A sweet story about an American woman who spends a holiday in New Zealand and meets a guy on the beach. They spend the two weeks together and she has no idea that he is the captain of the All Blacks.After the holiday they stay in touch and Hannah eventually decides to move to New Zealand to be with Drew. The trouble is that Hannah has brought up her younger brother and sister after their father's death and their mother's abdication of involvement and she is used to being strong for everyone else. Can she learn to trust in someone else?This is the second book I have read by Rosalind James - they seem to be very sweet, very little angst or conflict, just one person needing to realise their feelings.Whilst there are sex scenes I would still classify this as a vanilla book - something that you would be happy for your grandmother to read. Reading Rosalind James's Just This Once, is like coming home. This is one of the books in the Escape to New Zealand series....about rugby players and how they have met their loves and lovelies. This particular series is just hot and romantic and I feel like I learned so much about New Zealand. I'd love to visit sometime and catch a real rugby game if I ever do get there. I have read all but the last two in the series and hopefully there will be more. Yes I am a fan.I like that the settings of these books are in New Zealand. I like and enjoy the accent and lingo of the natives there. And I enjoy the fact that our author knows something about New Zealand from her own experiences. I have throughout the series, enjoyed the fact, that I could even learn something about Rugby, although, don't ask me the rules.James creates strong flawed characters who are somewhat intimidated by the thought of falling in love. I can easily relate to the female love interest. In this book it is Hannah, who is beautiful and giving, knowledgeable, and successful. She has always been self sufficient. The male is Drew, captain of the New Zealand Rugby team as well as captain of the All Blacks. When he rescues Hannah from an N Zed riptide, he finds an interesting and beautiful girl he wants to get to know much much better! She is the one for Drew, but he has a pretty hard time convincing her of that.The story moves fast, the characters are endearing and the only negative for me is the couple of pretty explicit love scenes, (I still would rather have that left to my imagination). Rosalind James's books are fun and fast reads and the romance is hot and alluring. These are great for those who need an escape -- to New Zealand!
What do You think about Just This Once (2000)?
Really enjoyed this read! The romance was lovely, and the New Zealand flavor was fun.
—papasanchezz
I enjoyed this book, but at times I struggled to relate to Hannah.
—lol
A real fluffy chick book but I enjoyed it. Light easy read
—jb_baby
