Love is Everything in What's Love Got To Do With It
5
By boysinabooth
I went into Emma Roman's second book in the Somewhere, TX Bachelors, What's Love Got To Do With It? with super high hopes, but at the same time, totally accepting that TJ would probably not replace the love I have for Roark and Zoe (and their little Zoark baby in the oven in this book). Boy, Mr. Tate Jeremiah made me swoon, made me laugh, made me cry, made me hate him and then made me fall back in love with him!
All the Stintson men are required to get married and have a child within a year following their grandfather's death. While Roark took a much more traditional approach to the matter - meeting his fish-tank girl, Zoe - TJ decides to take it upon himself to interview the entire town of Somewhere, Texas in an attempt to find a wife who would agree to have his children. Honestly, if I were TJ's type, I totally would have been trying to be his wife and bear his children. Every girl who comes in for an interview is the typical blonde woman cliche, with expensive clothes and shoes and the dimwit personality to boot. What TJ isn't expecting is for Anna to be overhearing his predicament to find a wife.
Enter Anna. While she is a blonde, she is the furthest from his usual catch of blondes. She is the owner of the Saddles For Hope Ranch that is in desperate need of a benefactor. As owner, she always is there with the people and doing all the dirty work, so she is a very low-key and laid back dresser - jeans and a t-shirt being her usual attire. Anna realizes she's going to need to up her wardrobe if she plans to get TJ on her side to get him to help her financially on the ranch so that in exchange he can have a wife and child and keep his inheritance.
TJ and Anna are strong individuals on their own, and I loved how author Emma Roman wove their backstories together to show how the two of them became the people they are today. TJ's backstory breaks my heart, and it explains so much why TJ is the way he is. He is going into a marriage with the thought of there being no love attached, but it only takes some time and making tons and tons of mistakes with Anna until he realizes that maybe there's more to this arrangement than a loveless marriage with a child.
As I said, I thought that Roark was my favorite book boyfriend of all time. TJ has given Roark a run for his money, and the man has TONS of money! Roark had a softness to him behind his stoic exterior, whereas TJ was a more approachable face but had built walls up over time. These Stinson men are handsome men inside and out with each page I read about them. I had the perfect image of Roark in my mind (Nyle DiMarco) and for TJ, I couldn't help but imagine Chris Pratt to be him. While attractive and flirty, he still has the class and dignity of the Stinson name.
What's Love Got to Do With It? made me laugh so hard and cry so hard all within the same chapter. Warning for the readers, the first time you read Tate Jeremiah is TJ's name, make sure you're not drinking anything or brushing your teeth (like I was doing). You will choke on your own spit and laugh through toothpaste. Conversely, there are some hauntingly beautiful lines that just stuck with me and broke my heart for TJ. The thought of "Love wasn't in the cards for him. Not anymore," made my eyes well up. Even Anna had her own demons to face with her upbringing, telling her friend, "I want to feel loved, Terry. Is that so much to ask for?" Much with Roark and Zoe, TJ and Anna are bad about not expressing their feelings toward each other! This must be a Stinson man thing.
Emma Roman handled the third person perspectives beautifully. It transitioned seamlessly between TJ and Anna's thoughts and actions, never leaving me confused as to who was thinking what. While Anna was a little bit of a cliche at the beginning with a specific aspect about herself (no spoilers!), the way things unfolded for her and TJ was done well and believable. I hate that Anna has bad luck and the things she kept from TJ, but at the same time, she had her reasons because she didn't want to be in a loveless marriage.
I told myself I wouldn't get rambly with my review, and look at me. There was just so much I enjoyed about this book and very little in the way of criticisms. One quirky little line I loved was the references to Facebook and Twitter with the #SomewhereBachelor! I am totally going to use this hashtag when talking about the Stinson men from now on. If I were to make any criticisms, it would be how quickly Anna and TJ's physical romance and chemistry budded, considering Anna's past. I know it was a part of her letting go, but at the same time, it didn't 100% mesh up with who she was as a person.
Also, I am not usually a fan of epilogues. I'm the kind of person that says, "Cut the epilogue out." I don't like everything to be so resolute at the end of a book and enjoy it to be open to further discussion and interpretation. This was one of the rare instances where I enjoyed the epilogue and wanted more to hear about TJ and Anna's little baby girl. I have no awesome designer name for TJ and Anna's babies like I do with Zoark babies, but I think that Anna would probably like it that way to where she's not in the limelight.
Hands down, I give this book a 5/5 star rating. I am now eagerly waiting to hear Nic's story and am praying that he dumps the blob of a girlfriend he's with in exchange for another woman. It is such a fun world with the Stinson men!!
