seriously romantic: the playboy bachelor by rachel van dyken

it's all about beauty and the beast lately. i just recently read a different contemporary romance take on the story and i've rewatched the animated movie more times that i can count with my daughter, and i also just went to the movies to see the new live action version. generally speaking, the original story of beauty and the beast is not my favorite. but these modern versions take the highlights and make the stories very much their own.

in the playboy bachelor our beast character is played by margot mccreery, a reclusive romance novelist who was in a car accident and lost one of her legs in the aftermath. she has a history with our hero, bentley wellington. they were best friends in high school, but lost touch after her accident.

what happened then very much influences their present. they carry so much hurt and anger and anguish from that moment in their lives. margot believes that bentley walked away because she was no longer whole. but that's not it at all. the truth is that bentley couldn't live with the idea that margot was hurt, that she almost died. caring for her made him feel too fragile.

and because they both feel so fragile, they are afraid to open themselves to love. but the only way either of them will ever heal is if they let themselves be vulnerable. if they are honest about what they are really feeling. something that sounds so easy, but is actually very hard to do.

these books are written with a light touch, but what i liked about this one was the fact that these characters were actually dealing with some heavy emotional problems. they had to work through things in order to be able to move forward. and what they go through, the way they reach a new understanding of who they are and who they can be together is really satisfying.

**the playboy bachelor will publish on april 11, 2017. i received an advance reader copy courtesy of netgalley/grand central publishing (forever) in exchange for my honest review.