{"id":24380,"date":"2019-07-30T07:59:39","date_gmt":"2019-07-30T11:59:39","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/smittenbybooks.com\/blog\/?p=24380"},"modified":"2022-10-11T16:59:37","modified_gmt":"2022-10-11T16:59:37","slug":"review-the-one-who-stays-by-toni-blake","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/smittenbybooks.com\/blog\/2019\/07\/30\/review-the-one-who-stays-by-toni-blake\/","title":{"rendered":"Review \u2764\ufe0f The One Who Stays by Toni Blake"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Lose your heart to Summer Island, where summers are easy, winters are cozy and friends welcome you with open arms<\/em><\/span>

Summer Island has always been home to Meg Sloan. She runs the Summerbrook Inn, like her grandmother did, and she loves the laid-back pace of life and the close-knit community the island offers. Meg also loves Zack Sheppard, but what she doesn\u2019t love is Zack\u2019s refusal to commit to an exclusive relationship.<\/span>

Seth Darden arrives on Summer Island in search of summer work, but also in search of something else\u2014his past. There are secrets buried at the Summerbrook Inn, secrets that forged the path of Seth\u2019s life. But he wasn\u2019t counting on falling for the lovely innkeeper, Meg.<\/span>

When Meg meets Seth, she can\u2019t ignore the sparks that fly between them, even though she feels like her heart has been torn in half. But if Zack won\u2019t commit, should she take the leap with Seth? And can she even have a future with him if he can\u2019t reckon with his past?<\/span><\/p> <\/div>\n<\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n

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Release Date:<\/strong> Jul 30, 2019
Series:<\/strong>\u00a0Summer Island
<\/em>Book:\u00a0<\/strong>1
Heat Level:<\/strong> Sensual
Publisher:<\/strong> Harlequin
Imprint:<\/strong> HQN
Price:<\/strong> $5.99<\/p>

\u00a0<\/p>

Meg gradually tries to cope with Zack\u2019s lack of commitment. Some of the towns folks really pushed for him which struck me as odd since they were together for five years and he couldn\u2019t commit. She then meets Seth who is a \u201cdrifter\u201d. He is in town looking for work. She needs someone to help around the inn and pretty soon a friendship develops.<\/p>

I love romance stories by Toni Blake<\/strong><\/em>. She knows how to deliver a cozy small town romance. So I became so excited to read this story once I discovered a brand new series by her. The problem that I have with this one is that the story has a women\u2019s fiction vibe to it. The romance is very light.<\/p>

The reader is inside Meg\u2019s head throughout her whole journey of self-discovery. In fact, the reader is inside everyone\u2019s head. There is so much inner dialogue and musings that very little is said. It is hard to stay in the story. I would have rather the story be told in first person.<\/p>

I really like Seth. He makes his intentions towards Meg known upfront. He is genuinely a nice guy who hasn\u2019t really found a place or reason to settle down. I kind of wanted more excitement for him to be honest.<\/p>

As Meg is working on her romantic prospects, she is reading her grandmother\u2019s diary. While the story, or should I say the romance, moved a bit too slow for my own romantic preference, I really enjoyed the parallel between Meg\u2019s life and her grandmother\u2019s. It sort of helped Meg figure things out for herself.<\/p>

I would recommend this as a good beach read.<\/p>

~ Samantha<\/em><\/p> <\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n

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Amazon<\/a><\/span>\u00a0|\u00a0iBooks<\/span><\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0B&N<\/span><\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0Kobo<\/span><\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0Google Play<\/span><\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p> <\/div>\n<\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n \t <\/div>\n\t \n\t<\/div>\n\t\n\t<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Lose your heart to Summer Island, where summers are easy, winters are cozy and friends welcome you with open arms Summer Island has always been […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":24381,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"pagelayer_contact_templates":[],"_pagelayer_content":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[105,106,48,50],"tags":[146,216,422],"class_list":["post-24380","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-harlequin","category-harpercollins","category-reviews","category-samantha","tag-3-stars","tag-contemporary","tag-romantic-elements"],"yoast_head":"\nReview \u2764\ufe0f The One Who Stays by Toni Blake - Smitten by Books<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/smittenbybooks.com\/blog\/2019\/07\/30\/review-the-one-who-stays-by-toni-blake\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Review \u2764\ufe0f The One Who Stays by Toni Blake - 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She runs the Summerbrook Inn, like her grandmother did, and she loves the laid-back pace of life and the close-knit community the island offers. Meg also loves Zack Sheppard, but what she doesn\u2019t love is Zack\u2019s refusal to commit to an exclusive relationship.<br \/><br \/>Seth Darden arrives on Summer Island in search of summer work, but also in search of something else\u2014his past. There are secrets buried at the Summerbrook Inn, secrets that forged the path of Seth\u2019s life. But he wasn\u2019t counting on falling for the lovely innkeeper, Meg.<br \/><br \/>When Meg meets Seth, she can\u2019t ignore the sparks that fly between them, even though she feels like her heart has been torn in half. But if Zack won\u2019t commit, should she take the leap with Seth? And can she even have a future with him if he can\u2019t reckon with his past?<\/p>\n<p><img class=\\\"size-full wp-image-16466 aligncenter\\\" src=\\\"http:\/\/smittenbybooks.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/3-hearts.jpg\\\" alt=\\\"\\\" width=\\\"135\\\" height=\\\"44\\\" \/><\/p><hr \/><p><strong>Release Date:<\/strong> Jul 30, 2019<br \/><strong>Series:<\/strong>\u00a0<em>Summer Island<br \/><\/em><strong>Book:\u00a0<\/strong>1<br \/><strong>Heat Level:<\/strong> Sensual<br \/><strong>Publisher:<\/strong> Harlequin<br \/><strong>Imprint:<\/strong> HQN<br \/><strong>Price:<\/strong> $5.99<\/p><hr \/><p>\u00a0<\/p><p style=\\\"text-align: justify;\\\">Meg gradually tries to cope with Zack\u2019s lack of commitment. Some of the towns folks really pushed for him which struck me as odd since they were together for five years and he couldn\u2019t commit. She then meets Seth who is a \u201cdrifter\u201d. He is in town looking for work. She needs someone to help around the inn and pretty soon a friendship develops.<\/p><p style=\\\"text-align: justify;\\\">I love romance stories by <em><strong>Toni Blake<\/strong><\/em>. She knows how to deliver a cozy small town romance. So I became so excited to read this story once I discovered a brand new series by her. The problem that I have with this one is that the story has a women\u2019s fiction vibe to it. The romance is very light.<\/p><p style=\\\"text-align: justify;\\\">The reader is inside Meg\u2019s head throughout her whole journey of self-discovery. In fact, the reader is inside everyone\u2019s head. There is so much inner dialogue and musings that very little is said. It is hard to stay in the story. I would have rather the story be told in first person.<\/p><p style=\\\"text-align: justify;\\\">I really like Seth. He makes his intentions towards Meg known upfront. He is genuinely a nice guy who hasn\u2019t really found a place or reason to settle down. I kind of wanted more excitement for him to be honest.<\/p><p style=\\\"text-align: justify;\\\">As Meg is working on her romantic prospects, she is reading her grandmother\u2019s diary. While the story, or should I say the romance, moved a bit too slow for my own romantic preference, I really enjoyed the parallel between Meg\u2019s life and her grandmother\u2019s. It sort of helped Meg figure things out for herself.<\/p><p style=\\\"text-align: justify;\\\">I would recommend this as a good beach read.<\/p><p><em>~ Samantha<\/em><\/p>\n<p style=\\\"text-align: center;\\\"><strong><a href=\\\"https:\/\/tinyurl.com\/yy2jn9pa\\\" target=\\\"_blank\\\" rel=\\\"noopener\\\">Amazon<\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0<a href=\\\"https:\/\/books.apple.com\/us\/book\/the-one-who-stays\/id1441637810?mt=11&app=itunes&at=11l88k\\\" target=\\\"_blank\\\" rel=\\\"noopener\\\">iBooks<\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0<a href=\\\"https:\/\/www.barnesandnoble.com\/w\/the-one-who-stays-toni-blake\/1129833292?ean=9781488085857#\/\\\" target=\\\"_blank\\\" rel=\\\"noopener\\\">B&N<\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0<a href=\\\"https:\/\/www.kobo.com\/us\/en\/ebook\/the-one-who-stays\\\" target=\\\"_blank\\\" rel=\\\"noopener\\\">Kobo<\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0<a href=\\\"https:\/\/play.google.com\/store\/books\/details\/Toni_Blake_The_One_Who_Stays?id=2jh5DwAAQBAJ\\\" target=\\\"_blank\\\" rel=\\\"noopener\\\">Google Play<\/a><\/strong><\/p>","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/smittenbybooks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24380","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/smittenbybooks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/smittenbybooks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/smittenbybooks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/smittenbybooks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=24380"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/smittenbybooks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24380\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/smittenbybooks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/smittenbybooks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=24380"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/smittenbybooks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=24380"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/smittenbybooks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=24380"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}