REVIEW: Love and Kerosene by Winter Renshaw

 OUR REVIEW:

With Love and Kerosene, I now have a better feel of Winter Renshaw's storytelling style and I think after reading a third book of hers I know what's part of the appeal for me. I appreciate that her characters have issues of trust based on past experiences but that she makes that only part of their story. For instance in the case of Annelise and Lachlan, they both had been burned by Donovan (Lachlan's brother) in some really terrible ways and so naturally, they are hesitant to trust each other. But, as they get to know and understand each other, some of those trust issues begin to fade into the background. Obviously this issue is one of the conflicts that these characters need to overcome but it really isn't at the forefront of every single scene. Many of the scenes are about Annelise and Lachlan getting to know each other like actual people do--and I think that's part of the appeal for me (that they aren't just hyperfocused on why they can't trust and instead do what we all do which is live in the moment). I'm not sure if I'm making any sense at all but I hope what you're getting is that her books don't tend to be complete angst-fests; they leave a lot of room for the characters to get to know and love each other outside of their issues. 

I've also come to appreciate that Winter Renshaw always has these really wonderful secondary characters that make you like the main characters more, as well as the town they're living in. She has this way of describing these characters and places as warm and personable or funny and interesting; basically places and people we'd all want to live in or live near. Additionally, I've really appreciated that when that OH CRAP! moment happens around the 80% mark that we aren't left hanging for long at all--she always has (or at least in the few books I've read) the characters figuring things out very quickly and so the angst is low and the happily ever after comes quickly and feels so very sweet. 

In the case of Love and Kerosene, I really enjoyed Annelise's steadiness as Lachlan came to terms with his past. I liked that neither of these characters were there to play games or manipulate and that I could escape into their story knowing that the angst would be enough to create the conflicts but the evolving love story and ending happily ever after would be so satisfactory. Winter Renshaw is definitely a go to author for a quick, happy, romance that doesn't dwell too much in the darkness before she quickly puts her characters into the light.

BUY IT: Amazon

BLURB:

Two people find love in the embers of their painful pasts in this slow-burn romance from Wall Street Journal and #1 Amazon bestselling author Winter Renshaw.

For me, family is a curse. My father and brother made my life hell. My mother’s untimely death still keeps me up at night. Now that my brother, Donovan, has been killed in an accident, I can forget the past.

The last remnant is the childhood home I’ve inherited—and which I intend to burn to the ground. The only obstacle? Anneliese Nielsen, Donovan’s fiancée.

Donovan left her destitute, and selling this run-down house is her only chance to recoup her losses. I shouldn’t care, but…maybe it’s her eyes when she sees me. I look strikingly like my brother, a man she loved despite everything.

So we strike a deal. We’ll renovate the house together, but she’ll have to convince me to sell—or up in flames it goes.

But the more time we spend in the house, the more its terrible history threatens to come out.

And even more dangerous, the harder I start to fall for Anneliese.