Review: The Frenchman by Lesley Young

 

 

Title: The Frenchman 

Author: Lesley Young

Series: Jet-setters & Jeopardy 

Publisher: L.A.Y Books

Format: ebook

Genre: Romance | Contemporary 

Goodreads

 

 

Fleur Smithers rarely veers off the straight and (excruciatingly) narrow. So moving to the seaport town of Toulon to live with her newfound biological mother—an inspector with the French National Police—for one year is a pretty major detour.

Son of France’s crime royalty family and international rugby star, Louis Messette, is devoted to his sport, famille and nothing else. But the saucy American he meets one night changes everything. She sparks a desire in him like no other. Possession takes root. She will do as he commands.

Bit by bit Fleur slips into the Frenchman’s realm of wanton pleasure agreeing to his one condition: that she keep their affair secret. She serves up her heart without reservation in the hub of the glittering Côte d’Azur, and the along the soulful Seine in Paris, unaware of the danger she is in. For her new lover’s “family business” will pit her against her mother, the police woman sworn to bring down the Messettes. And by then, far more than Fleur’s heart will be on the line.

 

 

My thoughts:

I just had to get my hands on this after reading the summary. Sexy, french rugby player who just happens to be part of a family of crime-doers? And on top of that, the love interest's mother is an inspector. Cue intense friction of both the hot and awkward kind. Yes, please.

Unfortunately that's pretty much all the read did for me. Don't get me wrong, that side of the read was great and all but of course, a girl needs more than that right? It was missing a lot of substance I felt.

I really liked the settings of the story. Fleur is just getting to know the mother she's only just met who happens to be French, so there are some pretty nice descriptions of French people and places that I enjoyed. I would have loved to have read more about it actually, especially the authors take on the people.

As far as the plot went, sometimes it didn't make sense to me. Either that or I'm missing something. At times I felt like I'd missed a chapter or two because things would either move too fast or they came out of the blue and confused me. Especially the ending. I didn't really understand what Fleur meant by what she said and did, and what Louis' eventual response means to her. I don't know…I prefer things to be a lot more clear cut I guess.

Same goes for the characters. I just didn't connect with them and that kind of made me feel meh about pretty much everything. Fleur could be pretty annoying at times, especially at the beginning of the book. She did develop a lot throughout the read which I loved but overall, she didn't come across as the strongest character ever. I did, however, find Fleur and Louis' relationship to be the small aspect of the story that kept me reading. They worked well together.

Overall I just didn't get on well with this one. I took it for what it was and enjoyed what I could, but it just wasn't for me.

My rating: 4/10

About Lesley Young:

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Review: King Tomb by Scarlett Dawn

Title: King Tomb

Author: Scarlett Dawn

Series: Forever Evermore #3

Publisher: Escape

Publication date: 10/2014

Format: Kindle | 229 pages

Genre: Fantasy 

Goodreads

Queen Shifter, Lily Ruckler, has found solace in brutal warfare. Her bloodied fists and bared fangs fill the holes left in her memory, the blank spaces that leave her soul aching and empty. Her only pleasure is in blood; her only salvation is the relationship she has with her infant child, the baby of unknown origins who brings her solace and stability. 

When Elder Harcourt summons Lily and her protector Antonio back to the United States, Lily thinks nothing unusual about the change of location. But a standard reconnaissance mission leaves her trapped inside King Zeller's private quarters, and at his mercy. Surprise attraction rapidly turns to a battle of wills and an intense power struggle that leaves no clear victor but plenty of resentment. 

They are not allowed to nurse their wounds. In order to win the war against the Commoners, the King Vampire and Queen Shifter must work together. It should be easy. The war is turning, the battle is deadly, and both Lily and Ezra love the cold cleanliness of combat. 

But their chance meeting has led to more than an unlikely alliance. Secrets have a way of surfacing, especially on a torn-up battlefield, and Lily and Ezra are about to re-learn all they cannot remember. If they can't control their emotions and responses, it will be to their own ruin and the destruction of everything around them.

My thoughts:

I don't even know what it is about these books but I just can't stop!

Compared to the first two books, King Tomb was actually a little bit of a disappointment. I know for sure, if this was the first book, I wouldn't have carried on reading. It was an incredibly rushed read that was completely focused on Ezra and Lily's relationship and payed little to no attention to the war that played a huge part to the story.

I love Ezra and Lily. I really do. But the way things were resolved in this book were too easy.  I mean I wanted them to sort things out relatively quickly, but when there's no real conflict or thoughts that might make me doubt it will actually happen, there's no real joy or excitement when it eventually does. The resulting feelings depend on the journey right? Nothing should be too easy. It was just so…meh. That happened. Yay…moving on.

 

They're just so flippin' sexy together. I still need more.

 

The plot was the most disappointing thing about this book though. It wasn't so much what happened but how. The book was so romance driven that the war didn't get the attention it deserved. The character that caused so many problems in the past books might as well have not existed. Actually, the whole war shouldn't have happened - the book would be better off for it. Even though the 'mysticals' are at war with the 'commoners', the war didn't even get a proper mention until over half way through the book where a solution was halfway mentioned in passing. I mean…priorities right?

 

There was also hardly anything resolved at the end of it all. Aside from plenty of characters from the first book dying off, there were so many questions that were left unanswered and new characters came into play in the last few chapters. I understand that the series will continue just not from Lily's perspective, but there has to be some resolution if not just because the book has ended. Keep a few things secret, but a little less than a reader just going into the series please.

 

Putting all that aside I still really enjoy these books. Especially in the first two books, there's a great balance between humour, romance and friendship that gives the characters some really endearing qualities. Aside from the terrible ending of this book, I still loved the characters enough to not want the book to end.

 

My rating: 6/10

 

Scarlett Dawn:

 

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Forever Evermore:

1. King Hall
2. King Cave
3. King Tomb
4. Chosen Thief

 

Review: Bloodrose by Andrea Cremer

 

Title: Bloodrose

Author: Andrea Cremer

Series: Nightshade #3

Publisher: Atom

Publication date: 05 Jul 2012

Format: Paperback | 416 pages

Genre: YA | Paranormal 

Goodreads

Calla has always welcomed war. But now that the final battle is upon her, there's more at stake than fighting.

There's saving Ren, even if it incurs Shay's wrath. There's keeping her brother safe, even if he's been branded a traitor. There's proving herself as the pack's alpha and ridding the world of the Keepers' magic once and for all.

And when the battle finally ends, there's deciding what to do and who to love. That is, if Calla can make it out alive.

My thoughts:

What just HAPPENED?!

 

Seriously, what the hell was that ending about? I had heard that the ending to this trilogy upset a lot of people but, come oooon!

 

I love this series. I really do. The only thing that stopped me from finishing was the reaction from a lot of readers on how it ended and I have to say I more than understand why. What I was anticipating with dread actually happened regardless of my hopes and pleas. The worst thing is, I understand where the author was coming from by doing it, but it wasn't done with taste…not at all. I'm so disappointed.

 

I don't even know what to say past the ending. It just seems as if the whole trilogy was completely ruined by that tragedy of an ending - I won't be able to see it the same way ever again. 

 

What makes me mad is that this book was still a great read. I mean, it was literally the last chapter or so that brought it all crashing down. I love the characters to bits - apart from a choice few - and I'm sad to see them go, especially in the way that they did.

 

I just…can't even.

 

My rating: 6/10 (I would love to give this book 1 out of bloody 10 but that would be my love for Ren talking)

 

Andrea Cremer:

Goodreads | Website | Twitter

Nightshade series:

1. Nightshade
2. Wolfsbane
3. Bloodrose