Review: Escaping Me

Rating: 4 stars

Title: Escaping Me

Series: Escaping #1

Author: Elizabeth Lee

Genre:  New Adult Contemporary Romance

Source: ARC provided by Wordsmith Publicity

Cover: 4 stars

Characters: 4 stars

Plot: 4.5 stars

Heat: 3 stars

Freshness: 3.5 stars

Addictiveness: 4 stars

Total: 4 stars (17/24)


Whitney has been raised to be the perfect girl, the perfect daughter, the perfect wife. She has tried her best, but even though she has always followed the rules, life is messy and has destroyed her fairy tale. Running away from a bad break-up, she moves for the summer to her mom's farm in a small little town. There she finds more than she has bargained for. Can her messy life still become perfect? Or does she need to learn how to take life as it is?

Cole is running away from his past and the way he used to deal with problems. He wants to be alone, to build a new life on his own, trying to avoid conflicts. When he meets Whitney, he knows she is not for him, and he is sure she is trouble. What he doesn't know is that she might be his salvation. Is life offering him a second chance, or is fate only teasing him? 

Escaping Me has a good plot, a great hero, some fun secondary characters and a couple good conflicts thrown in.  I've had trouble connecting with the heroine. She is not a bad character, but she is not my favorite either. She is a bit immature, but has room to grow. Whitney is a work-in-progress. I've liked her much better on the second book of the series. 

Ms. Lee creates very believable plots and conflicts that are part of everybody day-to-day life. If you haven't had the same problems, you definitely knows someone that has. Also, I like how her characters are flawed. The are human like us all, and ofter make mistakes, sometimes huge mistakes that changes a life's course. 

You may read this book because you enjoy a good read with a lot of emotions swirling around;  you should read this book because you like romances with a dose of reality thrown in; but you MUST read this book, if you believe in second chances and that love may conquer it all!

"That cold, dark organ that used to be my heart still beats strong as I eye the gravel lane that signals my homestretch, only now it beats out of rage instead of love."

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Review: The Englishman's Folly

Rating: 3 stars

Title: The Englishman's Folly

Author: Solange St. Brice

Genre: Contemporary Romance

Source: ARC provided by the author in exchange for an honest review

Cover: 4.5 stars

Characters: 3 stars

Plot: 3 stars

Heat: 2 stars

Freshness: 4 stars

Addictiveness: 1 star

Total: 3 stars (12/24)

Zoey Warwick left a loveless marriage that had her feeling bad about herself, in search of the love of her life. As she went back to her roots, she found a treasure within the unexpected. When she met a man that may be able to make her dreams come true, she doubts his reasons and herself. Is love really a very illusory concept ? Or is out there for everyone?

Declay Murphy was handsome, rich and mysterious. He usually got what he wanted, and he had never let it slipped away before. Zoey is everything he needs, and didn't even know he wanted. When danger came, taking her away, he knew he only had one chance at happiness. Will she be the one to comprehend his folly and accept him with his quirks? Or will she be another great deception?

The Englishman's Folly had an interesting plot with a couple nice twists. The romance was sweet and the love scenes were good. The story was believable, and felt real. My one big hang-up with it, was that I have disliked the heroine almost from the beginning, and I wasn't able to relate or connect with her.

Zoey spends a big part of the book complaining about how her ex-husband was selfish, but not once she tries to talk to him about it during their relationship. It was clear he had a medical problem, but she didn't try to understand him at all.  I'm not against divorce, but I don't believe that any relationship fails because of only one side, and for my eyes her own mistakes were clear, and it annoyed me, that she didn't stand up for her own actions, blaming her ex for everything.

Ms. St. Brice's ideas were original, and the little quirk she has created for Declan was interesting and very self-explanatory. The treasure found by Zoey was another fun twist thrown by the author and the conflict at the end was unexpected.

You may read this book, because you enjoy sweet romances; you should read this book, because you like a fast read; but you MUST read this book, if you want some happily-ever-after!

" I've always believed love couldn't be real if it happened too fast," (...) "Your heart called to mine, I answered, and there was no turning back. Even if you fought me all the way, I didn't give."

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Review: Never Let Me Go

Rating: 3 stars

Title: Never Let Me Go

Series: Never Let Me Go #1

Author: Jessica Gibson

Genre: Contemporary Romance

Source: ARC provided by Promotional Book Tours

Cover: 3 stars

Characters: 3 stars

Plot: 3 stars

Heat: 3 stars

Freshness: 3 stars

Addictiveness: 3 stars

Total: 3 stars (12/24)

Grace De Leo was a relationship kind of a gal. Until she met Logan and decided to throw caution out of the window and be wild for one night. She knew  her craziness was going to bring her pain and she regretted  her actions as soon as the morning arrived. Now, how would she move on?

"I was stupid to let myself dream about a future with a man I had just met. He had been clear from the start. It was only the one night."

Logan McFadden was not looking for relationships. He had simple rules to never share last names and personal information with his affairs. Until he met Grace and she proved to be a temptation bigger than his set of rules. Were they fated to be together?

" I don't do perfect, and I don't do relationships. I'm not comfortable with them. They are too familiar."

Never Let Me Go had a good story flow, with no typo mistakes and good cohesion. Both main characters were interesting and it also had several promising secondary characters. The chemistry between characters was obvious and their passionate scenes were fun. The story hooked me enough, that I would have bought part two right now, if it were out yet. 

Even though the main characters were compelling, I was unable to connect or relate with them. Their love story happened  too fast, and if felt totally unreal for me.

I have already signed up for Ms. Gibson newsletter, so I will know when part two will come out. I'm looking forward to it, and to see how the little twist at the end will be resolved.

You may read this book, if you enjoy romantic novellas; you should read this book, if you like billionaire-type-of-love stories; you MUST read this book, if your heart becomes lighter at love at first sight tales!

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Review: Finding You

Rating: 4.5 stars

Title: Finding You

Series: Escaping #2

Author: Elizabeth Lee

Genre: New Adult Contemporary Romance

Source: ARC provided by WordSmith Publicity

Cover: 4 stars

Characters: 5 stars

Plot: 5 stars

Heat: 4 stars

Freshness: 4 stars

Addictiveness: 4 stars

Total: 4.5 stars (20/24)

 Mallory's world has crumbled and she doesn't know who she is anymore. She decides to move away from home to go after her past. She may find more that she has bargained for. One rule she has for  her life is to avoid complications and emotional entangles. Boone seems like all that and more. How will she keep away from temptation, when her body is hot-wired to his?

Boone has been running away from his past for the last three years. In fact, he has put his life on hold and has been only surviving one day at time. Hurricane "Molly" doesn't fit into his equation, but his traitorous heart doesn't get the memo. How to keep things simple, when life is so messy?

Finding You it's the perfect romance to read. The love story is beautiful without being corny,  characters are multi-layered without being overly complicated, conflicts are well thought-out without being overly dramatic, and  the climax is intense and breathtaking, without taking your belief in love away.

Ms. Lee knows her craft and does it well. Her plot is clean, with no weak points and perfect cohesively and her characters are easy to love, relate and connect. Ms. Lee's passionate scenes are classy but hot, and her hero is mouth-watering.

You may read Finding You because is romantic and thrilling. You should read Finding You because it will keep you guessing, but it won't crush your hope for love. You must read Finding You if you want to be awed and dazzled.

"I wasn't looking to make a change or venture out of my comfortable life, but finding out that the comfortable life I'd been living was based on lies (...) I decided it was time for a change."

"People change. Life happens and the innocence of young adulthood is marred." 

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