Last Resort By: Rebecca L. Boschee Star Rating: Sensuality Rating:

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Synopsis

After Lila Hayes' boyfriend cheated on her and ripped off her tuition money to go on a ski trip, she is left in a precarious position. She needs money to continue her education and pursue her dream of becoming a writer, but now her boss is telling her she's about to be laid off unless she accepts a position in the day-care center on location at one of their resorts. Even though she has little experience with kids, she needs to build up her finances again before she can finish school, so reluctantly agrees to go.

Jackson Koble was partners with his dad in a successful boat tour business, but with his dad having recently passed away, Jackson is left with some difficult decisions to make about whether to follow his father's dream of expanding. To get away and have time to think, Jackson takes a job at the resort working on their boat tours and water ski show. Half the female staff at the resort are practically throwing themselves at him, but no one catches his eye until Lila shows up. He's immediately smitten with her and almost instantly begins to feel protective toward her, but Lila remains rather aloof. It takes a while, but eventually he convinces her that he's a decent guy.

Just when Lila is beginning to warm up to Jackson, he mysteriously leaves the resort on short notice at the same time Lila's money and journal disappear. Lila doesn't want to believe it, but all the evidence seems to point to Jackson as having been the culprit. Will she figure out the truth before she looses the chance of a lifetime with the man of her dreams?

Review

Last Resort is a cute, lighthearted, sweet romance about two people who meet and fall in love while working at an upscale resort in Florida. Either the author has first-hand knowledge of the travel/tourism industry or she did her homework well, because I felt like I was with Lila and Jackson in the more relaxed atmosphere of a resort community. Of course, it's not always fun and games for the staff, but they do manage to carve out a little time here and there for romance and recreation. Although some of the situations are more grown-up in nature, the content of the story is very mild, which in my opinion, would make it suitable for most romance fans including teens and sensitive readers.

Lila is a nice girl whose two-timing ex not only cheated on her but ripped off her tuition money to go on a ski trip. Now she's faced with figuring out how to pay for the remainder of her education just when her boss decides that cut-backs are needed at the company where she works. Even though Lila was facing her own hardships, I thought it was really kind of her to volunteer to go on location at the resort so a co-worker who was in even worse straits could keep her job. Once there, she's initially somewhat out of her element, but she caught on fast and was really good with the kids at the resort day-care where she was assigned to work. Lila has a good heart and is nice to nearly everyone, but after her experience with her ex, she's not too trusting of Jackson. At first, she thinks he's just a player, but gradually, she begins to warm up to him. Still, when the circumstantial evidence points to Jackson possibly having another girlfriend and him having run off with Lila's money, she isn't too keen on listening to his explanations even though she still has feelings for him.

Jackson had been partners with his dad in a tour boat company, but with his dad having recently passed away, he's faced with some tough decisions about whether to continue with his father's dream of expanding the company. He goes to work at the resort to get away for a while and do some soul searching in a more relaxed environment. I liked that Jackson wasn't really interested in any of the other female staffers at the resort. Even though more than one of them was practically throwing themselves at him, he basically ignored them, but when Lila showed up, he was instantly smitten. His protective tendencies toward her were really cute. The way he kept coming to her rescue and simply looking out for her well-being was quite sweet. Jackson was equally wonderful with the kids too. In the end, I loved the choices he made about his business and could definitely see things working out great for everyone involved down the road.

Last Resort was a light, easy read that was still very fun and enjoyable. It would make a great beach read for the upcoming summer season. The cast of characters was likable and easy to root for. Even though some of the resort staff initially come off as rather shallow, most of them ended up showing that there was more to them than meets the eye. The conflict primarily revolves around Lila seeing Jackson in the same light as her conniving ex, which leads to several misunderstandings and her being a bit stubborn about letting him explain. This normally wouldn't work well for me, but in Lila's defense, all the stuff with her ex had happened very recently and was still fresh in her mind, plus there were a couple of antagonists working against her and Jackson behind the scenes, planting evidence. All this along with Lila finally admitting to herself in the last chapter that she hadn't been very fair to Jackson, made this trope much more palatable to me than it usually would be. Overall, I had a really good time reading Last Resort. I found it to be well-plotted and well-written, and although it was a relatively simple, uncomplicated story, I have to admit that sometimes it's nice to just slow down with a gentle read. It's like comfort food for the soul. This was my first book by Rebecca Boschee, but I'll definitely be checking out her other novels when I'm in the mood for something low-key.

Note: I received a copy of this book from the author in exchange for an honest review.

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Rebecca L. Boschee

Themes

G/PG-Rated Romance