Winning His Heart by Lara Van Hulzen

Michael St. Claire, a widower and single father, fears his heart could never make room for another. Between raising his young daughter Annalise and rebuilding his dreams as a race car driver, love isn’t on his mind… Until feisty Franchesca shows up and changes everything.

With her mom’s health failing, Franchesca needs extra income. An offer from Mike St. Claire to be his daughter’s nanny is an offer she can’t refuse. She has always dreamed of making it on Broadway and living in New York, but her immediate attraction to Mike challenges all she thought she wanted.

Mike can’t deny his feelings for Franchesca, even with the risk of losing his heart again. But he doesn’t want to stand in the way of Franchesca’s dreams. Will his past and what she wants in the future tear them apart?

Series: | Publisher: Tule Publishing | Release Date:  June 26, 2017| Genre: Contemporary Romance | Source: Publisher | Rating: 2 Cups

Here’s what’s going on. When Michael rescues Franchesca from the side of the road after her car breaks down then proceeds to be her knight in shining armor by offering her the job as his daughter’s nanny, Franchesca finds herself falling hard for the widower. And Michael feels the same but he’s afraid to let himself love again. And there’s also Franchesca’s dream to be actress to considers, especially after his father uses his connections to land her an auction for a Broadway play.

 

So, this one was a quick read. It was cute but it left me feeling a little meh.

 

Mike and Franchesca were both going through things. They both needed a little rescuing and some time figuring things out. He’s figuring out how to raise an adorable little girl all on his own and struggling with whether or not to get back into the racing scene. Franchesca’s dealing with a mother suffering from dementia and trying to figure out if she still wants to follow her dreams of being an actress.

 

They had a nice friendship going on but I just didn’t see much of an actual romance. Rather than showing a developing relationship, they mostly just talked about being together. I would have liked to have seen an actual relationship and some chemistry.

 

This one really suffered due to lack of dialogue. Pages went by before someone actually said something to another person. So, not only did I find parts of it boring, I didn’t feel any connection between the characters.

 

Then there was the conflict. I understood some of it and it was valid but the majority of it was one-sided and made Michael come off as a jerk. And this was another case of keeping things zipped up rather than talking about things.

 

Overall, this one wasn’t my favorite. It was the second book in the series (they all work as standalones) but I’m not sure this series is for me.

 

The Marietta St.Claires Series

Recipe for Romance

Winning his Heart