Title: Love in Deed
Author: L.B. Dunbar, SmartyPants Romance
Series: Green Valley Library #6
Rating Out of 5: 5 (I will read this again and again and again)
My Bookshelves: Contemporary, Contemporary romance
Pace: Medium
Format: eBook, Novel
Year: 2020
Bev and Jedd, with their future romance and it’s place in the SmartyPants Romance world was touched upon in Love in Due Time. So I’ve kind of been intrigued to see how it would unfold. Having said that, Bev wasn’t exactly the kind of heroine that I was chomping at the bit to read about. But then you finally get to their story. And you know what? Whilst I didn’t still fall completely in love with Bev, her story is heartbreaking and you can begin to understand just why she acts the way she does. Although this story doesn’t necessarily feature my favourite characters, it actually is some of my favourite growth of characters.
Bev’s bitterness, whilst limiting and kind of horrible, is also amazing. I knew that it would be a bit more difficult to read (there’s a bit of a note in the front from the author, and things are hinted at it Love in Due Time). I really wasn’t expecting the depth of abuse and nastiness though. But, again, it was actually Bev’s growth that I loved the most. She finally begins to come to terms with her past decisions and actions and takes back her own life. The nasty and bitter cycles that she’s fallen into pretty much just fall away and she finds her inner strength again. It was also fun contrasting the current Bev to the Bev that Jedd remembers – how that backbone and steel spine have always been there and it just takes a bit of a push for her to find it.
For me, this story was mostly about Bev and her growth, the fact that she falls in love on the wayside is just a nice bonus. And I really loved the fact that Jedd’s presence is the catalyst for her change, not the cause. As much as I’m a big believer in love, I don’t enjoy the idea that it takes love to actually fix us. That’s a personal journey and a personal decision, but love can be a great catalyst. Jedd’s constant pushing is a great catalyst and it made me appreciate all of the character dynamics in this even more. It was most definitely beautiful.
I don’t read many contemporary romances (or, for that matter, many books) that have differently abled leads. I love that this is a romance that feature two differently abled individuals. Ones who have to overcome the change in their circumstances to move forward with their lives. And, at the beginning you have someone who is still dwelling on the past which has led to her restrictions, and one man who has just embraced it and decided to move forward and embrace life. Sure, there’s been a process for both of them, but I love how people’s first impressions of them are not glossed over and ignored. Rather, it is acknowledging that people will jump to conclusions and that’s on them, not the person they are judging.
This is a fantastic romance that has a whole lot of character growth. Dunbar brilliantly works with her characters in this story to give a textured tale that I look forward to reading again and again. On every rereading, I feel that I will appreciate the phenomenal characterisation on a whole other level. Something that wonderful authors are able to do.
Earth and Skye 
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