The Plus One by Rebecca Blevins {Review}

The Plus One by Rebecca Blevins

Kindle Edition, 165 pages

Published December 7th 2016 by Aspen Grove Press 

 

 

After selling the inn she inherited from her grandmother, Rachel DeWitt moves to Kansas City to put her past behind her and realize her dream of going to art school. While at a celebratory dinner out alone, she meets Braden Easton, and due to her quick thinking, she rescues him from a terrible first date.
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Rachel has sworn off romance for the foreseeable future—even if Braden’s British accent makes her swoon. So when Braden presents a plan to be each other’s “plus one” as needed, Rachel agrees. Before long, the two are spending a good deal of time together, and Rachel wonders why she hasn’t tried this friendship-dating thing before. But what she doesn’t know is that Braden has a secret that could threaten their arrangement and change both of their lives in ways neither one has ever imagined.

 

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My Review: 4 Stars

 

After a couple of years off, Rachel is ready to go back to college--art school, in fact. She's braver than I am and goes to an upscale restaurant by herself, where she rescues Braden from a bad date. Who can resist a British accent?  Rachel sure can't. They each have reasons for not wanting to give dating a break and decide to be a "plus one" for each other--a friendship/dating relationship.

 

When all of the elements for an affinity are there, it's only natural to act on those feelings, but these two fight it to the death. I couldn't understand why they didn't just give in and just date, since their reasons weren't very solid, in my opinion. Of course, that maddening tension breathes life to the story and gives it some friction. I honestly wasn't completely sure of the outcome until near the end, which kept me engaged. 

 

I liked the characters because they felt real and flawed. Their reactions to situations are normal, although there is one situation where they both seemed to blow it off to easily (a near robbery). I love the setting and how I could visualize it. I would have loved to have more interactions and dialog between Rachel and Braden, as there is a lot of telling, instead of showing. I would have also loved to see more situations arise where they needed that plus one, instead of just a friend.

 

Content: mild romance; one instance of mild violence.

 

*I received a complimentary copy from the author. All thoughts and opinions are my own.* 

 

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About the Author:

  

Rebecca Blevins is from the Midwest, land of tornadoes and cows—hopefully not mixed together. She began reading before she can remember, so books have always been part of her life. She has fond memories of borrowing more than thirty titles from the library at a time, and her mother stated: "Rebecca sat down to read and didn't stop until she was done with the whole bag."

Rebecca’s love of reading has turned into an affinity for writing. Her first book—at age four—was a huge hit, with a cut-up diaper box cover and pages of stick figure drawings. The title? Mommy and Rebecca Go to the Store.

Now that she considers herself a grownup, Rebecca especially loves writing about pirates with rooster pox and princesses with pet anteaters, as well as tales for young adults. Rebecca was lucky enough to find a handsome writer prince, and they have four children. Their family enjoys reading together, playing Dominion, Friday night pizza, and watching funny videos on YouTube.