I downloaded Falling for You for Kindle (free) and was enticed with the setting of Galveston, which is one of my favorite Texas towns. I don't usually read romance novels, but this was a nice story by Julie Ortolon about Rory and her siblings who want to open a bed and breakfast in an old mansion situated on a fictitious island off the Galveston coast. Of course, there's a romantic interest (Chance) who is on the verge of becoming engaged to a neighbor approved of by his well-to-do parents.There are mixed reviews of the book and I admit some of the story I didn't find overly intriguing, but then I prefer murder mysteries.
Reviews on Amazon
I love books that are set in an area new to me and that evoke local color so dramatically that I feel that I am there or that I want to be there [in my case, now I want to go visit Galveston, Texas!].
This is a story with plenty of color, and one which takes a standard plotline - rich stuffy banker meets wild child - and sets it on its ear. Rich characterization helps, and the secondary characters are multidimensional living human beings who have their own life histories. There are some funny scenes, but what counted for me in this book was the wonderful evocation of a city in small-town mode, the twists and turns in the relationship between the banker and the "wild child", and the hints at family secrets between the two of them.
The plotline is simple - Oliver Chancellor "Chance" is a banker whose father has just sold his small family-owned bank to an East Coast group. He is still expected to spend his life with the bank, to behave suitably and to marry suitably. His intended bride Paige is the daughter of old family friends. However, Oliver finds himself attracted to the sister of a schoolmate. Aurora "Rory" St Claire comes from an unconventional and almost disreputable family, with a famous local scandal in their past. She is a tour guide, her brother is a chef, and her sister works for a gallery. Nothing particularly special about Rory, except her stunning looks and her bubbly personality. Rory has self-esteem issues (we soon learn why), but she desperately wants to run her own B&B. When a house belonging to an ancestor is up for sale (after foreclosure by Chance's bank), Rory tries to obtain a loan to buy the property and get the B&B started.
Note: Jill Mansell also has a novel of the same name.
