Guest Review: Sunny With A Chance by Emjai Colbert

Posted October 27, 2010 by Book Binge Guest Blogger in Reviews | 2 Comments

Judith‘s review of Sunny With A Chance by Emjai Colbert

Maybe it was kismet that brought Sunny Maitland to Ryan Chance’s doorstep that day. Maybe it was just dumb luck. Sunny had avoided the house and the man for months for fear of falling in love with the one person who was off limits.

Wounded in body and soul, Ryan Chance is surprised when his former masseuse saunters back into his life as if she had never left. She’d been his savior and confidant when his life was in pieces and then she was gone with no explanation. Bound by secret mutual desire, Sunny and Ryan waste no time getting to know each other again, and again one hot, steamy Southern night.

Sunny Maitland was a physical therapist/massage therapist and her professional expertise had been needed because Ryan Chance was recovering from having a building fall on him–literally. She had first come to know him when he was angry and resentful, wondering if he would ever be OK again, dealing with medical bills and a wife who did little else but demean him because he was no longer a man, in her estimation. Sunny’s encouragement and her consistent positive outlook had gradually helped to move Ryan toward physical health as well as mental and emotional healing. But one day, out of the clear blue, she was gone. Ryan did not know that his wife had made it very clear that Sunny was persona non grata and would no longer be welcome in their home.

Now Sunny is called in to substitute for Ryan’s new therapist, and she is not happy about having to once again face the man from whom she walked away, not only because of his wife’s edict, but because her heart was becoming trapped by this delightful man. She was also convinced that were she to have continued with Ryan, she would have had her heart broken–she was a plus size and she couldn’t get past the fact that Ryan’s wife was willowy and svelt. But she was needed and Ryan’s regular therapist had asked her to substitute. So face him she must!

This is a very nice, warm and fuzzy love story that involves a man whose life was irrevocably changed by his tragic mishap and a woman who is good and kind, caring and sensitive, but whose self-image has been trampled by society’s insistence that all women be a size 4 in order to be considered sexy and beautiful. Ryan is overjoyed to see her again but wary of letting her into his life once more–she left him, after all. Sunny is still not sure that a handsome and virile man like Ryan could love a plus size girl like her. This is not a heavy read–it is simply a love story. And while it is short it embraces the essence of what Sunny and Ryan are hoping for and what they found together. So the beginning of their affair is very tentative.

I think romance fans will find this story to be one of those tales that is said to “warm the cockles of the heart.” It is light but engaging, well-written and easy to read. Sunny and Ryan are genuinely nice people. What’s not to like?

I give this short story a rating of 3.75 out of 5.

You can read more from Judith at Dr. J’s Book Place.

This book is available from Ellora’s Cave. You can buy it here in e-format.