Show Time (Juniper Ridge Romantic Comedies #1) by Tawna Fenske-a review

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ABOUT THE BOOK: Release Date June 26, 2020

It’s a wacky concept. Take an abandoned cult compound and cast the cops, teachers, farmers, and nurses needed for a self-contained community. Throw in some cameras and presto! Instant TV hit.

There’s only one family with the chops to make it work, so the Judsons pack up their LA lives for a fresh start in rural Oregon. Big brother Dean has brokered billions in Hollywood deals. Surely he can produce a tiny town from scratch? He just needs a finance guru to help him prep for showtime while Dean does his best to forget having his heart smashed to withered bits.

Vanessa Vincent ticks all the boxes, with the bonus of zero interest in the mating game aspect of Juniper Ridge. Just give her some spreadsheets and leave her in peace to turn her own wrecked romances into little more than bad flashbacks.

But Dean and Vanessa don’t count on their epic chemistry, or a stranger who’ll stop at nothing to keep Juniper Ridge from debut day. Can they build the dream without risking their hearts, or will it fade to black before the first act ends?

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REVIEW:SHOW TIME is the first instalment in Tawna Fenske’s contemporary, adult SHOW TIME romance series. This is CEO Dean Judson, and financial advisor Vanessa Vincent’s story line. Juniper Ridge is a spin off from the author’s Ponderosa Resort series.

Told from dual first person perspectives (Dean and Vanessa) SHOW TIME follows the building romance and relationship between CEO Dean Judson, and financial advisor Vanessa Vincent. Dean Judson, and his siblings bought land in Juniper Ridge, Oregon once owned by the controversial cult BONK (Benevolent Order of the New Kingdom) and with it they have plans to film a reality show focusing on a community of single men and women looking for love. Hiring a treasurer and CFO finds Dean Judson considering one-time childhood TV star turned financial consultant Vanessa Vincent, a woman who stirs something deep within our story line hero but not all is well at Juniper Ridge when a series of threatening emails, gifts and bloody photos take aim at our storyline heroine. What ensues is the building romance and relationship between Vanessa and Dean, and the potential fall-out when issues of trust threaten to tear the couple apart, and the intimidation turns personal and deadly.

The relationship between Dean and Vanessa is one of immediate attraction but neither one is looking for a permanent relationship having loved and failed in the past. Vanessa believes an affair with Dean could threaten her job at Juniper Ridge but Dean sees an opportunity to enjoy one another for as long as they can. Secret rendezvous lead to intimate nights that soon become fodder for someone hoping to destroy our storyline heroine. The $ex scenes are intimate and passionate without the use of over the top, sexually graphic language and text.

We are introduced to Dean’s wacky and wonderful family including sisters Lana, Lauren and Mari, brothers Gabe, and Cooper; café managers/computer hackers Colleen and Patti, police lieutenant Amy Lovelin; Vanessa’s twin sister Valerie, and Roughneck the dog.

SHOW TIME is a story of family, betrayal, obsession and love. The premise is intriguing and entertaining; the characters are colorful and dynamic; the romance is sexy and hot…but I failed to ‘sees’ the comedic aspect of a story where issues of trust, and threats of a personal and dangerous nature set the tone for the premise. I guess one person’s comedy, is another person’s tragedy.

Copy supplied for review

Reviewed by Sandy