One Broke Girl (Edgewood Falls #2)
Author: Rhonda Helms
Pub. Date: April 3, 2014
Acquired: Received a copy, in exchange for an honest review.
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Anna Parker’s life disintegrates with one phone call. Her dad’s selling their ritzy New York City condo because her Wall Street banker mom emptied their bank account and ran off with another man. Which means Anna has to drop out of her elite college and move with Dad back to their small Ohio hometown. Anna’s determined to reclaim her life ASAP, so she’ll use the next few months to save money, help Dad get back on his feet, and find and confront her mom.
But Anna doesn’t anticipate things going so wrong. The only job she can get is working as a lunch lady in an elementary school. Their money-pit duplex is falling apart around their feet. And her dad is depressed without her mom, who’s proving hard to find.
One bright spot in the chaos is Gavin Metcalf, a kindergarten teacher she dated when they were young teens. With his easy wit and sexy smiles, he makes her forget her stresses—and the fact that her boyfriend Steven back in New York doesn’t know the truth yet about her dire circumstances. When past and present collide, Anna has to decide where her future lies…
~My Review~
One Broke Girl started out a little iffy for me. I think it’s because I had trouble liking Anna. She just seemed a little too immature for a twenty-something-year-old-almost-college-graduate. I will say, she redeemed herself for me by the end of the book. And, what’s better, I feel like the way Ms. Helms wrote Anna, made it as if Anna never really WAS the shallow, immature woman that she came off as. So, while there was character growth, I also believe that Anna more so just became who she really was. The woman that she wasn’t allowing herself to be for conformity’s sake.
With that said, I have to add that there were a few characters and instances in here that made me want to throw something. Anna’s parents, for example. I don’t want to spoil the story, but let’s just say that they both enabled her being spoiled and then her mother punishes her for it. Now, this isn’t a complaint about the story. Just an observation.
Ah, her mother. No, I’m not going to say anything else about her mother. Read it, and you’ll understand my frustrations.
As for Anna’s dad, I feel like he got better, but really?! There were so many moments when I wishing he’d put on his big-boy panties and be a man. This is good, though. Strong feelings about characters mean I was involved with the story. Immersed in it.
As for the story, as a whole, I was super impressed with what Ms. Helms accomplished in a novella like this. Besides the character growth and the illiciting of strong emotions, I think this was a great beginning to what could be a pretty great series of books. She made me love the main character. And, I was REALLY impressed with the love story aspect.
This was a great short story! Now, when does the next one come out?!
~My Rating~
~About the Author~
Rhonda Helms started writing several years ago. She has a Master’s degree in English and a Bachelor’s degree in Creative Writing. She also edits for Carina Press (an imprint of Harlequin Publishing) and freelance edits.
When she isn’t writing, she likes to do amateur photography, dig her toes into the sand, read for hours at a time, and eat scads of cheese. WAY too much cheese.
Rhonda lives in Northeast Ohio with her family.
