Thursday Afternoons

After reading many mysteries/thrillers recently, I was happy to get back into the romance genre and hope for an enjoyable read. Thursday Afternoons did not disappoint… it was a very entertaining read.

Both main characters, Amy and Ellis, were career driven women and very successful in their field. But they needed a period of time to forget the outside world and connect with someone on a physical level without commitments or responsibilities. After they met through an app, they arranged to meet at a hotel every Thursday afternoon. This was the highlight of their week and both eventually felt a greater need to go beyond the physical nature of their relationship. But as per their arrangement, they kept their personal lives, including their jobs and families, off limits. Unbeknownst to both women, these limits would soon expire as Amy and Ellis’ outside world took preference over their Thursday afternoons.

Ellis was hired by the CEO of the Erie Shores Hospital’s regional corporation as a financial consultant to get rid of the hospital’s deficit budget and make changes that appeared to be most beneficial for its future survival. Amy, as chief of surgery at Erie Shores, knew that any cuts could have a significant impact on life and death situations for the people in her hometown. Ellis and Amy, once lovers, now became adversaries.

This was a well written and interesting story. It was also very heartwarming because it offered hope in so many ways. It offered hope to Amy to heal from a past relationship that was emotionally and mentally draining. It offered hope to Ellis to overcome past relationship mistakes and selfish acts. It offered hope to a teenager who felt lost and unwanted after her mother’s death. It offered hope to Kate to love again after the loss of her wife to cancer. Even though the characters had very strong opinions on what was best for the hospital, sometimes bordering on nastiness, they continued to feel an underlying hope for the hospital situation as well as their personal one.

Besides the hospital problems, there were other realistic issues that the characters faced such as aging parents, dementia, and guardianship. These issues added another layer of emotional depth to this already engaging story.
Overall, this was a great read!

This book summary was intriguing for many reasons. So I bought the book & couldn’t put it down!
In the beginning it’s a bit -“adventurous”.
Unlike something I have read before now.
The way they meet, the “rules” in place & the reasons why-seem to make sense.
Feelings change when they see each other outside of “their arrangement” for the first time. Thoughts & questions they never thought about it until they accidentally see each other in public.
The romance & attraction is very strong all the way through the book.
The book includes well educated, strong, powerful women, including their friends in their late 30’s early 40’s.
Anyone who has (or does) live in a small town or small city can relate to how inclusive a community really is to the function of a hospital & other businesses in the area.
The book has a nice mixture of “family, friends, relationships (& acceptance) of different types & ages of people”.
Always lots of love & support—enough to go around—no matter where you fit in..
It’s every day life (& very real)!
Well written as it flows from chapter to chapter.
The Business End of the Hospital Setting & how smaller hospitals are looked at, reviewed & financial decisions are determined is genuine. It’s what happens in the Real World Not only in Canada but even in the United States.

This was hard to rate because the beginning of the book and a little after the middle, I really enjoyed. The middle part was hard because we weren’t really shown why one character was so upset and wouldn’t give the other a chance. It just didn’t seem like the action and reaction were meshing. With that said I still enjoyed the book. The characters were well developed and the side characters/stories provided a well rounded experience.

What another great story from Ms. Richardson. She is one of my favorites so I was happy to pick this book up and start reading. This one had a bit of an twist right from the start, it was not a slow burn, the 2 characters just jumped right into bed, BUT for a reason that worked on how the book progressed-I loved it.

The story line is well written and they way Ms. Richardson describes the world of a small town hospital I could just image the small hospital in my own home town I grew up in. I loved the characters of Amy and Ellis, and was glad when they finally found out who each other was (and the use of their real names :-)-all very believably and I liked both right away. Both had enough baggage to bring the issue to a relationship, but no so bad that made you want to not cheer for their HEA.

I believe this book also brought some characters over from her other book, I'm Gonna Make You Love Me, which I have not read yet, but now plan to pick that book up and read next.

I look forward to more from this author, and hope maybe get a glimpse in future books as to how Amy and Ellis are doing

I received an ARC through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review, but would have written the same opinion if I had come across this author on my own.

The sexy book description of Thursday Afternoons pulled me in, but it was content and beauty of Amy and Ellis’ story that won me over in ways I didn’t expect. I didn’t expect the complexity of their lovers to enemies story, or the subtlety of multiple forces at play nudging their struggle this way and that. The plot is intricate and complex but flows beautifully and creates multiple layers of suspense I wasn’t expecting not knowing if they were going to survive each other from one moment to the next. Coupled with their insanely hot attraction and sexy escapades this story quickly topped my read-it-again list. I look forward to revealing more layers to this marvelous story. I received a copy from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This was a well written book. It started off interesting right from the get-go, so I wan invested right away. The two main characters were HOT, and I appreciated that they were also a bit older. The chemistry was sizzling.

Another thing that was unique in the book was that Ellis admits to being kind of an a-hole in a previous relationship, so she spends part of the book trying to rectify that with her stepdaughter Mia. It's always nice when the MC's aren't these perfect specimens.

Great read, and would definitely recommend.

Good book about two women, Amy and Ellis, who start off having anonymous sex every Thursday afternoon, and then find themselves on opposite sides of the fence when Ellis comes to review the hospital's financial situation. This is purely a romance, vintage Tracey Richardson, and should appeal to readers who like an enjoyable smart love story. The characters are well rounded and the supporting cast good. Although there is no doubt there will be a HEA, there're enough obstacles to overcome to make the story interesting. The sex scenes are very well-written and there's great chemistry between the women.
On the down side, just about everyone in the book is gay, which is most unrealistic. The plot is a bit thin as well and a book a little short.
But on the whole, it's an entertaining novel---a very pleasant read for a Thursday afternoon. 4.25 stars