Love by Design

(ARC provided via NetGalley for an honest review.)

I picked up this book not sure what to expect and I think overall the book was okay. It didn't blow me away in any way but it was somewhat enjoyable for me to read this book.

First of, the story was rather short and there wasn't enough drama in it, in my opinion. It lacked the “wow” factor for me. The grammar and the writing was pretty good and it flowed smoothly. However, it didn't manage to save the mediocre plot.

Further, if anyone has read some of my previous reviews, they would know that I love twisted, messed up and moments that make me go “What the fuck?”. Safe to say there were no such moments like these during this book. I will have to make a note to myself that I like romance, I really do, but I prefer there to be some kind of adventure or interesting stuff that happens and is tied into it. I like a balance but this book was entirely romance and that was a negative point for me.

In addition, the characters were not completely two-dimensional but they didn't jump of the page either. Although we were given a good look into the minds of both major characters, it just came across as tedious and redundant at some points all due to the fact that the plot was lacking in everything but romance. I myself am a hopeless romantic and I love romance but this book was a bit too much, even for me. It might have also had to do with the fact that some of the dialogue was rather cheesy and unbelievable and Tristan's and Mandy's relationship was just way too flawless for majority of the book, except for the moments when they weren't together which lasted for almost no time at all.

Also, call me a pessimist but do men really change? It seems like the plot was just too good to be true and it was a bit “fairy-tale like” (especially the ending). And the ending? It was just way too neatly resolved and all the ends were tied and it didn't make me ponder anything further, after I've already finished the book. I like books that make me think further and challenge my mind beyond but this book did nothing of that sort.

I also have to add that some of the grammar was just overly simplistic and it almost made me think that I could write a book like this, with my limited amount of vocabulary and my rather low amount of books that I've read. And don't get me started on the smut. I appreciate the writer being straightforward and calling things by their right names but I couldn't help but feel that it was just way too redundant and the variety of words used was very limited. This made for sex scenes that were not memorable and become boring/redundant after a while, considering the fact that there were a lot of them all throughout the book. I think it's a first for me in the sense that I was able to stop reading the book in the middle of a sex scene, usually I can't put it down at moments like these and they get me all hot and bothered.

All in all, this book was a let down although I didn't expect much from it anyways. The only people I would recommend this to would be people who want a very quick and easy read and don't mind cheesy either. Is this book really worthwhile? Not at all.