All of Me is the second book in Kelly Moran's Covington Cove series. Each book can be read as a standalone, however the characters are interconnected. I absolutely loved the first book in this series, Return to Me, so I couldn't wait to read the next installment. While I did enjoy the story, to me this book wasn't as good as the first. I wasn't able to connect with the characters as easily, and the story itself wasn't everything I had been hoping for.
Bestselling author Alec Winston has been struggling with writer's block for close to a year. With a looming deadline and no book to speak of, he is almost out of options. So when his brother invites him to return home and stay with him for the summer before his wedding, Alec agrees thinking that the beach might be just what he needs. Upon arrival, he meets Faith Armstrong and is instantly drawn to her. The more time that Alec and Faith spend together, the more Alec begins to write again. Faith just moved to the beach to accept a position as a private tutor to a special needs girl, looking for a fresh start. She never expects to find friends and a connection with a sexy author, but the closer her and Alec grow to one another the more she begins to wonder what the future could hold for them. With summer's end approaching, Alec's departure back to NY grows closer. But Alec also has a secret that could destroy any hope of a future together beyond the possible distance.
I liked Alec and Faith, especially at the beginning of this book. I have to say though that the more the book continued, the more frustrated I grew with each of them. Alec has a secret that he doesn't discuss with anyone, and very few know about. He uses it and his guilt to keep others at arm's length, refusing to see anyone for long or commit to one person. But he also has no problem sleeping around, and seems to almost make light of using so many different women for sex only. I didn't care for that at all, but I was glad that we didn't have to see him with others. I hated that he kept pushing Faith away, only to pull her back with mixed signals. Faith had a rough childhood, and had lost the closest person to her when her sister died. Her parents were horrible, and they treated her as though she was nothing more than a means to their end. Because of that, Faith had a lot of issues and was very naive and insecure. Unfortunately some of that was a bit unbelievable to me with Faith's age. At 27 and having lived apart from them for awhile, I would have expected some of that to have gone away. It got to be old at times, and I just felt like these two weren't making a ton of progress. I didn't really feel a strong connection between them, though there were moments that were heartfelt and nice.
This book was a bit slow and frustrating for me, and unfortunately didn't hold my interest like the first book did. The plot was predictable and similar to one of my favorite books, but when compared to each other this one fell flat. If I didn't already love a book similar to this story line, I think that I might have liked this one more. But for me, this one just didn't have the spark that it did and I didn't feel that the connection or chemistry was strong here. I think that Kelly Moran is a great writer, and she really excels at her descriptions. With the scenic location for this series, she really has a way of making it seem so real and beautiful. I wish that I had been able to connect with these characters better, and that I had felt more between the two of them as I really do think that there was potential here. I will read more from Kelly Moran in the future, this one just wasn't as good as the first one was. I will say that there were heartfelt and enjoyable moments in this story though, and while I did have criticisms this was a good story. It just wasn't as great as Return to Me.
**ARC Provided by Publisher**
I actually had my eye on this one and liked the first book, but I suspected there would be more drama than I was in the mood for when I read an excerpt.
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