Review: It Seemed Like A Good Idea At The Time by Kylie Scott

Psst!
In case you missed it, you can find out more about this book, check out teasers and another excerpt, by checking out the release blitz post.
😉

"Addictive like all Kylie Scott books, you'll swoon, laugh, ache, put your life on hold, and compulsively read until the wee hours of the night—only to reread the whole thing the next morning. Perfection!" - Katy Evans, New York Times bestselling author

Returning home for her father’s wedding was never going to be easy for Adele. If being sent away at eighteen hadn’t been bad enough, the mess she left behind when she made a pass at her dad’s business partner sure was.

Fifteen years older than her, Pete had been her crush for as long as she could remember. But she’d misread the situation—confusing friendliness for undying love. Awkward. Add her father to the misunderstanding, and Pete was left with a broken nose and a business on the edge of ruin. The man had to be just as glad as everyone else when she left town.

Seven years later, things are different. Adele is no longer a kid, but a fully grown adult more than capable of getting through the wedding and being polite. But all it takes is seeing him again to bring back those old feelings.

Sometimes first loves are the truest.

*eARC provided in exchange of a honest review*

ebook

Full Length Novel

First person

None

No

No

Yes

No

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No

Oh dear... It's taken me a freakishly long time to get my thoughts out and in some kind of order about this book... And honestly, I'm not sure how coherent they actually are, but here goes!

I love Kylie Scott books.
I love how they blend sass and humour with deliciously addicting romance.
Her characters are likable and reading their stories is an absolute pleasure.

Well, this is usually the case.

It Seemed Like A Good Idea At The Time had the sass, humour, and (mostly) likable characters that I've come to expect from the author but unfortunately the romance in this fell completely flat for me.
IMO, for this type of book - forbidden romance, large age gap - to work, you need to feel an amazing connection between the characters and I just didn't.
It was all just too weird and forced... Lacking in chemistry.

It was weird because what in the actual fuckery is a grown ass man doing becoming BFFs with a teenage girl, fifteen years his junior?!

Fast forward seven years and it felt forced and lacking in chemistry because I just didn't believe in Pete's romantic feelings for Adele, at all really, throughout the entirety of the book.

Pete is a moody commitment-phobe and I just didn't believe he'd pull a complete 180 to become anyone's perfect partner, including Adele's. Especially seeing as he blows hot and cold throughout the majority of the book!

Plus, while I believe that he did feel genuine fondness and affection for Adele as a teenager, I don't believe that those feelings would have magically transformed into romantic love within days of Adele returning to his life after a seven-year absence.

I just didn't believe in their relationship. It was bollocks.
In real life, they'd be the couple you were gossiping about and giving them six-months and would almost certainly be proven right!
I just... It annoyed me.
Pete annoyed me.
I just didn't believe his romantic affections for Adele.

However, what made it interesting was that I believed Adele.
I believe she loved Pete as a teenager. I felt her pain as she reconnected with him in the present. I felt her yearning. I felt her embarrassment over the events that lead to her not going home in seven years... I felt all of it and I sympathised with her a lot and wished her well and wanted to cry a little bit because I just didn't believe he was right for her.

I realise this makes it sound like I didn't like the book and that's not true.
I did like the book.
It was a good book...
Well written and easy to read, it made me laugh and it made me think, it made me question my own perceptions and bias but it just didn't make me feel the feels!

P.S
This final thought isn't about the story but the book itself...

I loved how this was a Kylie Scott book actually set in Austrailia! I think all the other books I've read by her have been US-based and written in US vernacular whereas this one let the native Aussie shine and I loved it! Especially as Aussie vernacular is so similar to the British.
😉

I like the cover. It fits.

It was meant to be a soft kiss. A chaste one, even.
The minute my lips touched his, however, everything changed. Callused hands grabbed the sides of my face and my mouth opened on a gasp. His tongue swept inside, taking me over. Holy hell. Shoes and purse hit the floor, forgotten. Nothing about this kiss was slow or easy. The man devoured me. Every ounce of emotion poured into that kiss, all of the anger and frustration between us. His tongue was teasing and tasting, driving me wild. Then he drew back to suck and nip at my bottom lip. One hand slid around the back of my neck, the other over my hip to grab at my ass. His hold was firm, a little rough even. He treated my body like it belonged to him and I wasn’t gentle either.
Apparently experience mattered. Because all I could do was try and keep up.
I held on tight to his open shirt, straining against him, trying to get closer. I’d have crawled inside the man if I could. Turned out that under certain circumstances, the taste of scotch worked for me in a big way. Against my hip, his cock hardened, digging into me. And oh my God, I’d done that to him. Me. How amazing! Meanwhile, my body felt liquid, core aching and empty. I needed him inside of me and it seemed like I’d already been waiting forever.
“Pete. Please.”
“Fuck,” he muttered, breath hot against my ear.
I fumbled at the remaining buttons on his shirt. My damn fingers didn’t seem to be working. Easier to just push the whole thing upward. Luckily, the man decided to help, tearing the shirt off over his head. More skin was good. And he was so hot and smooth, a thrill to the touch. The solid flesh of his pecs and the flat plane of his stomach.
He tore at the zipper on the back of my dress, dragging fabric down over my shoulders. A growl came from the back of his throat, a noise of frustration, impatience. I’m reasonably certain I heard the silk rip. I didn’t care. His hands and mouth seemed to cover every bit of skin revealed, touching and tasting me everywhere. The dress got stuck on my hips. Out of the way enough for now.
He didn’t even bother undoing my bra, simply peeling down one of the lace cups to free my flesh. My breast filled his hot palm as it took the weight. Fingers plumped me, his thumb flicking over my hard nipple. The sting of pain followed by the heat of his kiss made my head spin and my body ache. There was no room for thought as he fed me deep, wet kisses. Slowly, he took us to the floor. No time for anything else. Just the urgent need to have him inside me.
The hardness of the polished wood was cool against my back. My legs were spread, his body between them. And with his broad chest above me, his weight taken on one arm, he was all I could see. I swear even the insides of my thighs were wet, I was so ready. It would have been embarrassing with anybody else. But this man, he had to know, he had to understand. It had always been him.
“Pete, I need—”
“I know,” he said, voice harsh and low.