I was really excited to receive an ARC copy of this book (even though it was approved after the book had been released). A woman of color writing in this genre is rare. Even rarer, is one whose main characters are also people of color. I also loved the cover. It is really beautiful. It leads the prospective reader to anticipate passionate interactions and sultry sex scenes...
The book is getting a firm 3.5 stars from me. I liked it, but would only recommend it to readers who don't mind stories where the lead characters spend most of the book angry at/lying to/ hurting each other. I am not being faceitous at all when I say that. I know that there are plenty of readers who enjoy conflict, drama and don't care much for the fairytale that romance novels can offer.
Let's get to the review:
Here is the publisher's summary: "Emmalyn Chase has a six month expiration date with men. She's out celebrating the loss of her latest boyfriend with her friends when she runs into Lukas Upton, the old flame that broke her heart into a million pieces. Her mind threatens to fall back into the dark place it created when he left.
Despite Em and Lukas' best intentions, fate has decided their fairytale isn't over. Unfortunately, life has a habit of getting in the way. While Em battles depression and her conflicting feelings for Lukas, Lukas struggles against his history of unreliability and indecision.
As Em and Lukas seek to redefine their romance, they find out how hard it can be to hold on to true love
The book begins with us meeting Emmalyn and learning that she has a weird rule about only dating guys for six months before she ends things with them. But when that is fleshed out it turns out that is is less about the time period and more that 1) she is not over her ex Lukas and 2) she has not met anyone who has blown her away, in any respects since she and Lucas broke up.
In the same opening scene, Em and Lukas bump into each other after a 5 year separation.
From both of their reactions, it appears it was a painful break up. It also appears that they both still have feelings for each other.
What plays out in the rest of the book is these two acting on the compulsions that are brought on by their sudden reunion.
They don't have a particularly healthy relationship. The way they treat each other lacks the caring, understanding and patience that I think most relationships need to be grow.
Lukas is not a prince charming in anyway (besides his good looks) and honestly, I couldn't understand what made him so special to Em. (view spoiler)[ He is a cheater, a liar and makes extremely poor decisions. (hide spoiler)]
There are a host of secondary characters in this book. None of them are particularly likable. Em's supposed best friend is often judgemental, unkind and self centered. Lukas' dad is a pretty central character as well. He is a bitter man who hated Em because he felt that she thought she was "better than them". He also manipulated his son's life in ways that I think would be unforgivable just to ensure that he got to continue being his son's main priority. I can't reveal too many other characters without spoiling the book, but I can't think of one that I thought was great.
If you are looking for a romantic love story where the characters, however shitty their beginning and even middle is, grow into better people than they were when the book started, this is NOT it.
I think that Em and Lukas are immature people who really don't think long term when they a
There were some major themes explored in this book (view spoiler)[ infidelity, unwanted pregnancy, death (hide spoiler)] but when I finished it, I didn't feel the emotional strain of them. I think I just was so disconnected from the characters. They were actually pretty well developed, but I didn't like how they treated themselves and each other.
So, I guess it's obvious from my review that I didn't really enjoy this book...but I know this not all because of the writing or plot. It's just not my cup of tea in terms of the way the story plays out. For me, the mark of a great book is that when it's done, I feel like I want to read it all over again immediately. I feel like I understand the characters, even I don't always like them. I want all issues resolved and I like knowing what the future held for the couple. So, an epilogue always does me nicely.
I have so many questions after reading this story. But, I am not sure that the answers will make me feel any better.
Please read the other reviews to get a different perspective. I can only give you my honest take away. This is part of the joy of reading. You have to read books that are outside of your sweet spot so that you can figure out what you like and what you don't. I have my favorite authors and my favorite sub-genres but I'm always trying something new because there is SO much good writing and SO MUCH talent in this genre. Ms. Hendricks is a talented writer, but I need the fairytale (good guy, good girl, some angst, some obstacles, but the driving need to be together and the willingness to go all out to make it so) and this was not that.
But, this is free to Kindle Unlimited readers and only $2.99 to everyone else, so I would encourage you to try it. It might be JUST what you are looking for!
