Eve1972
Written on Feb 11, 2019
Eva Charles is a new to me author, and since I am doing a challenge where I try to read at least two (or more) "new" or "new to me" authors a month, this book fit the bill perfectly. It also turned out to be a good book for my "stepping out challenge" as well. Two birds...one stone..as they say. (lol)
And I enjoyed it quite a lot. The writing was fantastic. It was well paced. The plot was engaging and well developed. There is a nice little mystery storyline that weaves its way throughout the story. It is also a second chance romance, which can be iffy for me at times. Luckily both the hero and heroine had moved on during the fifteen years apart. Nothing that bugs me more than a heroine that sits around pining. (lol) I didn't find it particularly angsty or dark. However, if you know me then you know that I read some super dark books, so your mileage may vary in that regard.
There wasn't any OW or OM drama. There were some interesting secondary characters especially the hero's brothers and Smith. The two main characters were intriguing, to say the least. J.D...what can I say. The guy was a douche. He honestly was. However, I think his douchiness is a facade. At least when it comes to Gabrielle. As for the heroine...theoretically, I would have preferred Gabrielle kicked the hero in the balls and told him to go f-ck himself, but that would have made for a very short book indeed. I still enjoyed her as a heroine despite that. Last, it all wraps up on a whopper of a cliffhanger.
There was just one thing that stopped this from being a 5-Star book. The fact that the hero cheated on the heroine in the past I am guessing there is more to that incident than was hinted at in this book, but cheating is a tricky issue for me, and I found myself bothered by it here. Perhaps when the reason is fully revealed in the next book, I will feel differently. The other TINY issue I had was with the sexual experiences that these two were supposed to have had when she was 15/16 (and a virgin), and he was 19 (I believe). They seemed a bit far fetched for a couple of teenagers. But that was more of an eye-rolling niggle than anything that affected my rating or enjoyment of the story.
So yea, nothing more to say about this one. I enjoyed it a lot and I am looking forward to the second book.