it was dual POV and that both Breck and Rory stood up to those in their lives that they needed to. I love seeing relationships mended when it works best AND when relationships are severed when it’s best. This is a great winter book with all of the snow content (which cracks me up that I read it sitting at a pool).

I’ll definitely continue to read J.A. Forde’s books.

Overall audience notes: