Sheridan “Dani” Reed is a recently unemployed photojournalist living in New York City. Her boyfriend is vacationing without her, and her best friend has abandoned her for a job in the south.
Is a quarter-life crisis a thing?
After accepting a freelance job in Louisiana for Southern Style magazine, she feels the bleakness of her life back in New York fading in the rearview mirror. Getting back to her southern roots seems to be just what she needs to lift her spirits and spark her creativity. During her stay, she meets playboy Micah Landry and his colorful family. She knows she should avoid him and keep things professional, but his southern charms are hard to resist.
Through the lens of her camera, she finds the beauty and soul of the Landry Plantation, but it’s her beauty and soul that capture Micah’s attention.
When an unexpected phone call takes her back to New York, she’s forced to face the life she was trying to escape head on.
Will her trip and the Landrys only become fond memories, or will Dani find her way back to them and her beloved south?
In their debut novel, Jiffy Kate bring you a story of love, adventure, and finding a place to call home.
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Micah and I climb into his truck and he starts it up, but we just sit in the parking lot for a few moments in comfortable silence.
“You’re not what I was expecting, Chuck.”
I narrow my eyes at him. “Oh yeah? What were you expecting?”
He shrugs before giving me a shy smile. “I don’t know . . . someone snooty and prissy, I guess. But that’s not you. At least, not that I can see.”
“You think you’ve got me all figured out?”
Barking out a laugh, he replies, “No, not at all. Just makin’ an observation.”
His eyes are a little too focused on me and the air inside his truck is a little too thin. I clear my throat and face forward, causing Micah to take the hint to put the truck in drive.
Once my heart has slowed to a normal rate, I decide to try to have a normal conversation while learning more about Micah at the same time. “So, what was it like growing up on a plantation?”
“It’s just a house, Dani.”
“A very large house,” I counter.
“True, and it’s special to me because it’s been in my family for so long, but I wasn’t raised with a silver spoon in my mouth, if that’s what you’re wonderin’. The Landrys are no better than anyone else. Believe me, my mama would’ve tanned our hides if we ever tried to act like we were—”
“Snooty or prissy?”
Review
★★★★ stars
I've been looking forward to reading this book for a long time. There's something about Southern gentlemen and a small town setting that do it for me. It must be because I'm from the South and most men have that charm. Or it could be I love to read about people finding themselves and their bliss. Either way, this book was high on my reading wishlist.
Thankfully Finding Focus didn't disappoint, but surprised me instead. I was expecting something hot and fast but got thoughtful and a slow burn instead. I loved how the story focused not only on Dani, her emotions, and the upheaval in her life, but also on the changes going on in the people around her. I really liked and could relate to her. One of her character traits I really liked was how she able to adapt to different situations. I loved how open minded she was and how dedicated to her craft and ideals. Dani isn't a quitter, she's a fighter and I loved being in her head.
I also loved how the story was told from another point of view. I wasn't expecting to like Micah Landry as much as I did. I mean after all his first meeting with Dani didn't really put him in my good graces. However being in his head allowed me to see the type of man he really was. It wasn't long before I was his biggest supporter. I loved how Micah was with his family. The whole Landry family dynamic was wonderful. I wouldn't mind reading more about the Landrys, in particular Micah's brother I also loved how well this book showcased Southern hospitality.
The story itself will surprise you because it's different. There was more emphasis on Dani finding out what made her happy than a romantic relationship that would satisfy her. Honestly, the story had more of a chick lit feel to it (a genre I love), than a new adult/adult romance as I was expecting. The pacing was interesting, because while it started off fast and maintained that speed throughout the book, there was a point where I was certain the book was going to end on a cliffhanger. It's not that the ending was abrupt, it's just that it didn't fit with the flow of the story. Overall, I enjoyed Finding Focus. It was humorous, hot, and refreshing. I look forward to reading more from the writing duo Jiffy Kate!
*Thank you to the publicist for providing a copy in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own and I was not compensated for them in any manner.*
First things first, we're the realest.
Oh, wait. Iggy already used that one.
Well, let's see...
What some people don't know is there are two of us and we're both Jennifers. How lucky are we? The most common name from the 70's! Our parents were so original.
We found each other through Twilight and tornadoes. Sounds like a crazy combination, but it's true. We were roaming around in the same groups of people on social media, but we hadn't really became friends. But that all changed on a stormy Oklahoma night when we noticed that we were both experiencing the same tornado warnings.
We met a week later for lunch and the rest is history. We already knew we had the whole Twilight thing in common, but what we learned that day is that we both loved music and traveling. Together, we've been everywhere. Well, not everywhere, but a lot of places...Seattle, Forks, LA, New York, Chicago, Philly, Nashville, and New Orleans, where our hearts reside.
About six months after we met, we also realized we both had a passion for writing. When we started outlining our first story, we thought that would be it. One story and done. So, we dumped everything we loved into those 100,000 words. If you're familiar with the term "crack fic", that was kind of what it was for us. We had fun with it and let ourselves live on those pages.
But it was like Lays potato chips.
We couldn't write just one.
So, twenty stories later, here we are--publishing our first novel. And how crazy is it that we went back to the beginning.
Finding Focus was originally a Twilight Fan Fic titled Southern Comfort.
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