A Photo Finish by Elsie Silver
Genre: Romance, Contemporary
Pages: 384
Published By: Simon & Schuster on 13th August, 2021
Format: Paperback
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Book Synopsis:
I’ve seen every square inch of Violet Eaton’s delectable body and she has no idea who I am.
Until now.
What happened between us online, in our chats, was meant to stay anonymous and in the past.
Until it didn’t.
It’s a small world, but Ruby Creek is even smaller. When I move to the tiny town, the grumpy facade I’ve created slips when we’re forced to live under the same roof.
Every flush of her cheeks, every time her eyes flare with heat, every time she begs me not to stop, the ice I’ve encased myself in melts. She has me wanting things I can’t want. Things I’ve been dreaming about since I first laid eyes on her two years ago—things I don’t deserve.
But my invisible wounds have the power to ruin us both. As a former soldier, I should have the discipline to walk away, but the more I open up to Violet, the more I want to keep her.
I came back from the war a different man, but my scars are older and deeper than anyone knows—and I planned to keep it that way. I planned to keep my secrets hidden.
Until her.
Book Review
I was so excited to continue with this series after finishing Off to the Races! Did I enjoy it? Yes. Was this book as good as the first book in the series? No. Am I going to continue with the series? Absolutely. Given how much I’ve enjoyed Elsie Silver’s books so far, this one was a little disappointing because I just wasn’t vibing with it.
I wasn’t really a fan of how Cole and Violet first met. Although it was a concept I hadn’t read before, it just didn’t click for me. I also wasn’t sold on the chemistry between them for the majority of the book. Now, I do like a grumpy MMC, but Cole just wasn’t it for me, especially when I liked Violet’s character so much more in comparison. Their romance wasn’t really hitting until towards the end of the book. I bumped my rating from a 3 to a 3.5 purely because, by the end, the romance was finally giving me what I had wanted from it throughout the book.
The beginning of the book did intrigue me, but I felt like it was a bit of a slog to get through. I normally fly through Silver’s books, so I was surprised that I found myself struggling with this one. Once I reached around the 75% mark, the pace definitely picked up and I found myself enjoying it a lot more. However, I don’t think it should take me that long into a book to really start enjoying it. I found Silver’s writing easy to read as always, but I genuinely think the lack of romantic connection was what left me feeling so disengaged.
I mentioned this in my previous review, but one thing I did find quite unique was the amount of horse talk in this ranch-based romance. Surprisingly, I didn’t mind this at all. I actually found it quite refreshing, especially because the racehorses are the heart and soul of the ranch and play a pivotal role in the storyline.
This is definitely one of my least favourite books I’ve read from Elsie Silver so far, but I did still somewhat enjoy it. Yes, it took me a while to get into, but the ending definitely made up for it! I’m really hoping I enjoy the next book in the series more than this one…
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