Book Review: Balancing the Scales
Title: Balancing the Scales
Author: Laura Carter
Month: December
Blurb:
A Hotshot Manhattan Attorney.
Drew Harrington knows exactly who he is—a legal shark with a love ‘em and leave ‘em attitude that works just fine in his cutthroat world. He’s on the cusp of promotion to named partner, but only if he can prove to his colleagues that he has a more human side.A Sweetheart of a British Patisserie Chef.
Becky Fletcher is running from her past, so the last thing she’s looking for is love. What she does want is a friendly face in a cold city. Her sunny outlook is the sweetness Drew never knew was missing from his life.
One fateful meeting at a bagel cart.
They sound like a match made in heaven—or is it a car crash? If they have any chance of finding happiness, Drew and Becky are going to have to rethink their life plans. Until then, is there really any harm in having some fun between the sheets?
All’s fair in love and lox!
For my twelfth and final read of my 12 month, 12 genre 2020 challenge, I chose the first book in Laura Carter's 3-book 'Brits in Manhattan' romantic novel series. I saw Laura speak once at the Jersey Festival of Words a few years ago and despite not being the biggest fan of Romance novels, felt inspired to buy one of hers and I chose Balancing the Scales.
Plot
This book starts off as your typical romance novel; boy meets girl, they dislike each other, then they can't get each other off their minds and keep bumping into each other, igniting the fire between them. It was very easy book to sink into and I knew this was going to be one of those books that I could just curl up with and enjoy with little effort. It's full of passion and heat but a very realistic romance. It has pretty much everything you want from a Romance novel.
As the plot develops it does get deeper with Becky's previous life in London having more to it than meets the eye and although it's not hard to guess roughly what her story is, I was kept curious the whole way along to find out for sure and see how it all plays out.
Characters:
At first, I wasn't sure what to make of the two main characters: Drew and Becky. On the one hand, Laura Carter's style of writing made it very easy for me to paint a picture of these characters in my head, but my first impression was that they were a bit predictable (hot-shot lawyer who loves nothing more than money and meaningless sex and the cute, petite patisserie chef from Britain, looking to find herself). I was worried that any change in their personality traits would come across a bit false and exaggerated. But I think this opinion was purely down to my general feeling of romance novels and me being too quick to just a book by it's cover as this one definitely proved me wrong!
I have to admit, the characters in this book surprised me. Yes they changed to an extent but it wasn't false, it felt believable all the way through and by the end I was really rooting for them! Particularly Drew Harrington - at first I wanted to roll my eyes at his playboy ways and typical good looks but by the end I may have fallen a little bit love with him.
Writing Style
Laura Carter's writing style is so great for a novel like this. She has a brilliant way of painting a picture so quickly and easily in your mind. Most of the novel is told from Drew's point of view but there are a few chapters which switch to Becky's memories of the past. I really liked reading the book from Drew's point of view. It was nice to see a romance story from the man's perspective for a change and watch him fall head of heels in love.
Overall Conclusion
The characters are infectious, the plot was passionate, fiery and actually at times, pretty funny. I'd like to think if I ever decided to move to New York (to be a writer, not a patisserie chef!) I'd bump into a guy like Drew Harrington! If you love steamy romance novels, you should check out Laura Carter's novels.
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