Love on Lexington Avenue (Central Park Pact, #2)

by Lauren Layne

[Lynn]

What's the perfect way to rid yourself of the memory of a cheating, dead husband? The answer is to remodel the house you shared with the philanderer, well, that's what Claire Hayes thinks. Only, the process is much tougher than she thought and the person she's employed to do the job isn't the easiest male to handle, or is he? 

Bored of building corporate properties, Scott Turner decides to follow up a lead given to him by his friend to remodel a house. However, the property is a dump and he knows he should walk away from the contract, only the sharp-tongued owner has piqued his interest more than the job. 

Geared up to focus on a romance, the narrative deviates to highlights Claire's struggles to rid herself of the memory of her late husband whilst getting her life back on track a year after his double life and lies surfaced. Scott is an unlikely candidate for a woman who seems to have a 'judge a book by its cover' attitude. So as opposites, I enjoyed the challenging interactions between the protagonists as they slowly meander from hostile to friendly territory and respect. 

I appreciated the change of pace with this novel, but for die-hard fans of Ms Layne, there's a great deal of quick-witted dialogue and laughable humour injected within the narrative. Equally, there's lots of glamour and gossip in ample supply from the secondary characters as well get titbits of news about them and clues about what lies in store for Manhattan-based Claire, Naomi and Audrey. 

It's standalone, but if you haven't read Passion on Park Avenue, you'll definitely appreciate getting to know Naomi and specifically, Oliver more. Now, I'm eagerly looking forward to Audrey and Clarke's story in the final book of this trilogy; Marriage on Madison Avenue.

4.5 stars

***arc generously received courtesy of Gallery Books via NetGalley***