Review: Just Once by Julianna Keyes

2 stars for Just Once by Julianna Keyes.

Just Once starts out promising in first person narration but fizzles out along the way. I manage to make it to the 50% mark before deciding to jump straight to the last chapter to see how the ending pans out. As it is, no surprises there and I do not think I have missed out much.

The story opens with our protagonist, a thirty-year old Katharine Burke aka Kate arriving at the Ponderosa Pines Ranch, a hundred-year-old lodge surrounded by mountains and trees, nature and freedom. As a travel writer, Kate has spent the better part of her ten years on travelling and writing, meeting people on the go and living the high life of the rich and famous. Sadly, these experiences are all but fleeting moments that leave Kate feeling old, tired and lonely at the end of the day.

Returning to the Dude Ranch ten years later as the kitchen/cabin manager, a wiser Kate not only wants to help out the ranch owners, a husband-and-wife tag team but also to seek the safety and comfort of the peace and calm from the simple solitude of the mountains. Soon, Kate realises that she is getting more than what she bargains for as her path crosses with that of Shane Maddox, a foreman of sorts at the ranch, a man who possesses the hands of a masseuse, the body of a lumberjack and the grudge holding stamina of a teenage girl.

For a debut novel, the story is smooth flowing and the writing is fairly decent. In fact, I quite like the idea of a ranch set among the mountains as backdrop to the story. Unfortunately, the story content is just so; it lacks a pull factor to engage the reader and a push factor to keep the pages turning. After a while, it comes to a point where I get really bored and just want to skip right to the ending to avoid the agony of reading through chunks of monotonous, predictable script.

Publisher: Omnific Publishing
Publication date: 29 Oct 2013

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Kate Burke is done making bad decisions. Thirty years old and belatedly determined to grow up, the successful travel writer and one-time party girl returns to work at the remote Ponderosa Pines Ranch to reassess her life.

Although her kitchen/cabin staff is lacking and the workload never relents, Kate's main challenge is Shane Maddox, the ruggedly handsome and doggedly stubborn ranch foreman. Instantly at odds, they battle over everything from ceiling fans to bothersome bats-studiously ignoring the sparks they generate with each confrontation.

They can't explain their explosive physical chemistry, but after a few frustrated weeks they can't deny it either. Their solution? Just once. They'll get past their inconvenient lust and move on.

Kate's been trying to think with her head instead of her hormones, but is this just another bad decision in a lifetime of careless choices? Has she really changed at all?

Set in the striking and serene hills of southern Colorado, Julianna Keyes' debut novel offers a sizzling and satisfying tale of unexpected chemistry and the power of second chances. Her characters will get under your skin and into your heart.

Just once may not be enough for you either.

*Blurb from author's website*

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