Title: Love a Little Sideways (Kowalski Family #7)

Author: Shannon Stacey
Date of publication: 26 Nov 2013
Genre: Romance 

Author's links:
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My rating: 3 stars

After a brief, forbidden rendezvous at her brother's wedding, Drew Miller expects Liz to return to New Mexico and stay there. He's searching for someone to settle down with, not a casual fling with his best friend's sister. But when they're stuck together on the annual Kowalski camping trip, things start going a little sideways. Keeping their hands off each other proves just as impossible as keeping their secret from becoming public knowledge. 

Amid family, mud and melted marshmallow, Liz and Drew try to fight what's growing between them. But a little time alone, a lot of chemistry and too many opinions might be just what it takes to bring together two people so determined not to fall in love.

It is the 7th book about the Kowalski families - all brothers, sisters and cousins. I have read and enjoyed the previous books, some more than others, so I was naturally curious to read Liz's story as well.

It is basically an nice small-town romance with likable characters, some funny and some sexy times and a lot of family meddling/fun/love/bickering.

It is a second-chance love story for both Drew and Liz and though initially they wanted different things, their attraction to one another is undeniable. They had to overcome a number of issues to finally be together. First it was the fact that Liz is Mitch's sister who is Drew's best friend. Talk about awkward :) Things were cleared on that front pretty quickly, though there was some betrayal and hurt involved. 

A greater obstacle for Liz and Drew's relationship was the fact they wanted (or at least, they thought so) different things. He was desperate to start a family while she was enjoying her freedom. This was far too easily solved with the help of the family, of course. 

Overall, I enjoyed the romance but there were a few things that bothered me a little. The camping motif was already used in the first book in the series and I was not happy to read about it again. Another topic already used in this series was the issue of wanting/not wanting children. It had a major role in this story to the point of being too much.

Also, I found the presence of both the Kowalskis families a bit overwhelming - all the relatives and the multitude of their children made it difficult to keep track of who was who. 

As I mentioned, the resolution of the main conflict in the story was way too simplified, just like that wit very little persuasion, Liz saw things in a completely different light. It felt unrealistic and too abrupt. 

The book ends on a happy note, yet I expected somewhat more completion. A epilogue to show how Drew and Liz managed to work out their difference would have been nice. 

This is not my favourite book about the Kowalskis, still it was a pleasant read. After covering all the brothers, sisters and cousins, now Ms Stacey will be moving on to the other inhabitants of Whitford in the next two titles of this series, scheduled for release next year.