Beautiful Life (Carpino, #2)

by Brynne Asher

[stacey_is_sassy]

I’ll start off by saying that I really enjoyed Ms Asher’s first book Overflow and was excited to have the opportunity to read an ARC of Beautiful Life.

This book was born from an ugly start. Our heroine Leigh, is recovering from a disastrous marriage where she is abused physically and mentally and she must also come to terms with the loss of her baby due to the abuse. Luckily Leigh has a great support network in her best friend Gabby and Gabby’s family, the Carpino’s. Tony is one of the Carpino’s and also the lawyer representing her in her divorce settlement.

Tony has known Leigh since they were kids. When Tony was older he went off to study law so he could join the family’s practice. He hoped that Leigh would be waiting for him so they could start a relationship. He forgot to mention this to Leigh and she unfortunately meets her douchebag husband. While representing Leigh, Tony realises this is his opportunity to get closer to her.

Tony and Leigh are a very, very sweet couple and I mean suck on a lollipop dipped in honey sweet. There was very mild conflict and not a lot of angst thrown into the storyline. Unfortunately this made it slow in parts. The little angst there was, was so singularly handled by Tony that we, as the reader, didn’t get any details because it was like we were sheltered from it. I felt that the author was protecting us like Tony was trying to protect Leigh.

This book is mainly about Leigh’s recovery and how the people who love her help to make her life beautiful. Maybe I would have like to see Tony kick the douche’s balls in or see Leigh chuck a huge wobbly and throw a rock through a window in her old house. I just didn’t get any other feelings besides extreme sadness or happiness.

I did like this book and the steamy parts were great. Maybe Ms Asher should think about getting an editor as there were still a few spelling and grammar mistakes. I will definitely keep reading her work and acknowledge that considering this is her second book she’s done remarkably well. Looking forward to reading Paige’s book.

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