Review: Why Now? by Carey Heywood (Love Riddles #1)

Why Now? is the first novel in bestselling author Carey Heywood's Love Riddles series and is a falling-for-year-sibling's-best-friend story but in the case of thirty-four-year-old Jake Whitmore, he only does something about it when he realizes twenty-eight-year-old Kacey Albright, best friend to his younger sister Reilly, is suddenly engaged to one of his closest friends, Heath Mackey. While on a short vacation in his hometown of Ferncliff from is job at an oil rig, Jake learns a truth that he never even considered possible, one that changes the way he sees Kacey. It triggers something within him that has him pursuing her, even if she is engaged to Heath. But Jake took on a responsibility that was never his years ago, and it leaves him shackled far longer than he ever imagined. Is there anything he can offer the girl who had a crush on him for years who became a young woman he was attracted to and turned out to be the woman he still fantasizes over? Can Jake risk losing not just Heath's friendship but the love only Kacey can give him?

This was an interesting love triangle in that what Kacey and Heath had wasn't a love match. They were engaged for a reason other than being in love and maybe that's why Jake decided it would be okay to step into the picture and make things far more complicated. It would be difficult not to ask the same question the title of this book poses, and there were certainly times that I felt it was rather selfish of both men to put Kacey in the situation she was in, except that Kacey knew going into her engagement why she and Heath were going to get married. There were no pretenses or false promises being made. On the other hand, all it took was two kisses for Jake to decide to hell with his friendship with Heath and to go after Kacey. Yes, he started noticing her in a not-too-innocent way when he realized how grown up she had become, but he never did anything about it, and yes, he had his reasons but to go from not even giving her an inkling of his attraction to going full-blown suitor vying for her love and affection kinda pissed me off.

The twist in the story was one that I guessed and reiterates why drunken memories aren't all that accurate because you don't recall all the details and focus on just one thing. I'm torn about Jake because he wasn't a bad guy; if anything, his loyalty to his family is admirable and there's no denying that he had genuine feelings for Kacey. My main issue with him is how he went about doing it all. I can appreciate that he was right in pointing out that Kacey and Heath were never in love and that they weren't marrying for the right reasons, but he basically barreled his way into what was going on between those two instead of handling it in a more sedate but still forthright manner. I mean, I'm all for fighting for true love but I couldn't help and wonder if Heath was actually in love with Kacey when he decided that hey, it's time to go all in. I liked Heath, who it's clear has some sort of connection with another supporting character in the story. I went into this blind but even with the moments of frustration, I enjoyed Why Now? and am giving it four stars. ♥

Date Read: 12 September 2016

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