Pit Stop: Baby! by Taryn Quinn

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


Audio Review: Pit Stop: Baby! (Crescent Cove, #4) by Taryn Quinn, Narrated by Kai Kennicott and Wen Ross

The bigger they are the harder they fall. Crescent Cove grabbed me many books ago and has retained it's hold on me ever since. I love to watch how a baby changes the dynamic of two people who never saw it coming. Gage and Rylee pulled me into their hangups and ran away with my heart. Ross and Kennicott gave even more vibrancy to one of my favorite series. Refreshing, heartwarming and humorous are temptingly addictive fun.

by Matt Haig

This started out with a really pleasant tone, though there was a lot of 'telling'. Sometimes that can fit the story, putting background into context. It is not about time travel, as I presumed, but about a man who has a 'condition' that makes him very long lived, the opposite of the premature aging diseases we've all heard of.

Part of the story is about his quest to find his daughter who shares the condition, but he has much to learn from others of his kind. The story unfolds slowly in the first few chapters and blossoms into questions of the meaning of life and the importance of pleasures and especially of the power of music to move the soul.

I found myself captivated by the journey through time, seeing historic periods through Tom's eyes. He was a likeable character, though rather sad and world weary. The descriptions of what it was like to live through various times were believable and I enjoyed reading it very much.

A shock twist near the end didn't have quite the impact on me that I think was intended. I felt it was a little rushed and there was insufficient explanation of motivation. Apart from that, the story gave me a lot of enjoyment and I wouldn't hesitate to recommend it to anyone with any interest in history at all.

I think I've reviewed this book about three times now, but I just can't stop coming back to it. 

I'm currently reading Echo which was a Newbery honor book in 2016, the same year Last Stop on Market Street won the medal. I wanted to see if I thought Last Stop really deserved the medal over Echo (which I'm enjoying much more than I ever liked Last Stop). 

This time I really paid attention to the words, and thinking about it, de la Peña does write effectively and evocatively. There is an expansive story conveyed in very little text.

I think after this reading I better understand why Last Stop won the Newbery, though I still don't agree that it should have won. 

So I skipped over this years ago when this came out cause I thought it was a prince/princess romance and hard nope out of there. I cannot get into those types of romances. I mean I know Meghan is now a Duchess (and Princess) but I still think it's too much when I read romances. I know, I know, I am such a kill-joy. Honestly though the romance between Nina and Iain was great. I liked how it started off (super suspicious) with her working her way through Iain's grandfather's heart and then his. And then they both realize they are falling for each other. A great romance, but I think that James started incorporating romantic suspense elements in this one that didn't always work.

"Just Stop Me" has fashion model Nina Jones on the run. Nina is engaged a prince, but realizes days before her wedding, he and the royal life is not what she's looking for. When she tries to object to getting married to her fiance, he refuses to allow her time to wait to think on the marriage. Nina escapes though and ends up in New Zealand. Arriving there, she gets taken in by Iain McMormick's mother who thinks she would be a good caretaker for her father/his grandfather. Iain though is suspicious of Nina and is still reeling from an upset he had months earlier (no spoilers). 

I really loved Nina's backstory. It takes a while to get there though, but you realize she's been in the public spotlight for years and she's had little say of her personal or professional life. Running off to New Zealand leaves her feeling free and brave. 

Iain made me feel so sorry for him (no spoilers). It also doesn't help that he realizes something is going on with his parents. Three cheers for James for showing an older couple finding their way back to each other! Yes, older people need and love too. 

The rugby aspect in this one is pushed back though a lot until we get to maybe the 50 percent mark. I can't even recall right now. But for the first half is just Nina and Iain together at his parents/grandparents place.

The writing is typical James, we get some red hot love scenes that had me sighing with pleasure while flying. The guy next to me was trying to be nosy, but I lifted my Kindle away from his nosy self.

This was also a great update on previous characters. One of the reasons why this series is that James revisits older characters, it's great to see how those people's Happily Ever Afters are working out. Though I notice she stays away from Alison and Toro though (I don't think any readers liked them much). 

The ending hits more on the romantic suspense elements which I didn't really think worked much. In fact that is what didn't work for me. I loved Nina asserting her independence, but the evil prince thing was too much Disney prince nonsense for me to really care about while reading.