by Hayley (link)
Genre het, drama, romance
Pairings Zac/OFC
Length prologue, 30 chapters and epilogue
Status Completed
Hayley left hanfic around the time that I returned, so I didn’t get to read very many of her stories. What I did read was enjoyable and covered a variety of genres. I was happy to see that Becca and Brittney archived a few of her stories, of which Regrets was one.
I wasn’t surprised to learn that Hayley was Australian, though. There were just certain turns of phrase that pinged me as not sounding American at all. Mostly, the dialect was American enough, but every now and then a word or phrase would throw me off. Not to mention the names — Bronwyn Jackson and Norton Blatch just couldn’t sound less Oklahoman if they tried.
Another thing that bothered me was the way that Bronwyn and Zac met. On the subway. In Tulsa. I’ll admit I didn’t explore Tulsa that well when I was there, but I don’t recall an underground system. Maybe this detail wouldn’t bother other people, but I had to really suspend my disbelief to get past it.
All that said, I enjoyed this story. There were times when the characters annoyed me, especially Bronwyn’s stubborn refusal to leave Norton and her mom’s… well, everything. But I’m a firm believer that you don’t have to always like the characters in a story to like the story. If every character always did what you wanted them to do, that wouldn’t make for a very interesting read. Overall, the characters were interesting and well-rounded enough to keep me invested in their story even when they frustrated me.
This is a story I would definitely recommend, but with a few caveats. If you think you can get past certain un-American sounding turns of phrase and keep from laughing every time you see the name Norton Blatch, then I think you’ll enjoy this one.
Review by Bethany (website)