Chasing Serenity (Seeking Serenity, #1)

by Eden Butler

[Cocktails and Books]

I ♥ Declan Fraser! There, I've said it. There are so many things to love about this book, but for me, it was this broken Irishman who captured my attention.

CHASING SERENITY is about Autumn McShane, a college graduate student trying to come to terms with the loss of her mother living in a small town Irish enclave. Autumn's world turns upside down when she meets the newest member of the college's rugby team, Declan Fraser, when he drunkenly kisses her. Autumn is not at all prepared for just what kind of an effect Declan will have on her.

I will admit, Declan could be an irritating ass, but you could tell there was more to him. Despite his tattoos and boorish behavior, we discover Declan and Autumn share experiences and loves that bond them. Their mutual love of rugby, literature and television shows brings them closer together and help their "spark" grow into something much more. Autumn fights her attraction to Declan, worried she's going to fall into the same kind of relationship she had with her ex, but Declan is persistent and proves to her they were different.

Autumn is a hard character to like. She's been through something incredibly tragic, which will change anyone, but there are times where I wondered why her friends or Declan even bothered with her because she would come off as such a bitch. I can understand wanting to protect yourself, but at some point you have to realize the ice needs to thaw a bit or else you risk pushing everyone away. Despite being turned off at times by Autumn, I was invested in her character and needed to make sure she didn't destroy Declan (because she definitely had the power to do that). Luckily, Autumn figures things out before she got to that point.

I really enjoyed this book. Even with my difficulties with Autumn, Declan and the secondary characters had me turning pages to keep up with the story. I hope we get more from the group because I can definitely see stories for Sayo, Mollie, Layla and probably Tucker (although I would like to see him get the Autumn treatment to the junk like she did Declan).