Review: Flirtation Walk by Siri Mitchell

Book Cover and Synopsis:

Trying to escape the shambles her con-man father has made of their reputation, Lucinda Curtis arrives in West Point, New York, determined to land a husband from the military academy. Campbell Conklin is first in his class and preparing to embark upon a storied career in the U.S. Army. Lucinda thinks Campbell will make the perfect husband . . . as long as he does not find out about her father.

Seth Westcott also has taken a liking to Lucinda. He's kind, smart . . . and working extremely hard to graduate last. Tradition states that the worst cadets are assigned to the cavalry out west. And west is where Seth must head to track the swindler who stole all of Seth's mother's money. Seth is smart enough to vie for the top spot, but life isn't fair and this is his chance to catch the man who ruined his family. It's too bad Campbell is all shine and no substance, but Lucinda will surely see through all of that, won't she?

My source for book: Review Copy

My Thoughts:
The premise of Flirtation Walk is actually really good, but unfortunately I was unable to connect with the characters. Parts of it I enjoyed, but for the most part it had trouble holding my attention. One thing that especially perplexed and frustrated me was how Lucinda developed feelings for Seth so quickly when she had hardly spent any time with him at all. 

The best part of the book for me was Seth's crazy scheme to bring his grades down by acting out and not studying. This really amused me as it was a pretty clever idea for the difficult situation he was in, but I did feel there were too many scenes of Seth whining to his friends about it. While I appreciated that it was difficult for him to do sub-par work after a life of being an exemplary student, I just really wanted to see him completely commit to doing mediocre work instead of going at it half-heartedly--and only then with major prodding from his friends.

Honestly I really wavered between a 2 and 3 star rating, but I decided on 3 because I really do like the story idea. For some reason I just couldn't connect with the characters though, no matter how hard I tried. It took me over a month to finish because often when I would think of picking it up I'd just skip it because I had no desire or pull to visit with the characters. I think it's just one of those things that didn't connect with me, but I'm sure most people will likely enjoy it. If you're a fan of the author or the story sounds intriguing to you, I do think it's worth checking out.

My Rating: 3 stars

Thanks to the publisher (Bethany House) for providing me with a review copy via NetGalley.