Kristie J’s review of Hickey by Cora Brent
New Adult Romance published by Amazon Digital Services 4 Apr 17
I read The Gentry Boys series by Ms. Brent and enjoyed them enough to try another book by her. First off, to avoid any head scratching over the title, Hickey is the last name of the hero and that’s where the title comes from – not those rosy red marks on your neck or other places when one gets carried away while ‘enjoying’ another person.
Bran, our hero, and Cecily, our heroine, met in kindergarten. They began dating right out of high school. Then they got married way too soon. Although deeply in love, they were just too young, married too soon, and were too immature for it to last. They didn’t have the basics of communication, their marriage fell apart. Bran thought he was being noble in letting Cecily go and live a better life to fulfill her dream of being an art teacher. In order to do this, he caused her a great deal of pain with his actions.
The story picks up seven years later. Bran joined the military and did a few tours in Afghanistan. All along he has still loved his ex and he has matured considerably and decided he wants to see if there is any chance they can start over again.
Cecily has moved on, though. She gave up her dreams of becoming an art teacher for a more boring but dependable job in the corporate world. In order to help save money while she finishes up her studies in college, she’s kind of a den mother in a dorm at the school she is attending in Arizona.
She is, therefore, shocked one day when she sees Bran, her ex, carrying a young woman who lives in the dorm who is unable to walk due to some stupid college stunt she pulled. She still has very strong feelings for Bran – most of them hatred for how he betrayed her and broke her heart seven years earlier. She is none too happy when he confesses he’s enrolled in the same college and is living in the same dorm even and it’s because of her. He had accepted an honorable discharge from the services when he’d been injured in an IED explosion. Though Cecily is glad he’s OK, she still doesn’t want him back in her life.
But the line between love and hatred is very thin, and, in part because of his dogged determination to win her back, she slowly comes to realize that she never really did hate him and, in fact, never stopped loving him.
Now, for my thoughts. I liked this book, but I didn’t love it. Unlike the Gentry series, this one isn’t going to stick in my head and because of the vast number of books I have yet to be read and those I read over and over, and I don’t think I’ll be reading this one again. I only paid $1.32 for it, so I don’t feel like I lost out or anything. But for me, it just didn’t give me the punch that ups the grade and makes me remember the book(s). And while this one didn’t quite work for me, it’s no mark against the author. I have more of her books lined up to read and have no hesitation in reading them. It’s just the time – so little for so many.
Grade: C+
Summary:
Here’s the story:
A long time ago, in a small town I’ve tried to forget…
I married the charismatic all-American king of high school.
He was sexy and charming.
I was shy and infatuated.
We were both eighteen.
Of course we did not live happily ever after.
We did the opposite.You thought that was the end?
So did I.
Seven years later and without warning, Branson Hickey is back in my life.
Many things have changed and a few things haven’t.
I still want him. I still can’t stand him. I still think about him all the time, even after everything we did to each other.
I’ve long wondered if I’d ever fall in love again.
Now I wonder if I ever really stopped loving him.
Read an excerpt.
