Book Reviews Archives - Page 26 of 114

Book Review: Chasing Cassandra by Lisa Kleypas

Apr 9, 2020

Chasing Cassandra (The Ravenels #6) by Lisa Kleypas

Pages: 384
Publish date: February 18th 2020
Publisher: Avon
ISBN: 9780062371942
Purchase: Book Depository – Amazon UK – Amazon US – Amazon AU – QBD

Everything has a price…

Railway magnate Tom Severin is wealthy and powerful enough to satisfy any desire as soon as it arises. Anything—or anyone—is his for the asking. It should be simple to find the perfect wife—and from his first glimpse of Lady Cassandra Ravenel, he’s determined to have her. But the beautiful and quick-witted Cassandra is equally determined to marry for love—the one thing he can’t give.

Everything except her…

Severin is the most compelling and attractive man Cassandra has ever met, even if his heart is frozen. But she has no interest in living in the fast-paced world of a ruthless man who always plays to win.

When a newfound enemy nearly destroys Cassandra’s reputation, Severin seizes the opportunity he’s been waiting for. As always, he gets what he wants—or does he? There’s one lesson Tom Severin has yet to learn from his new bride:

Never underestimate a Ravenel.

The chase for Cassandra’s hand may be over. But the chase for her heart has only just begun…

Chasing Cassandra:

I received an e-arc of Chasing Cassandra by Lisa Kleypas from Avon Books via Edelweiss. This has in no way influenced my thoughts and feelings about the book.

All last year I binge-read most of Lisa Kleypas’ historical romances and become addicted. I loved everything that I read. They are fun, but heartbreaking at times. They put a smile on my face and the romances are adorable. And you can’t forget about the amazing friendships and family bonds. So I was pretty excited when Cassandra was getting her own book in the last book in ‘The Ravenels’ series. From the start, Cassandra caught my eye and I couldn’t wait to see her fall in love. And I was disappointed.

Chasing Cassandra follows Lady Cassandra Ravenel, the last of the family that we haven’t seen fall in love yet. When she catches the attention of Tom Severin he thinks he knows what he wants. But Cassandra will only marry for love – and that is the one thing that Tom can’t give her. When Cassandra’s reputation is on the brink of being destroyed, Tom knows it’s his time to step in. But Tom shouldn’t have expected it to be that easy.

Florian van Duyn

I love Lady Cassandra with every fibre of me. She was just fantastic. I loved that she didn’t give in so easily to Tom and that she stayed true to herself throughout the whole book. Cassandra was fun to read about and I loved her idealist nature. Normally that isn’t a trait that I like reading about in my female protagonist, but there was something different about Cassandra that it didn’t take away from the story. While we know Cassandra pretty well before this book begins. The reader only really knows her from other characters point of views. So it was fantastic being about to see her in a new light.

Tom Severin was a really interesting character throughout Chasing Cassandra. Like Cassandra, the reader has met Tom before, however not in a very good light. I always knew that he was going to fall for one of the Ravenels, but wasn’t sure which. And even though Cassandra and Tom are very different. They bring out the best in one another. Tom doesn’t believe in love, family or anything. And Cassandra challenges everything that Tom believes it. I adored seeing Tom have this challenge and while he did his way when he marries Cassandra. She doesn’t fall for his charm and he has to work his way into her heart. One of the main reasons why I loved Tom so much was that he felt very real. He had all these faults and that is what made him feel very human.

I think that is one of the misconceptions with historical romance that the characters are all the same and that they are perfect. But Lisa Kleypas breaks down those walls and explores the realness of her characters and allows them to have fantastic characterisation and a brilliant character arc.

Sara Darcaj

The romance in Chasing Cassandra was adorable. I loved seeing both Tom and Cassandra fall for one another. And while it was a conventional romance, I loved that they both took it and went with it. Both Cassandra and Tom had so much respect for one another, even if they had funny ways of showing it. And getting to see them fall not only in love but become something more was fantastic. There was a couple of times throughout the novel that Tom did get on my nerves but Cassandra was able to knock a couple of those legs down and help him understand a different way of life and that was fantastic.

Like most of Lisa Kleypas’ other novels, family and friendship are a massive theme throughout Chasing Cassandra. It’s one of my favourite things about Kleypas’ books. While set in a different time and about things that don’t occur that much today, family and friendship is an ongoing theme that is relatable. I love the Ravenels and they shine once again throughout this novel. It was seriously fantastic.

But it wasn’t just them the reader gets to know as family. Tom is now apart of this family and while he doesn’t see it like that at first. As the novel goes on and he and Cassandra become even closer – well he starts to think differently. And it’s not just them that he starts to see as family, but some others as well. It’s always nice seeing a hardass male lead that swears he doesn’t have family start to care for people like family.

Peter Mason

Overall I loved Chasing Cassandra by Lisa Kleypas. Tom and Cassandra brought some light into my world and it made everything a little better. The romance is adorable and I loved seeing both Tom and Cassandra fall for one another. This was a fantastic final book in the Ravenels series and wrapped up everything so well. Lisa Kleypas knows how to write addicting storylines, beautiful romances and books that will leave the reader with a smile on their face. If you haven’t picked up historical romance but want to Lisa Kleypas is the perfect way to start.

Have you read Chasing Cassandra by Lisa Kleypas? What did you think of it? Have you read anything else by her? What are some of your favourite historical romances? Let’s Chat!

Book Review: The Rich Boy by Kylie Scott

Mar 13, 2020

The Rich Boy by Kylie Scott

Pages: 354
Publish date: March 9th, 2020
Publisher: –
ISBN: 9780648457282
Purchase: Amazon UK – Amazon US – Amazon AU

I’m the type of girl who’s given up on fairy tales. So when Beck – the hot new busboy at work – starts flirting with me, I know better than to get my hopes up. Happily ever afters aren’t for the average. I learned that the hard way.

But how can I be expected to resist a man who can quote Austen, loves making me laugh, and seems to be everything hot and good in this world?

Only there’s so much more to him than that.
Billionaire playboy? Check.
Troubled soul? Check.
The owner of my heart, the man I’ve moved halfway across the country to be with, who’s laying the world at my feet in order to convince me to never leave? Check, Check. Check.

But nobody does complicated like the one percent.

This is not your everyday rags-to-riches, knight-in-shining-armor whisking the poor girl off her feet kind of story. No, this is much messier.

Book name:

I received an earc of The Rich Boy by Kylie Scott from Social Butterfly PR in exchange for an honest review. This has in no way influenced my thoughts and feelings about the book.

I’ve read quite a bit of Kylie Scott books by now and I’ve really enjoyed most of them, and it was nothing new for The Rich Boy. One of the main reasons why I love reading books from Kylie Scott is that she is able to write honest and relatable characters. And while at first, it doesn’t seem that way, as the stories go on it becomes clear. And again Kylie was able to do that in The Rich Boy.

The Rich Boy follows Alice is struggling day by day with her waitressing job just trying to make ends means. She hates where she works, but she needs the money and it gives her that freedom as well. Then the new busboy comes into her life and everything Alice knows is thrown out the window. Beck flirts with her from the start and sparks fly, but the start of their romance is cut short, but Beck needs to be back home. And well everything starts from there.

Edi Libedinsky

I adored Alice as a protagonist throughout The Rich Boy. She was super easy to get along with and I was able to connect with her on many levels. I loved Alice’s smart comebacks and how she was able to survive being literally thrown in the deep end. Being able to get along and connect with Alice, made reading the novel super easy. I was able to fall in with the characters right away and go along with them. Another thing that I enjoyed was seeing Alice deal with everything around her. While at times she struggled, it also showed that she was human. The reader is able to feel everything that Alice is feeling and that stood out to me.

Beck was a classic. He was such an enjoyable character and really added that comic relief that was sometimes needed throughout The Rich Boy. From the start, Beck has this easy-going nature about him that really added to the book. While Alice had a lot of shields around her, Beck was a pretty open book (expect about where he was from), he just put everything out there. And this was nice to see as the novel does deal with a lot of things. Kylie Scott has a brilliant knack of writing male characters that take the book by storm and Beck is that type of character.

Christiana Rivers

The romance through The Rich Boy by Kylie Scott is super adorable. From the start, the reader is able to see how much Beck cares for Alice. I love their interactions from the start. Seriously it just made me smile like crazy. Another thing that I love is that Alice being plus-sized wasn’t even something that Beck thought about. He never really mentioned it and that made me really happy. Sometimes in novels that do include a plus-sized character, there is a real focus of it in the romance. And I liked that it wasn’t really here. I loved seeing both Alice and Beck fall for one another and while the romance was very fast-paced, it didn’t feel it.

There is a lot going on throughout The Rich Boy by Kylie Scott, but everything makes sense. Sometimes I find that in contemporary romance novels, everything happens all at once. Someone is trying to murder someone, everyone is lying, this happens and then this happened. And while sometimes I do enjoy that, it does get old. That doesn’t happen in The Rich Boy. While there is a lot of conflicts it is mostly to do with family and miscommunication. This made it a much more enjoyable read, and nothing really dragged on.

Phil Desforges

Overall, I really enjoyed reading The Rich Boy by Kylie Scott. It’s a fun read that also delves a little deeper. I loved the play on cinderella here, as well as the play on ‘rags to riches.’ Alice was really easy to get along, while Beck was a classic. I love that he was attracted to Alice from the start and it all plays out from there. The Rich Boy explores the different lives of people and how money influences not just the way that people live, but also how they act. The romance is super adorable and I love seeing how much Beck cares for Alice and vice versa. If you are looking for a romance novel that is charming, addicting and hits the spot, then this one is for you.

Book Review: Scarred by Drew Elyse

Feb 16, 2020

Scarred (Sailor’s Grave #3) by Drew Elyse

Pages: 228
Publish date: October 8th, 2019
Publisher: –
ASIN: B07YW9H7H3
Purchase: Amazon UK – Amazon US – Amazon AU

TRAUMA HAS A WAY OF LEAVING ITS MARK.

It took years to do it, but I can finally look in a mirror and see more than just the scars. If only that were true for the rest of the world.

The whispers, the stares, the pity, they’re familiar now. Except his eyes don’t linger, his demeanor never changes. Maybe that’s why I trust him and take the leap to move in with a virtual stranger. A stranger who might be more scarred than I am.

YET NOT ALL SCARS ARE LEFT ON THE SURFACE.

The day I got a spot at Sailor’s Grave Tattoo Parlor, I had everything. A roof over my head, an honest living, a few friends. The times when I went without no longer factored.

Until she comes into my life. Until I offer her a place to stay. Until she draws me in with that blinding light inside her, and almost makes me forget to keep the past in the dark where it belongs.

Scarred:

I received an e-arc of this book in exchange for a review. This has in no way influenced my thoughts and feelings about the book.

This review should have been up months ago and I mean months. But life likes to change a lot. Anyway, I thought it was time to share my thoughts on the last book in this trio. I’ve really enjoyed the series so far, so I was really looking forward to falling more into this world, and Scarred didn’t disappoint me.

Scarred by Drew Elyse follows Parker and Gwen as they find each other and try and overcome the many hurdles in both of their lives. Parker, we’ve met before. He has been working in Sailor’s Grave Tattoo Parlor for a little while now, but he has always been in the shadows, while Gwen is new to us readers. When Parker goes to the animal shelter that Gwen works at sparks fly, throw in that Parker is giving Gwen a tattoo, things are heating up. And then he offers his spare room to Gwen and the rest is history. But they both have demons, and sometimes those are hard to leave.

Sindy Strife

Parker was seriously such a great male protagonist. I was already intrigued by him from previous books, so it was really great being inside his head in this one. Parker has had a lot of things going on in his life and the reader doesn’t know the start of it, but as the novel goes on and Gwen gets to know him, so do we. His demons not only take over the way that he thinks about life but the way that he thinks about himself. And that was really hard to read at times. Parker’s character arc was fantastic, the reader is really able to see him grow throughout the novel and really come to understand him.

Gwen was also a fantastic protagonist. She was fierce and strong and I just loved getting to know her. She had something about her that just made me connect with her straight away. It was fantastic. Like Parker, Gwen has a lot of demons and it was great seeing her break this down and fight them. I loved seeing Gwen grow throughout Scarred. I loved seeing her become this strong, independent woman who truly starts to understand and know herself. Gwen was so easy to get along with and it made reading the novel so much easier.

The romance in Scarred was so good. I adored Parker and Gwen together so much. While at the start Gwen and Parker seem quite different from one another as the novel goes on, the reader gets to see that they are pretty perfect for one another. They just seem to fit. Parker is able to break Parker down and gets him to talk about his feeling and about this past. While Parker is able to help Gwen realise that she is okay. They were just so great for one another.

Andrew Neel

There was a lot going on in Scarred, but everything worked together so nicely. It wasn’t really any outside things that wreaked havoc, but more of the internal between Parker and Gwen. Sometimes it’s nice not having so many things happening in a novel where everything goes to shit. It was “nice” seeing it was just human mistakes. Or more human guilt and hurt.

Scarred rounds up the Sailors Grave trilogy and can I just say I loved this series so much. It was emotional as hell, but it was also so beautiful. Marked and Inked were both such good reads and I loved getting to know everyone in the parlor. We also got to see some old faces from Drew Elyse’s previous series and that just made everything more perfect.

Genesis Marasigan Castillo

Overall, I loved reading Scarred by Drew Elyse. It was emotional and beautiful all at the same time. Parker and Gwen were fantastic protagonists that really took me on the ride with them. They caught my heart and didn’t let go. I was cheering for them the whole way. Scarred explores what it means to be a family and be loved. But also letting go of your past, because sometimes it’s holding you back. If you are looking for some emotional books, that will also put a smile on your face, pick this series up for sure.

Have you read Scarred by Drew Elyse? What did you think of it? Have you read anything else by Drew Elyse? Let’s Chat!