Zip, Zero, Zilch by Tammy Falkner

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Title: Zip, Zero, Zilch
Author: Tammy Falkner
Series: The Reed Brothers #6
Published by: Indie
Release Date: November 20, 2014
Format: Kindle Book
Pages: 231
Genres: Romance, Contemporary
Reading Challenges: Lenoreo's 2019 AtoZ Reading Challenge, Lenoreo's 2019 Diversity Reading Challenge
Find it: Goodreads ✩ Amazon ✩ B&N ✩ Google ✩ Kobo ✩ iBooks ✩ IndieBound ✩ Book Depository
My rating:

Blurb:

The last one to fall…

Sam Reed is the only brother in the Reed family who hasn’t fallen head over heels in love. He has a promising contract to play professional football, but something is missing. Sam likes to watch cooking shows, snuggle on the couch, and he wants someone to do it with him. But with his go-getter lifestyle, it’s almost impossible to find the time to get to know one woman. That is, until he meets the one who makes him want to change his whole life.

A fake name and a world of hurt...

When Peck was twelve, she was called by a different name, lived with a different family, and had no prospects whatsoever. But now she finds herself the drummer in an all-girl band, makes more money than she ever dreamed possible, and she’s content. Until the day her birth mother shows back up.

Fame. Fortune. Stardom. Adolation.

Neither of them wants it.

They both have it. But can they have more?

My Review:

3.5 stars — OK, I’m going to start by saying that when I started this book I was super confused and lost.  I honestly thought perhaps I had missed a previous book with our two MCs (Sam and Peck), because it felt like I was expected to know stuff about their relationship up to this point.  Looking through, best I can tell, I think I needed to read the novella Beautiful Bride first to get the full story.  I really wish that authors would note those things, or at least note when books can’t be read as a standalone.  So I recommend that you either don’t jump in in the middle at all and start at the beginning of the series (which is what I would have done if I hadn’t been trying to get a Z book for my Alphabet Challenge), or at *least* check out that novella first.  I still need to read it, I pushed through instead of stopping.

So the book didn’t start off on a great foot for me, b/c it truly was like jumping in the middle.  But once I settled in with Sam and Peck, I started to get a feel for their connection.  I definitely enjoyed large parts of this story, but there were other parts that left me with reservations.

I wasn’t always a big fan of the way Sam pushed Peck, especially on the intimacy front.  It made me uncomfortable, because he kind of railroaded her.  Now, of course, she didn’t have regrets…and he had genuine great feelings for her…but still.  Otherwise I thought their chemistry was actually pretty good — great balance of sweet and steamy.

Peck was an interesting heroine, because she’s steeped in this self-doubt and insecurity that stems a lot from her speech impediment, but also seems to extend to her opinions on her body.  I kind of wish that part was less there, because I felt like it wasn’t necessary.  Her past and her struggles with that, as well as her stutter, were enough for her to deal with.  But if they were going to be a big part of her, I kind of wanted her to grow in that way…I wanted her to learn to accept herself.  But apparently I can’t have everything I want.

Sam was kind of a fun hero, because he was just very light and positive and he shirked male stereotypes, which I appreciated.  I loved his passion for cooking, I loved his love for his brothers, and I felt for him struggling to figure out his life.  I also appreciated how he was drawn to Peck exactly as she was, and tried his hardest to show that to her.  I was NOT a fan of his dumbass moment at the end (it felt cliche), and I was not a fan of her making the big gesture, when I kind of felt like it should have been him.  I mean yeah, he did eventually apologize, but I wanted more.

I really loved the scenes with the Reed family and with the Zeroes.  Lots of great secondary characters, and I can tell that if I’d read in order, I would have gotten a LOT more out of this one.

So a lot of my rating comes from having jumped in to the middle of this book, because their was so much where I felt like I was missing something (even just missing pieces about Peck and her sisters).  I eventually settled out, but I know I would have enjoyed the story more if I’d read in order.  So that’s a warning for you.