The Cocktail Series Book 3
by Alice Clayton
Synopsis
Readers back for a third round of the bestselling Cocktail series will enjoy a madcap romantic comedy about bodice ripping and chest heaving, fiery passion and love everlasting. Plus a dash of paperwork filing and horseshi—wait, what?
By day, Viv Franklin is a tough-as-nails software engineer who designs programs and loves hospital corners. By night, Vivian’s a secret romance-novel junkie who longs for a knight in shining armor, or a cowboy on a wild stallion, or a strapping firefighter to sweep her off her feet. And she gets to wear the bodice—don’t forget the bodice.
When a phone call brings news that she’s inherited a beautiful old home in Mendocino, California from a long-forgotten aunt, she moves her entire life across the country to embark on what she sees as a great, romance-novel-worthy adventure. But romance novels always have a twist, don’t they?
So, as some of you may have already read - this is the second book I read by Alice Clayton...but it is actually the third book in the series. How does this happen to me? I am such a completist and need to read books in their right order...but oh well, it happened.
Screwdriver started off really slow in my opinion. It took me picking the book up about 4 times to finally really get into it. What got me to keep picking it up (because I have no problem letting go of a book I can't get into) was the fact that Vivian, Viv for short, is a computer/art/romance novel geek. Now, I don't know about you, but that is exactly what I want in a female character. Viv believes her life has become like one of the romance stories she loves to read (hello, meta) when she finds out that her great aunt has left Viv her estate. When she flies out to check out her inheritance, she meets a "hot" cowboy which totally fits into Viv's delusion that she's in her own proper romance story. The cowboy is a jerk though, but Viv can't see that quite yet.
Then she meets Clark, the town's librarian and historian. He's there to tell Viv all the things she can't do to her great aunt's home because it is, in fact, a historical home. Well, Viv isn't the type of girl you tell what to do, know what I'm saying? The librarian though? Yeah, he's pretty cute.
I won't go into much more detail because it is a cute and funny book. It is also infuriating because I really disliked that cowboy. Also, Viv constantly thinks "Aw yeah" A LOT to herself throughout the story. Usually repetitive phrases really bother me in people's writing, but Viv was too cute to dislike really. Just infuriating sometimes. Ha!