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After reading Fool's Gold earlier this year in May, I've been wanting to continue the series. The 2nd book in Jenny Bunting's Finch Family series is Gold Rush. I was able to sneak this into my Bang in the Night challenge to cover PSL Vibes. The Frank Sinatra Reprise Rarities song I chose for a theme was You Brought a New Kind of Love To Me from Volume 1. This also worked perfectly to cover the Author Rec'd by Shelby prompt for Fall in Love and Gold prompt (gold on the cover and a character that is wealthy) for Color Me Romantic.
After divorcing her husband, Whitney is headed back to Goldheart. After visiting her friend Annie is Fool's Gold, she is back to write more of her next novel. The local cafe has the sort of magic and vibe that she needs right now to meet her writing deadline. The only drawback is Reid, the Finch brother that had a contentious relationship with her back in college. They were in the same creative writing class and ended up being at odds with each other. Annie is stuck in the middle, being friends with Whitney but also being best friends with Reid since they were young (and the fact that she's dating his brother Cameron). As they try to stop the antagonistic jabs between themselves, they start to notice and act on the spark between them. Whitney is nervous though since she is child-free by choice and doesn't want to have children. She is nervous about Reid wanting the same thing and starts to second guess herself after her divorce.
Okay, I will start off by saying that I really struggle with enemies to lovers. There was a point where I was really getting over the enemies portion of the story, but thankfully things started to change shortly after. It still went on a little longer than I preferred, but it was more that sometimes Whitney would say some really hurtful things and it just made me a little uncomfortable. Once they got past that though, I loved the relationship that Reid and Whitney were able to build. The moments when they were able to just sit together and do writing sprints was so cute and I could just picture them cozied up in a cafe typing like madmen. I also loved how once Whitney opened up about what she wanted out of life and that she was child-free how Reid responded. He really took the time to really think if he wanted to be a father himself or if it was just societal norms that he was unconsciously fitting into.
I also loved to see Annie and Cameron continue their HEA in the background and seeing more of the entire Finch Family. I love the way that Jenny has crafted their family dynamics and can't wait to get the other siblings books! I particularly loved that we got to see more of the older, broody brother Jackson, especially since he had a closer relationship with Reid. The way that Whitney was able to integrate into their family was so beautiful to see. I should also mention, there's also some heavy talk about abandonment, particularly when dealing with Whitney's mother. She also wasn't really one to want to be a mother, but ended pregnant and kind of didn't create the best situation for Whitney. I thought it was really nice that we saw the beginning of a reconciliation between them, but it wasn't magically all better. Another thing I should mention that did pull this back from a full 5-stars was the 3rd act breakup. I didn't really like how it played out and would've preferred if Whitney stayed in town and actually sat down and discussed things with Reid about what he wanted. I know she has trauma from her previous marriage, but it felt a little out of character for her to completely flip out suddenly and then leave on short notice. I did get a little miffed that it seemed like Reid was the one that was going to grovel to her (I hate when the man is always the one to grovel even if he's not the one that instigated or was the main cause of the "break-up"), but Whitney ended up being the one to come back and apologize to Reid. That helped soften the blow, but I wish she at least would've stayed in town and not let it go on so long. They still ended up at their HEA though.
I can't wait for the next book in the series to come this December! I'm not sure who it'll be yet, but I really feel like the groundwork was laid for Jackson's book. There is also a mention of something that happened to Thumper (Cameron's friend) when he was at the bank when it got robbed. Jenny actually recently released a 2.5 story in the series called Safe With You that's his book. Hopefully I'll have time to pick it up before the third book.
Have you read Gold Rush?
Bookishly Yours,
Stasi🍎
STATISTICS: Gold Rush, Jenny Bunting, 4.5 Stars, 3 days, eBook, 286 pages, published in 2022, indie published
