Review: Sunday Morning by Jewel E. Ann

Sunday Morning by Jewel E. Ann
Series: Sunday Morning #1
Published by Self-Published on September 26, 2024
Pages: 384


Amazon

Her boyfriend’s older brother should be off-limits, but he’s a sinful temptation.

Sarah is a preacher’s daughter and a people pleaser. She’s also on the verge of graduating high school and following her dream of singing in Nashville. The only thing standing in her way is that the entire town of Devil’s Head, Missouri, thinks she will marry Matt, the son of the town’s richest rancher.

But Sarah’s not sure he’s her future husband, especially when his older brother, Isaac, returns home after serving six years in the Army. He has tattoos on his arms and bad habits that are not “father-approved.” When he’s not working on the ranch or roping at the rodeo, Isaac hangs out in the barn, playing his guitar. He’s trouble, but Sarah's music-loving heart gravitates toward him.

Isaac loves consuming Sarah’s mind, crawling under her skin, backing her into corners, and whispering inappropriate things in her innocent ears.

After weeks of playful banter and guitar lessons blurring the line between right and wrong, Issac makes Sarah a proposition she can’t refuse.

But when the unthinkable happens, and everything she knows is destroyed, will Sarah make the right choice?

Welp, you can’t win ‘em all. Sunday Morning is unfortunately one of my least favorite books by one of my all-time favorite authors. I’m honestly shocked by how much I disliked this.

It’s a coming of age story about Sarah, an ambitious 18 year-old preacher’s daughter who is yearning for independence, grappling with her faith, and suffocating under the weight of her family’s expectations.

Except for Isaac, none of the characters are particularly likable, and that includes Sarah. I tolerated her immature behavior at first due to her age, but she doesn’t experience a lot of growth, as evidenced by her outbursts and temper tantrums in the last part of the book. Relationships are damaged in the course of the story, and seeing reconciliation play out could have been rewarding for readers, but it’s overlooked.  At the end of the book, I was left wondering if anyone actually learned anything.

I’m an older reader, so perhaps this type of new adult story just no longer resonates with me. I still love Jewel E. Ann though and will be first in line to read her next adult novel.

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