What Were You Expecting?

I remember really liking Kevin in the previous story, and really wanting him to get his own, but I can't exactly recall why I liked him. So I kind of went into this book blind.I really liked a lot of it. Kevin and the whole Kowalski clan were wonderful. I loved the sense of camaraderie and friendship between them, and the other secondary characters.Kevin was a solid character, who really wanted to do the right thing by Beth. He also wanted to settle down with a family, so the timing was right for him. Beth didn't want to settle down, which meant he wasn't able to just bulldoze his way into her life. It was good that she didn't just fall for him hook, line and sinker, though I do wish she would have given just a little bit. As for Beth herself, while I understood her need for independence, I don't understand why she was so fierce about it. I think Paulie, Kevin's bar manager, had a better reason to push people away than Beth herself did. Her reason for being so closed off was that her parents had smothered her as a child. We never saw evidence of it, though. They sounded like concerned parents, but they weren't overbearing or smothering. For her to scoff at every offer of help - whether emotional, mental or financial - and push everyone away because she was an only child and her parents cared about her...well, it was too much. Despite my issues with Beth and her need for independence, I really liked this story. I think it would have been better if Beth had given in sooner, but overall it had a sweet quality. It helped that Paulie and an old flame, Sam, had a secondary romance running in the background. That kept the frustration from Kevin and Beth's lack of relationship at bay for the most part.