The Book:
Maggie Moves On by Lucy Score
Published June 21st 2022 by Forever
Date read: June 18, 2022
The Characters:
Maggie
Silas
Buy it on Bookshop.org | Amazon
The Plot (from Goodreads):
House-flipping sensation and YouTube star Maggie Nichols can’t wait to dig into her next challenge. Arriving in tiny Kinship, Idaho, with only a cot and a coffeemaker, Maggie is prepared to restore a crumbling Victorian mansion in four months or less. She has her to-do lists, her blueprints, and her team. What she doesn’t have is time for sexy, laid-back landscaper Silas Wright.
The man takes flirtation to a whole new level. And he does it shirtless…sometimes pants-less. He and his service school-dropout dog are impressively persistent. But she’s not interested in putting down roots. Not when fans tune in to watch her travel the country turning dilapidated houses into dream homes. A short-term fling on the other hand could fit nicely into her calendar. After all, Maggie remembers what fun is like. Vaguely.
As their summer gets downright steamy, Silas manages to demolish the emotional walls she’s spent years building, sending Maggie into a panic. He’s the wrench in her carefully constructed plans. With the end of the project looming, she has a decision to make. But how can she stay when her entire career is built on moving on?
The Review:
There’s nothing better to listen to while getting unpacked in a new home than a flirty, fun, home-renovation story. I’m not sure why this setting does it for me every single time–maybe it’s just the motivation to get my own home in order?
Overall, Maggie Moves On was just as adorable as the cute cover promises. Maggie was a great MC. She was independent, career-focused, and did her best not to let romance get in the way of her goals…at the start. I adored the storyline with Cody, where Maggie gave the teen some support and guidance that he wasn’t getting at home.
Maggie and Silas had great chemistry and banter, and I enjoyed the extremely steamy sex scenes. The steam was well-written rather than gratuitous, and fit well with the storyline.
Silas was a little harder for me to love. I liked his confident hot-landscaper personality overall, but there were a few things that bothered me about their relationship. Mainly, how controlling he was towards Maggie when they weren’t even really dating. A few scenes showed him in a sort of caveman light, which I wasn’t the biggest fan of. Maggie was supposed to be strong and independent, and it didn’t feel realistic that she would put up with that.
This is a big book, but it’s worth your time. I really enjoyed all of the side-plots: Wallace the stodgy old man, Cody the disadvantaged teen, the treasure hunt aspect, and Maggie’s family drama. It all came together well to give this story a lot of depth.
And of course, I LOVED Kevin the dog and his adopted kitty friends.
The ending seemed a little far-fetched to me, and I think I would have preferred to see it go in a slightly different direction.
Audio Review: Emma Wilder narrated Maggie Moves On. I haven’t listened to any of her previous works, but I thought she was a great fit for these characters and I will certainly look out for more productions by her in the future. I really enjoyed the opportunity to listen to the audiobook, as it really put me in the mood to unpack and decorate my new house.
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