Series: Sinners of Saint #1
Author: L.J. Shen
Genre: Adult, Romance, Contemporary
Publisher: L.J. Shen
Publication Date: December 27, 2016
Source: Bought
Emilia
They say love and hate are the same feelings experienced under different circumstances, and it’s true.
The man who comes to me in my dreams also haunts me in my nightmares.
He is a brilliant lawyer.
A skilled criminal.
A beautiful liar.
A bully and a savior, a monster and a lover.
Ten years ago, he made me run away from the small town where we lived. Now, he came for me in New York, and he isn’t leaving until he takes me with him.
Vicious
She is a starving artist.
Pretty and evasive like cherry blossom.
Ten years ago, she barged into my life unannounced and turned everything upside down.
She paid the price.
Emilia LeBlanc is completely off-limits, my best friend’s ex-girlfriend. The woman who knows my darkest secret, and the daughter of the cheap Help we hired to take care of our estate.
That should deter me from chasing her, but it doesn’t.
So she hates me. Big fucking deal.
She better get used to me.
Find Vicious online
Okay, let's get something out of the way real quick: the main guy's name is not actually Vicious. Thank goodness, right? I'm telling you guys this because I very nearly skipped over this novel because I thought that was actually his name. Do not be fooled, it's just a nickname.
Now that that's out of this way . . . this book was kind of meh. I don't regret reading it, but I definitely could have survived without it. I picked it up a couple days ago because I was craving an easy, romantic book and this one fit those standards. But it just didn't quite capture me like I'd been hoping it would.
What really drives home a romance for me is the characters. If I'm not engaged with them and cheering them on throughout the story, chances are I'm not going to be too invested in what's going on. That's what happened with this novel. Vicious and Emilia were both pretty standard. I felt like I had read about them in other romance novels before. There was, of course, the tragic past and alpha, asshole attitude of the guy, the quirky outfits and "oh my gosh, everyone loves her" quality in the girl. Nothing about them really stood out to me. I will say, though, that I did enjoy reading from Vicious's point of view more than Emilia's. He was a much more complicated and layered character so I found that appealing.
The writing was decent and the story line, like the characters, was pretty standard. I did like the fact that they had known each other while in high school and then ran into each other again ten years later. I wish there had been more build up and tension surrounding that. Everything seemed to move pretty quickly and I just didn't really feel the tension or conflict between the characters. I wanted more internal conflicts within themselves (particularly Emilia) before they first started interacting more regularly.
So, yeah, not the best but not the worst. It doesn't stand out very vividly to me because a lot of the material felt standard for the genre. I wish there had been a bit more tension between our two leads, too. I don't know if I'll continue the series. Probably not. The story with these two characters is finished at the end of the novel and the next ones will be about different characters we were introduced to.
I want the real thing. Not the watered-down version. And the real thing is not only beautiful. It is also ugly. I want your truth.”
Three Teapots
No comments:
Post a Comment