Comfort Zone

Comfort Zone

I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley and I am voluntarily reviewing it.

First off I really am giving this 3.5 stars. There were things that I loved about the book (i.e. older protagonist, just really dealing with normal life situations, I LOVED Rich's father!). The biggest pet peeve for me, Janet just didn't communicate as well I would have expected at times.

Janet Zwingel is a HVAC tech while on a call she meets Rich Taylor. His air is down during a St. Louis heat wave. He has things to do and it is his off-duty day. He likes order on his days off. As a police detective, he has enough chaos during working hours. Once his air is fixed and Janet is on her way, through some investigating, he discovers that he coached her daughter along with his while the girls were in high school. In fact, his nephew Daniel, is engaged to her daughter. He will also be seeing her again as she is throwing a party the next day for the couple.

This story has some mystery and intrigue but it is basically just about two people in their 50's who come together after life has dealt them some hard blows. Rich lost his wife to cancer two years ago. Janet divorced her husband, Greg over a decade ago, after his gambling problems got in the way. She craves the independent life that she has built for herself. Rich is just now rebuilding his after going through the grieving process.

As someone who is also in my 50's, it was nice to see two older protagonists getting their second chance at love. Their lives are full but can they include someone else into it? I loved the fact that the book was written in a dual POV format. I could really see and understand the characters so much better. I felt, Janet was more complex. There were scenes where I felt she should have confided with Rich about things that were going on in her professional life when she was getting some "warning" signs. I mean he is a detective. But when their professional lives do cross and things develop and stuff happens, she wants to end their growing friendship. I really couldn't understand that. There were no clear answer given for me.

There were also times when I had to re-read sections as I was totally confused. The conversation between them at times were just something that bounced around and hard to follow.

This is a clean romance with just kissing involved between the two.