Characters loved not wisely but too well
350381
Devil in Spring was an autobuy for me. Like so many Kleypas fans, I have an enduring fondness for the Wallflower series, and Devil in Winter is my absolute favorite. Papa Devil was such a complex, layered and naughty fellow well matched by gentle, kind, implacable Evie. The entire novel focused on unraveling the knots in their relationship and reweaving them into passionate, devoted whole. Unfortunately, Pandora and Gabriel are afflicted with sadly inferior knots cobbled together by extended and extremely detailed bouts of sex. Forkulate early and forkulate often as Pandora might say.

I have to say that the writing and research is well up to Kleypas's usual high standards. It was also so much fun to revisit the Challons and the Ravenels. However, Devil in Spring left me feeling sadly flat. Maybe my expectations were unrealistic or I'm just spoiled, but this book let me down on a number of levels.

Actually, Pandora is a great heroine. Her issues are serious, believable and unembellished by whining, making her a particularly appealing character. She is funny and clever and devastatingly honest. Her passionate desire to operate a successful and creative business without surrendering all she is or owns to a spouse immediately engages the sympathy.  Her arguments are emotional yet fundamentally logical. And, amazingly, Gabriel (Devil Jr.?) accepts the logic of her arguments.

Never the less, Gabriel is a major problem for me. He is too freakin' perfect for words. Once he decides that he wants a marriage to Pandora, he does everything possible to adapt to her needs. He takes delight in her unconventional ways, accepts her as few others do, and pursues her with single minded intent. He even attempts to free her from the legal obligations of the marital property laws of the time. All this is served up with lashings of mutual insta-lust. The problem is there is no devil in all of this. Gabriel is a devoted son and brother, an upright businessman, and a dutiful member of the community. He's also pretty like his da.  Junior likes sex and has a married mistress who caters to his mysterious needs, but that is the sum total of his libidinous excess. Fortunately, Pandora "kisses like a pirate," and that's enough to make Madame Mistress redundant. Said mistress turns out be little more than a plot device in the last quarter of the book and that was pretty irritating too.

I mention the sexytimes, not because I have any generic objection to literary licentiousness, but because many of these encounters seem to be used as a diversion from the real potential problems in the relationship. I would happily have read through dialog between Gabriel and Pandora that covinced me that he was doing more than humoring her. Sometimes conversation is way more important than a cunning tongue, shall we say.

My final problem is with the book's ending. It's hard to avoid spoilers in discussing this, but I'll try. The beginning two-thirds of the book are actually a pretty conventional romance plot, with all obstacles swept away by the typical I can't live without you epiphany. Then, suddenly, elements of danger and mystery are introduced. To me, they seemed to come out of nowhere. Characters are introduced and disposed of within a few chapters. One character is introduced who is clearly sequel bait. The assorted dangers are tied into the main conflict between hero and heroine, but all is resolved in *spoiler*
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bed. *end spoiler*
The shift to an adventure/suspense plot seems artificial and rushed, and while there are no actual cliffhangers, I can't help but wonder if there will be related plots in later books. That would be fine, but I'd hate to think that this one was sacrificed to set that up. I will  certainly buy future books in this series, but I can't honestly give this one more than three stars.
2443258
I really didn't research the genre of this book properly, and didn't realise it was a New Adult book. Had I done so I probably wouldn't have read this, which would have meant I missed out on one wonderful, heart-warming, well written and meaty read. Being lazy does come in useful sometimes!

Giles and Julia don't get off to the best of starts and are room-mates at war. Their relationship evolves into being frenemies and eventually "sort-of-friends". I really liked both main characters and found them to be well written, consistent and they felt their age. I dislike books featuring early 20 something's who act 8 - 10 years older than their age. I didn't feel this with Julia and Giles. They were flawed, and slightly self-centred, in the ways you would expect from a person of this age. They were scared, selfish and thoughtless at times but that was not only ok but it also worked. They both have been hurt by their families and also betrayed by people they felt they could trust. I loved how these parallels were used to help us understand both characters.

The book is written first person from both POV's, allowing us to really understand and connect with both of them. Giles' insecurities and suffering did bring tears to my eyes more than once. Admittedly the plot was a little cheesy at times, but a really pleasant, special and love-it-because-it-is-cheesy cheesy. Nor do I mean to be negative using that description because sometimes we don't want dark and heavy, we don't want tear-my-heart out ugly crying but we don't want too sweet and sickly either. This provides that perfect balance. It has depth, it has tough situations and it has struggles with feelings and emotions without being a tough or overly emotional read.

I found the story really easy to read, it is well written and held my attention from start to finish. I was drawn in by the characters and felt connected to them, the plot was good as was the pace. This is a warm hug of a book and one I would happily recommend to friends and family.
2522575
David Nicholls writes very well and his latest work  'Us' is very well written indeed. The story of the failing marriage between two opposites who attracted but have now drifted apart is one that flows well. The characters are well drawn an real. Both Douglas and Connie are fully nuanced characters who are flawed and far from perfect. But in Nicholls hands we come to care for them and their slowly disintegrating relationship. Douglas' memories of his first meeting with Connie and the strong love he still feels for her is poignant even as he is utterly frustrating in his failure to be a supportive partner and parent. I did come to care for Douglas almost as a living breathing person and found myself rooting for him. This is a tribute to the skill with which Nicholls draws the reader into the lives of his character.

However, I found myself unimpressed by the lack of originality of the book. There is some hilarity in the travails of The Grand Tour that Connie insists on going through with for their son, Albie. However, the subject of failing marriages, husbands who are utterly flabbergasted at why they are not considered good husbands, parents stumped by the creatures their children have become - all of this has been covered at length and in great detail in many books that have come before this one. 'Us' does not stand apart from the pack. It is not a book that I would want to revisit in the way that I have come to enjoy similar novels by Jonathan Tropper or Jonathan Safran Foer.

It is, in the end, good enough but not exceptional.
894519
This was an extremely engaging tale with seven unique characters that I came to love almost equally.

Though this was told from seven different perspectives, the characters were all fantastically crafted and had their own issues and personalities. They all melded together well, and it was easy to keep track of who played what role at various points in the story. Each felt real, as if this was a series of memoirs instead of a novel.

To me, Claire felt like the main character, though I'm not even sure if she was my favourite. I did get sick of her complaining about how insecure she was and how she used to have braces and acne, but my dislike of her kind of contributed to my enjoyment of the book overall--in real life, the odds of me liking seven people are low.

I loved how well one character's pansexual identity was played. There's another character who is likely asexual and I was disappointed by how that wasn't addressed; however, I highly respect that it was present if not explicitly so. Both identities felt very natural and very real, not at all as though they were forced.

The plot of this was multifaceted with main thread pulling together the various lines and providing a beginning and an end, but I like how all characters had issues that related to each other's issues and propelled the plot forward without having them all be caught up in the scandal.

This was a really well crafted and fun high school book, and I look forward to more from Redgate.

I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
711157
I liked this book well enough, but I didn't love it. I thought the whole situation between the main two characters happened a bit too fast. One minute the despised each other, and then the in next, they were declaring their undying love. And this all takes place within a weeks time. I loved the interaction of the main character and her best friend. They felt genuine. I did feel really bad for Jed though. It's not easy to watch your father move on and forget you even existed, and then to watch as he dotes on his second son...now that's just sad.  I was very happy to see, though that through everything that all the characters went through, they were all able to move past the hurt and sorrow and find some true happiness in their lives.
1514844
The characters make this story special. I quickly became attached to them, and soon fell in love. The love that the characters have for one another is heartwarming. Each character has a unique personality, with good and bad traits, that allows them to quickly become real in the mind of the reader.

The story is also heartwarming. I enjoy when everything falls into place. Not in a predictable way, but in a way that feels right when the story is fully told. When you take the reader on a journey full of turns and twists, and in the end, they know that they have arrived at the proper destination, you have accomplished something wonderful.

I loved this story.
64255
The characters  found a place in my heart. It will be a long time before I forget the strugfles, loves and choices of these characters.
4684056
Feelt a bit cheated. The characters are truly lovely, but by the time the novel began they were already inlove.

The interaction between them was great. I realy enjoy the way Courtney Milan handles unusual lovestoryes.
This time with a lovestory between black and white. Her love of smart women in a time where women were supossed to smile and be pretty and never ever let a man know that she has knowledge that he hasn't. Reminds me to be grateful to the women who fought tooth and neck for the rights we take for granted.

I would have loved for this book to have been full lenght. I knew going in that it was just a novella, but for such a complex story I felt the characters needed more time. I just realy would have loved to see that first meeting.
36384
I fell in love with the characters in this book. And I appreciated the details of daily life in Scotland. I appreciated in the end that it was not good looks and youth that counted--but caring and character. I liked how the story was told around the recipe for the famous marmalade. I appreciated the relationship between the two older and flawed characters--flawed not in character but leading flawed lives because life had been so cruel to each--yet each made a life and their friendship and acceptance of the other without judgement inspired me.
4154411
A wonderful adventure with lovely characters. I love portals and different worlds. Too many descriptions of how the characters faces turned red or the color rose with their embarrassment, perhaps because it is oriented to teenagers? And the male boyfriends/lovers are all so perfectly caring and loving as teenage girls would wish them to be. Fantasy but nice. I enjoyed the carefully crafted story.
2901117
I liked this book. Loved the secondary characters more than the leading ones. But that's not saying I disliked any.
779929
I am not in love with this book, but it did have some great parts.
This book had a few surprises.
The characters are strong, and compatible.
But there is just something that does not reach out and grab me.
I can tell there is more to come, and I look forward to reading more about this story & characters.
This is NOT a stand-alone book, you really need to read in order to understand what is going on.
*I was given a copy in exchange for an honest review
3610034
I'm sure I am not the only one who didn't enjoy the many causalities of some of the characters that I fell in love with. I did love the book though and it was definitely a page turner.
3270667
I don't often review books, but I just finished this one and had to.  I'm not going to summarize the plot because you already have that.  What I will tell you is that these are some of the most engaging characters I've seen in a book in a long time.  They've been beaten up by life a little bit, but how they work through it makes them very interesting.  It's not a bodice-ripper novel.  The love they find isn't an ephemeral byproduct of good sex.  It's one of the more unique love stories I've ever read.
3435318
I like how the characters are flawed but the flaws are their great strengths.
121901
I loved the care taken to portray the characters in this book, I really felt the authors love for them shine through. While the subject matter of sexual abuse may deter some readers, this is a story about healing, and unconditional love and support..
A sequel would be wonderful.
2675881
I thoroughly enjoyed all of the Lawson family characters, they were all so lovely! I also liked Michaels sister because she was a good friend to March. Michaels brother though, was pretty much a jerk, but I could see where he was coming from trying to make sure his brother was not being rash or foolhardy. There were many good points in this story such as the loyalty the Lawsons had to each other, the wonderful treatment of the Lawsons by Michaels family, and the humor that was sprinkled throughout the story. Yes, there were some inconsistencies with verbiage being wrong with the time period as well as Marchs character being described as nearly starved versus being lush, but that really didn't take away from the story for me.

What disappointed me was the ending itself. I felt that the reconciliation in the end was way too fast given the treatment of March. She was entirely too forgiving and it bordered on ridiculous, for me. She was definitely entitled to some righteous indignation and should not been so easily won over. For the love! Michaels quick to judge attitude about a woman he supposedly loved took away any warm feelings I may of had for his character and the ending did nothing to change my disdain for him after his appalling treatment of March. His behavior just blew his cool points right out the window with me. The Luck of the Bride did end on a sweet note and will probably be a very satisfying read for most but it just didn't entirely work for me.

This review is based on a complimentary book I received from NetGalley. It is an honest and voluntary review. The complimentary receipt of it in no way affected my review or rating.