Review: That Thing Called Love by Susan Andersen.

Rowena’s review of That Thing Called Love (Razor Bay/Bradshaw Brothers #1) by Susan Andersen.

Hero: Jake Bradshaw
Heroine: Jenny Salazar

For a guy she’s fantasized about throttling, Jake Bradshaw sure is easy on the eyes. In fact, he seriously tempts inn manager Jenny Salazar to put her hands to better use. Except this is the guy who left Razor Bay—and his young son, Austin, whom Jenny adores like her own—to become a globe-trotting photojournalist. He can’t just waltz back and claim Austin now.

Jake was little more than a kid himself when he became a dad. Sure, he’d dreamed of escaping the resort town, but he’d also truly believed that Austin was better off with his grandparents. Now he wants—no, needs—to make up for his mistake. He intends to stay in Razor Bay only until he can convince Austin to return with him to New York. Trouble is, with sexy, protective, utterly irresistible Jenny in his life, and his bed, he may never want to leave….

I always enjoy books by Susan Andersen so it wasn’t a surprise that I wanted to read this one. When Jake Bradshaw blazes his way into Jenny Salazar’s life, she’s prepared to despise him for abandoning the boy who’s come to mean a great deal to her. In Jenny’s mind, Jake didn’t want to have anything to do with Austin for his ENTIRE life so he should just stay away and let Austin grow up, happy and with people who love him….but at the same time, she can’t begrudge Austin the chance of getting to know his Dad so she’s stuck in a pickle.

This was a great summer read for me. It had great characters, a storyline that isn’t fresh but felt refreshingly different from anything that I’ve read before and I really enjoyed that the hero wasn’t perfect. And when I say perfect, I mean his intentions weren’t pure but man did he have regrets. And hell if he didn’t try to make up for his mistakes, which I totally respected. I loved that he struggled with the guilt of leaving his young son behind and never coming back and I loved that he stayed and fought to get to know his son better and to build a relationship with him. I really loved that he wanted all of those things without being forced into it. It made the reading experience great.

Jenny was a great step-in older sister to Austin and I really enjoyed the relationship that they had. Austin loved and respected Jenny and Jenny felt the same right back at him. Austin was so lucky to have her in his life because she would have fought tooth and nail for him, if she needed to and I was glad that in the end, she didn’t need to.

Overall, the story was a good one. I enjoyed getting to know all of the characters (including Max and Tasha) and the romance between Jake and Jenny was sweet. This was another good addition to Andersen’s backlist and I’m glad that I read it but I can’t say that this is my favorite book because while it was enjoyable, that’s all it was. A good summer read. I will definitely be reading the next book in this series because I’m curious enough about Max to want more from him though I was hoping he’d hook up with Tasha instead of who I think will be his heroine but I’m sure that whoever he ends up with will be a good match.

I also thought the little romance between Austin and Bailey was an adorable addition to this book. I really liked Austin’s character and felt that he was completely fleshed out and I loved seeing his opinion of Jake rise and his distrust of him melt away. The scenes with Austin and Jake were too cute for words, even when Austin was being a bratty teenager.

This was a quick, fun summer read and I definitely recommend this book to lovers of contemporary romance and Susan Andersen. Fans of both will enjoy this one.

Grade: 3.5 out of 5

This book is available from HQN. You can buy it here or here in e-format.

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