SERIES: Starcrossed
SERIES PLACEMENT: #1
AUTHOR: Leisa Rayven
AGE GROUP: New Adult/Adult
GENRE: Contemporary Romance
RELEASE DATE: December 23, 2014
PUBLISHER: St. Martin’s Griffin
PAGES: Approx. 417
MY GOODREADS REVIEW LINK
RATING: 5 Stars!!
CLIFFHANGER: Yes!
BOOK BLURB:
When Cassie Taylor met Ethan Holt at acting school, sparks flew. She was the good girl actress. He was the bad boy about campus. But one fated casting choice for Romeo and Juliet changed it all. Like the characters they were playing, Cassie and Ethan's romance seemed destined. Until he broke her heart and betrayed her trust. Now the A-list heartthrob is back in her life and turning her world around. One touch at a time.
Cast as romantic leads once again, they're forced to confront raw memories of the heartbreaking lows and pulse-pounding highs of their secret college affair. But they'll also discover that people who rub each other the wrong way often make the best sparks.
5 “Fluffing” Stars!
Angsty, Intense and Emotional. A Powerful, Must Read! Bad Romeo totally brought the “feels”!
The Review:
Where do I even start? This read was exceptional in every way. Incredible.. no, PHENOMENAL writing, expert character development, amazing plot and so much tension and angsts, I both swooned and wanted to throw things. I loved everything about this read but most of all, I loved how it made me “feel”! This is how romance is supposed to be written...
Story/Characters...
Cassie Taylor is as innocent as they come. She’s a people pleaser, a chameleon in a crowd. She’s been sheltered her whole life but now she’s on her own, auditioning to the prestigious “The Grove” in hopes of becoming an actress. One her first day, she meets a lot of new and interesting people with varied spices of life. She’s excited to start a new chapter in her own life, but what she didn’t count on was meeting the one person who would both build her up and destroy her all in one.
Ethan Holt has been trying for three years to get into The Grove but his emotionally stunted character has prevented him from passing the audition stage each time. This is his last chance and he’s focused and determined and doesn’t have time for distractions. He’s got one goal and that’s to make it past the audition. But distraction just walked in through the door and he knows with one look, Cassie is going to be his ultimate downfall.
Cassie and Ethan started out with a bright spark and exploded into a volcanic eruption of tension filled, angst ridden self discovery. I absolutely loved their beginning interactions and dialogue which kept right on going to the very end. It was smart, quippy, dramatic and fun. Their banter was delightfully entertaining and their crazy, emotional story burned up the pages with their magnetic chemistry, scorching hot fire and their undeniable passion which they tried to hide behind clever and sarcastic pros and emotional blocks.
And that first kiss? Holy mother of all yumminess! Hot fire in my belly! Absolutely!
Ethan has a gigantic chip on his shoulder from the moment we meet him and his blatant disregard for any kind of connection with the people around him immediately clue us in that he’s got some heavy baggage. He tries to warn Cassie off more than once but like the reader, Cassie just couldn’t help but fall in love with him. Cassie is so trusting and vulnerable, she literally crumbles in Ethan’s wake. Ethan is lost and alone and has a cancer of abhorrence eating away at him that clouds everything.
This amazing read is wound both in past and present, telling a story of connection and reconnection, of broken hearts and broken trust and of letting go only to see love thrive once more. Ethan and Cassie’s journey to finding happily ever after is gut wrenching but totally worth it. In the past, Ethan tried to push Cassie away. In the present, he tries to recapture her heart, all the while Cassie’s innocent youth of the past and her jaded heart of the present add heartfelt conflict to the story, pushing you to find out what happened between them to get them to where they are... and ultimately to where they are headed. Their push-pull was expertly done and left me anticipating each new scene and page.
This book totally and completely wow’ed me from beginning to end. I thrive on angsty books and this one had it in spades, twisting my feelings, switching between sweet anticipation with swooning butterflies to painful heartache, as the plot unfolded and the sexual tension between our couple built.
And that ending? Yeah, I was salivating for the second book and couldn’t even be bothered to write my review for this one before I immediately picked up the second book and started reading it.
The Wrap Up:
Cassie and Ethan’s journey into love was provocative, enthralling, all consuming and heart-poundingly seductive. I was hooked from the moment this book opened and I was riveted until the last page. Would I suggest this? I already have, multiple times, and will continue to do so. It’s going down as one of the best reads I’ve read this year!
Connect with the Author...
....
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.