Harisa

The end ruined this for me. Jessie way overreacted and I hate when the only drama in the book is overreactions. Before that it was actually very fun and very cute. Then it got silly.

Started out strong but then just started repeating the same themes without really delving further

ETA: 5 years later and my husband and I still quote what we learned from this so the repetition is actually good!

I actually really liked this! It was melodramatic at parts, the bird stuff was too much, and I'm not a huge fan of the generic boy next door as the love interest but this book was surprisingly very enjoyable!

I absolutely hated Edenbrooke by the same author but this one was actually really good and really nice. Very enjoyable read, you have a mansion, picturesque landscape, and suitors! What more could yo uwant?

minor spoiler–We get the rich boy poor girl with big dreams and the rich boy gives up something for HER instead of her giving up HER dreams to be the rich wife. THAT. IS. SO. GOOD. AND. SO. SWEET. I loved it!!!!!!!!

This book was fine. This book along with mostly everything by this author is free on amazon if you have kindle unlimited.

I think I enjoyed this more because I listened to it on a roadtrip home after the bar with a friend. But the things I didn't enjoy were just my own biases. I prefer Spanish to Italian in both language and culture so having the hero speak Italian wasn't really romantic for me. Sorry!

Also because im a judgemental person the heroine needing the hero to translate “ti amo” for her was absolutely ridiculous. How does anyone not know what that means?? Just silly tbh.

Too much time spent on the false identity thing and not nearly enough time spent in home country working politics and mysterious epidemic.

3.5

I liked this. Light and easy! Read on elliptical when I forgot my headphones and a good in-between bar prep read.

I finished this yesterday. Book was provided to me very generously by the author. Thank you, Peter! My honest review is below:

This book read like the Narnia series for adults. I appreciate the tackling of difficult and real themes but wish they were more fleshed out and more time was taken on each topic. Would've even been okay with less themes explored but explored thoroughly. Like the Narnia books, this novel jumped around from scene to scene and I felt like I couldn't really get super invested.

Overall, it was okay and the story was a good idea.

4.5.

Really well done.

I don't know, the story gripped me and I finished it really quickly so that's a good thing.
But..I still just don't fully know how I feel about it and why I'm not ready to say this was great.

Started off strong but faltered. Very teenage logic and thinking. Did not like.

The characters pulled me in and the writing was good I just couldnt get in line with the ending.

Madison is super manipulative and it sounds like they're both going to allow her into their lives. It just seemed really unhealthy and I just really dont see that as a HEA

3.5/4. Honestly, this was at a 2 until the last 30%.

The ending was great and I wish we got more of that plotline earlier on. However, overall, this book successfully avoided super annoying romance tropes AND Christian fiction tropes so that was good. We had an ambitious woman who didn't give up her ambition after she met the hero. That alone earns it an extra star.

I have to agree with everyone else. This wasn't a thriller it was just about extremely unlikable characters.

I really also don't like reading about parents who screw up their children's childhood because of their own unresolved personal issues. Always cringe-worthy.

I liked the historical aspects, I liked the strong female doctor character and I really liked that she still stayed a doctor and still stayed strong after she got into a romantic relationship with the hero.

I did NOT like the hero or the romance. Very cringe-worthy and his lines were just gross. I was not a fan.

3.5

This was not good. I was really looking forward to a Christian novel that focuses on ~real~ topics. But, Francine Rivers (who is the only author I have found that does this correctly) is too long and sometimes dark. So, I also wanted something light hearted. This sucked. I don't know how it has such a high rating. The romance was extremely fast, the Christian aspect wasn't really explained and neither was the struggles except for “I know that's not how a Christian would act, but I've prayed about it and made my peace with it” instead of the struggle of HOW a Christian should act and WHY.

Also, did not agree with their interpretation of God's plan for us (His plan is salvation, no soul mates, nothing like that. Goodbye). The Insta-love was gag worthy and the romance itself was not a joy to read. They literally got married within MONTHS because they couldn't keep their hormones in check. I have a couple Bible verses to refute Ben's on how he thought that was okay and as a Pastor that is a bad example. I did not enjoy this read and it made me angry.

This was soooooo boring. EVERYTHING except for one tiny thing was completely predictable, the love story was non-existent until it randomally popped up at the end and then it just came out of NOWHERE then the book ended. Nope.

3-3.5

2.5

Counting this as my Australian book around the world!!

Characters did not pull me in, plot all over the place and underdeveloped. Very unlike Isabel Allende

Over 17 hours of an audiobook later, I am finally done.

This was not good.

The romance was weird, Dominika's described sexuality was weird, and the book itself got very boring very quickly. I will not be continuing this series.

A pleasant, quick read.

Finished with 13 minutes to spare before the next day officially begins!

Honestly, this is 1.5 stars. I really didn't like it. The plot was slow-paced and dragged on. There were some good ideas that just weren't expanded. I think I would've liked this better if it was a parallel to Marlie's story and her mother's story instead of just a translation to her mother's story that never really got finished or fully told. The revelation for Marlie fell flat.

Ewan as a character was...weird. I wasn't a fan and his story and themes surrounding him were really interesting but the way they were dealt with were just so weird. It just was not well done. The romance was unbelievable. Not because of the situation, I can suspend belief but the development itself was just not there.

Character development was weak not only for Vivenne but also Sarah, Mallory, and Stephen. They were all pretty one-dimensional and that was disappointing. Overall, the execution of this book failed.

This was VERY good. Enjoyed immensely.