Review: Paradise Hops by Liz Crowe

Paradise Hops 

By Liz Crowe 

A brutal attack left Lori Brockton convinced she was damaged goods. By the time she emerges from hiding two years later, ready to run her family's famous brewery, she's determined to be independent--never rely on anyone ever again. Nearly a year of working in every corner of Brockton Brewing Company, from warehouse to pub, front office to kitchen, teaches her all she needs to know about the business. Then, she comes face-to-face with masculine perfection in a suit and her world is rocked in more ways than one. Garret Hunter is the new Brockton business manager who takes one look at the beautiful, sad young woman and his entire existence coalesces around winning her heart.

But standing between Garrett and what he believes is his true love, is a six-feet six-inch blond-haired bad boy brewer.

Eli Buchannan is a craft beer rock star, recently hired by Brockton to drag the company into the 21st century. He brings innovation and attitude plus a prima donna ladies’ man reputation. But he's sworn off anything resembling commitment, personal or professional, after getting burned at his last job on both fronts.

Garret Hunter is “The Perfect Man” -- handsome, successful, stable, eager to settle down. Eli Buchanan... is not. Compelling, smoking hot, creative and elusive, he represents everything Lori Brockton should avoid. But just as she makes a difficult choice, a drastic life-changing shift occurs, and nothing is ever the same again.

I normally avoid stories involving love triangles because someone inevitably ends up hurt and I end up feeling bad about it at the end of the book. While I certainly experienced some emotional turmoil, this was one ride I'm glad to have taken.

Lori's inner conflict about Garrett and Eli at first seems a bit selfish. Garrett really seems to be the perfect and ideal lover and I was confused as to why Eli was even a consideration. But then, there are things Garrett does that make you question whether he's devoted to the point of being "stalker-ish" and Eli starts exhibiting his Nordic god-like qualities. Later, you start seeing more depth in both of them and you're emotionally torn all over again. The messiness of their situation was so very real with no one "bad guy" that crystallizes to make the solutions easier.

That's the point with this story. I was emotionally ragged throughout as I sifted through the complicated layers of each of the characters. Lori begins as a somewhat tragic figure who evolves into someone I thought was being incredibly insensitive and unfair, then back to being someone I empathized with completely.

The beginning was a little bumpy for me as the time periods moved back and forth and I had some problems anchoring. However, the story is so well crafted, providing three points of view with pretty smooth transitions as I never felt lost in understanding whose perspective I was reading. There were a couple of occasions where the timing could have been better but this was a complex undertaking of an incredibly compelling story about three very interesting people I found myself caring an awful lot about. There were moments I found myself hoping for the possibility of the three of them making it work! (No, it's not that kind of story, though the steam is most definitely HOT.) I loved both Garrett and Eli and ultimately understood Lori's struggle, believing she deserved both of them.

I could not put the book down and, yes, I had some sadness at the outcome but was completely taken care of by an ideal epilogue. I loved, loved, loved this book and still haven't let the characters go. And, by the end, I got the significance of the title and the wordplay...it will make me feel really good every time I see it going forward. I'm rating it 4.5 stars and highly recommend it for the quality of the story, writing, depth of characterization and, ultimately, the romance.

(I received an ARC from the author)