Dressed in White (Walk Down the Ailse)

by Jessica Gibson

[Kim Deister]

I was excited to read this ARC, having fallen in love with the cover! There is so much romance, but just as much pain and confusion, compassion and understanding, and heart breaking moments.

The romance in this novel was completely swoon-worthy and this is coming from someone who tends to shy away from romance-centric novels! Dillion is gorgeous, smart, and wealthy. Loralei is an interior designer, successful, smart and independent. Dillon is not afraid to be romantic and the scenes in which he was were the ones that made you deplore the fact that all men are not him! But then a very big secret comes back from his past and very nearly ruins everything. And that secret made it hard to always love him as much as you wanted to!!

And that's where the conflict begins! There were so many times when I wanted to reach into my Kindle, grab the person in question (no spoilers!) and shake them silly! I was so frustrated that I wanted to scream right along with Loralei.

The characters in this were fabulous! Dillon and Loralei were our mains, but the supporting cast was pretty great, too. Roxie, Loralei's BFF, was gorgeous, smart, funny, and flamboyant, as well as seemingly terrified of commitment, a chink in her armor that made her lovable. Dane, Dillon's brother, was a bit of a bad boy who changed his ways when he met Kayla, Loralei's sister. Kayla had made some pretty bad choices in her life, but she was a good person at heart that I loved. And then there was Estrella. Hurumpf. I won't say anything more about her because I want no spoilers!

One of the things I liked most about this was the dynamics of Dillon's and Loralei's relationship. They had their ups and downs, for sure, but they always came together. More importantly, Dillon may be wealthy, but that is more of an aside to the story instead of being some snoozy story where the rich guy gets the girl and you have to wonder if it's all about the Benjamins. I love that his wealth didn't mean much in the story and that Loralei was successful because of herself and not her man's money.

Things to love about Dressed in White...

--Dillon and Loralei: They just worked and I loved that, unlike most romance, much of their conflict came from outside their relationship, in the form of another person.
--Roxie: She was hilarious and the perfect BFF!

Things I wanted more of...

--Estrella. She was frustrating, but I wanted to know more about what she was doing in the background!

My recommendation: A fun read with lots of romance and emotion!