Saturday 17 May 2014

Strings of the Heart By Katie Ashley


The last 90% of this novel was more interesting than the entire compilation. Bella gave us an interesting start and even though I would have loved some Mia flair in that moment, I still had high hopes. Therefore, I was rather disappointed to find that after that, I spent most of the novel bored and learning about Rhys family and the time they spent in Savannah. I could have even then tolerated that, if not for the fact that nothing was done with the mass amount of hours spent telling this tale. The personal aspects of his life went no where. Unless there is going to be another novel for him and Allison, then almost nothing came out of getting in depth with his family life.

At about 30%, I just wanted to finish this novel and move on to something else waiting in my kindle, but by the end, I needed more. While it technically is a HEA, there is still so much unanswered questions and a lot more time needed to acclimate to this new relationship. Especially on Jake's part.

Despite the secrecy though, this wasn't an angst fest. It was however filled with sunshine and unicorns on Allison's part. She is a beam of sunshine through  every one's dark cloud and it annoyed initially to the point where I considered stopping. She cries because of baby pics. I'm sorry ... too weak for me.

Naturally though, I love it when she got fierce with not only the catty wenches but Rhys. Her anger was palpable and I loved her fierce and feral, the girl wears heartbreak well. When she wasn't being any of the above though, she was quite the sex fiend! She likes it rough and there is something about their sex that's more than the description. It was passionate, raw and intense, as you get to see and feel both their POVs on what's happening in their bedroom or make up counter ;)

I never paid much mine to Rhys before, but he sometimes reminds me of Griffin from 'Once upon a Billionaire', except that he's not pretentious and cares not about public appearances. However, they are both scholars, maybe one more than the other and when you get them out their underpants, they know how to give you some good sex!

I loved both sides of both Allison's worlds and I wish that they could have eventually mixed. Cassie is awesome and I wish we got more time with her outside of the Savannah side of the story. It would be fun to see her interact with the other members of Runaway Train and Jacob's Labber. Emmie and Lucy hanging couldn't be that bad either. In essence, I feel like a mixture was needed at the end to tie it all together.

The climax came very close to the end and while the reaction was expected, It was 50/50 for the big reveal, in my opinion. Yes, it had me alert, out of my bed and pouring over the pages but it was also predictable. It wasn't bad, it was crass, funny and mortifying for me the reader, so I can only imagine them as the characters.  I thought a comfortable resolution would take time and expected the time period of the epilogue, to show more than it did. As I said before, I wanted a mixture and an overall sense of togetherness for both of Rhys's worlds.

There seems to be a bucket load of eligible bachelors being paraded around and I am sort of hoping Mr. Marshall from the auction wasn't just apart of the story. I think his past is the base for a really good romance novel and I really want to see what Eli and Gabe have to give.

Brayden and Lily are still a mystery to me but that's fine, because the make awesome parents and they are the most stable couple on this train. Mia is way too mellow now and AJ is his usual eccentric self. Jake remains angry, with Abby as his anchor and we are given a brief view into the men of Jacob's Ladder. I love that we got updates on every one and got to reacquaint ourselves with characters through the series we might not have focused on before.

It's really sugary sweet in the beginning and it lost me in the middle but luckily, the ending made up for the initial progression. It became fast paced, on point and kept up the vibe till the end.

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/21535945-strings-of-the-heart

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