Adverse Conditions is the first book in a new series by Elle Keaton. It has to spend a bit of time setting up things that won’t be resolved until future books and that wasn’t unexpected. This is a great story with older MCs – early 40’s – and I’m glad to see more authors writing books for characters who are a bit older. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy good books with characters of all ages but as an older person myself it’s nice to read about older characters once in a while.

Xavier and Vincent start out as enemies which goes back to their high school days. It isn’t long before Xavier realizes that he doesn’t want to be enemies at all but Vincent takes a bit of coaxing, mostly because he has a daughter to consider.

I loved all of the characters in this story and I’m sure that some of the secondary ones will be getting their own book at some point. I loved the rescue dog element and the fact that Xavier’s mom took in two who were a bonded pair.

There’s a murder mystery that wasn’t resolved yet but the romance between the two main characters is solid. It wouldn’t be an Elle Keaton story if there weren’t some humor mixed in with all of the serious stuff. Xavier’s very expensive shoes provided great comic relief, especially when Vincent came up with the perfect solution; you’ll have to read it for yourself to find out what that was. 😊.

Elle did a good bit of teasing us with interesting secondary characters throughout Adverse Conditions and I was very happy to learn that Martin and Nick will be the MCs of Below Grade coming soon!

Reviews for Elle Keaton

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Xavier glanced out the window again. Across the street, Liam Wright’s most recent chainsaw sculpture was proudly displayed in his front yard. He couldn’t quite tell what it was supposed to be, he’d have to ask Liam when he saw him.

“Yeah—” Movement in the yard next to Liam’s caught Xav’s attention. He leaned closer to the windowpane for a better view of his hunky, muscly neighbor as he stomped out into the street. The man carried a long-handled yard tool slung over his shoulder like some character out of a Monty Python movie and was dragging a clean green bin behind him.

Halting at the corner, he hefted the cast iron grating off in one swift movement and began aggressively raking the leaves and other debris out of and away from the drain. Even though he was bundled up in a yellow rain slicker, Xavier would have recognized the Samaritan anywhere. “And also, you don’t have to deal with Vincent Barone.”

Vincent Barone. His nemesis.

All Xavier wanted to do was sell property and help Cooper Springs grow. But Vincent Barone had decided to get himself certified as a real estate appraiser and stymie Xavier at every fucking turn. Every damn i and every damn t that possibly needed dotting or crossing—and many that didn’t—were mentioned in every single one of Barone’s reports. Didn’t Barone understand that there needed to be room for negotiation? Maybe Mrs. Nelson’s estate didn’t want to fix the roof and would instead reduce the sale price for a potential buyer.

“It’s his literal job, Xavier,” Daisy reminded him with a laugh. Probably hoping to stop the rant she’d spotted from over a hundred miles away. “He is supposed to find things the seller should fix. No one wants the surprise of the AC failing the day after move-in.”

“He won’t listen to reason, Daisy,” Xavier grumbled. “He is literally the most aggravating person in all of Cooper Springs. There’s a guy coming all the way from Seattle today to look at the cabins and I know Vinny-boy is going to screw it up—if it gets as far as an offer.”

Barone was extremely thorough. Which was great when building bridges or, in Vincent’s case, teaching shop at the high school and needing to make sure the bored teenagers didn’t cut their extremities off. But Vincent’s part-time second job was home appraisal, and Xavier was tired of being surprised by what Barone wrote up in his official reports. At least give a guy a heads-up that the sump pump had backed up into the garage and caused water damage. Even if Barone had noted that the damage “appeared to be years old,” banks hated comments like that. Banks wanted to hear about new roofs and perfect sewer lines, not repairs that could reduce the value of their investment. And Xavier liked to be prepared with the bad news before he talked to his clients, not in the middle of meeting with them.

How fucking hard was that?

“Have you actually tried talking to him? Or do you just stand at your window and shoot dagger glares through the plate glass?”

Xavier moved away from the window so he wouldn’t be lying when he said, “No.”

Reclaimed Hearts Series

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