Title: Broken Rules

Author: Vivhouse

Genre / Style / Sub-Genre:

Tags: #romance #chicklit #enemiestolovers #lovestory #romanticcomedy #steamy

Reviewer: SueLou66

Summary: In the picturesque lakeside town, the calm waters mask the storm within Juniper Jenkins' heart. Betrayed and broken by her cheating boyfriend, she flees to the sanctuary of her friend's lakeside house to work remotely for the summer.

Little does Juniper know that fate has a twist in store for her. Enter Wells Hansen, her nemesis from the Seattle Sun Times, who, of all places, happens to be staying nearby and manning the town's sole coffee shop, the only oasis with reliable Wi-Fi in town.

Bound by a summer pact with her two friends to steer clear of men, Juniper is certain she won't break her vow, especially fresh from a breakup. But life has a funny way of throwing surprises her way. Unintentionally, she finds herself drawn into Wells' orbit, their paths crossing at every turn.

She resents him, and the feeling seems mutual. At least, that's what she believes.

Review: Sparks fly from Juniper and Wells whenever they're in the same room together; sparks that burn anyone within their proximity. Their disdain for each other is evident to everyone in the newspaper office, where they are both employed as journalists. Juniper's habit of being late to the office and her bright, colorful outfits that cause her to stand out in any crowd rubs Wells the wrong way, and she feels like Wells is stealing her articles, so they can't help but slew rude comments back and forth between each other.

Things only get worse for Juniper when her boyfriend of two years, ex-football player turned salesman Beckett, gets caught in the ultimate betrayal: cheating. His defense kills me whenever I hear it; it's not what it looks like. Really? His betrayal is the final straw for Juniper as she leaves their apartment and never looks back.

To help get her out of her funk, her two best friends talk her into going on their annual summer trip to her friend's family house by the lake, making a pack of no guys for the summer. The three are just getting into town when they run into Wells at the town's best coffee shop, which he owns alongside his younger sister.

Picking up right where they left off with their back-and-forth hurtling of insults, Juniper decides to avoid the coffee shop for the summer. Which didn't last long after discovering the wi-fi at the lake house was down. She has an article due, which forces her back to the coffee shop using their wi-fi to work. To make matters worse, their boss assigns Wells to assist Juniper in her article, causing them to work together and reinforcing her belief that Wells is trying to steal her work.

Sparks continue to fly, but their feelings of disdain turn into an attraction that neither of them can deny. But what about her friends and her rules of no guys for the summer? Rules were made to be broken, right?

The more time they spend together, the closer they get, and their feelings for each other grow. Wells even encouraged her to write the book she'd been wanting to write for years, but she kept putting it on the back burner to focus on her journalism career.

What happens when summer comes to an end? To find out, I highly recommend reading this charming enemy-to-lovers tale of how opposites attract and how leaving words unsaid can lead to misunderstandings that negatively affect relationships.

To the Author: Thank you for sharing your talent. You have a gift of storytelling and pulling your readers in, not letting go till the end, leaving us wanting more. Your characters are well-developed, and your world-building, though showing and not telling, is exceptional.

About the Author: Vivhouse is a former video editor turned stay-at-home mother who loves reading romance stories and is also a talented writer. Check out her other completed story, Forgetting You, and two ongoing stories, Mixed Signals and Public Relations.