Ami's Hoard

"You hurt me, yes. But break me? Never."

It is quite common when I read contemporary romance that I love the hero more than the heroine; that I can find what I dislike from a heroine – whether she is too passive or too whiny or too focused on finding love rather than acknowledging her own self-worth. Maybe it is because I am a woman and sometimes woman can be harder with their own gender? I don’t know. But it’s easier to swoon over a hero, even if it’s only physically.

In Kim Amos’ warm romance, And Then He Kissed Me , the second installment in White Pine series, it is definitely the heroine that shines brightly compared to the hero. In fact, this is one example where the heroine practically trumps the hero into the background. For me, Audrey seems to scream “This is my show, darn it” and my first reaction when I finished the book was, “YES to Girl Power!” *lol*

It is true that Audrey Tanner starts the book in a rather ridiculous get-up – the lovely, modest and kind-hearted P.E. teacher just lost her job due to emergency budget cuts that eliminated P.E. altogether from the high school’s curriculum and she ends up getting a job as a model at the newest White Pine Harley Davidson dealership. In that first day, Audrey also finds out that her new boss is none other than Kieran Callaghan, the guy who five years ago was someone Audrey thought could be her soul mate, until he practically left her in the dust with his Harley.

With new daring attire comes newfound confidence – and modest Audrey who used to be unable to say “no” to people because she didn’t want to make a fuss, just comes out of her shell. She starts to see possibilities around her. She straightens her spine, lifts up her chin, and just finds her inner strength. You know the first thing she says to Kieran? “You’re an asshole.” Yep. That. And I LOVED her for it. Audrey shows everyone that she is no doormat, no siree. I couldn’t help feeling so proud of her and cheered for her every step of the way. GO AUDREY!!

On the other hand, Kieran didn’t exactly charm me. I thought the way that he just ran out of town five years ago was cowardly. In addition, when he first meets Audrey again as her boss, he is downward rude. I couldn’t help wanting to see him groveling a bit more or do a great grand gesture. I thought the progress of Kieran’s initial attitude to the whole ‘loving’, ‘committed’, and ‘I couldn’t live without you Audrey’, was a little too fast for my liking. Liking pushing a switch button. I needed more.

I wasn’t really sure about the whole suspense with the high school teenager. However, I also thought that it was probably a needed secondary plot because Kieran came to his senses about Audrey a little bit fast.

All in all, I thought this book was definitely better than the first one. I’m starting to enjoy the whole community, as well as the girls in Knots and Bolts. I will look forward to future stories.