Review: Walk the Line

Walk the Line by J. Kenner
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Walk the Line is the twelfth, and final, book in J. Kenner’s Man of the Month series, and I’m so sad to say goodbye. The last few months have been spent with me diving into each new release, desperate for more of the stories, and now that the series is over I’m not quite sure what I plan to do with my life. Sure, there are other books I wish to read – however, I have no other series like this one where I’m giving something different every two weeks. If someone has any recommendations of where I can find another gripping series like this one, I’m all ears!

The Man of the Month series is a collection of interconnected romance stories, proving individual stories as a larger story plays out. Each novel features a favourite romance trope, ensuring there is something for everyone. The first book, Down on Me, provided us with the friends-to-lovers trope; the second book, Hold on Tight, provided us with the second chance romance; the third book, Need You Now, provided us with the brother’s best friend trope; the fourth book, Start Me Up, provided us with the one-night stand; the fifth book, Get It On, provided us with the secret baby trope; the sixth book, In Your Eyes, provided us with the bad boy billionaire; the seventh book, Turn Me On, provided us with the friends with benefits trope; the eighth book, Shake It Up, gave us the May-December romance; the ninth book, All Night Long, provided us with the opposites attract trope; the tenth book, In Too Deep, provided us with the fake relationship trope; the eleventh book, Light My Fire, provided us with the Beauty and the Beast trope. Book twelve, Walk the Line, finishes us off with the single dad trope, giving us a character we’ve been interested in since the start of the series.

Although each book is an individual story with a start and an end, I would recommend reading these books in order. To understand some of the details of the story in full, you need to understand how things came to be throughout the prior books. You’re certainly told, to ensure you have the basic facts to understand the story, but it is not the same as experiencing all that happened – for a bigger picture, read the series in order. I think this is more important than ever with this final book, as so much is pulled together in this one. There are things that have been building throughout the series that come together in this final book, and we get a look back at everyone else. By no means am I saying you need to go back and read all the books, but I am saying you will appreciate this series – and this story – so much more if you read things in order.

With each book in this series you go in with certain expectations – you have an idea of how the trope plays out and you know who is to be the man of the month. Despite this, you’re interested in seeing how the little details play out – and for those following the series, you’re interested in seeing the additional elements added to the overall story. Although we’re never given anything new to the genre, we’re always given something unique to keep us wanting more. Plus, by this point, we’re so in love with all the characters, we’ll desperately take whatever we’re given, any snippet of where things are now.

If I am being completely honest, Walk the Line was not as enjoyable as some of the other books in the series. If this was a standalone story, I would give it a three-point-five-star rating. It was enjoyable, I liked the story, but things came together far too quickly at the end for it to have the kind of depth that pleases me. However, in relation to the prior books in the series, this one brings everything together so well. In other words, this is a great conclusion to the series for anyone looking at how the series comes together, but the story itself is not as strong as it could have been. Hence the four-star rating – the three-point-five-star rating of the individual story was rounded up as the bigger picture made this one worthwhile.

Without a doubt, I adored this series, and would certainly recommend it for anyone looking for an enjoyable quick series that offers a variety of stories. There really is something for everyone, and I fell so in love with the characters and events.

In fact, I plan to dive into Bar Bites so that I can remain in the world a little bit longer. I’m curious to see what the cookbook brings – but, more importantly, I’m curious about the little snippets of stories providing us with more from the characters.

There is no doubt in my mind, the Man of the Month series has guaranteed I’ll be reading more J. Kenner in the future.

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