Brace yourselves, this is going to be a long one.
Okay, so it has been years since I read something romantic like the series I am about to review.
Do you remember in your school days, when you'd be ill in bed, reading Mills & Boon. Yup, nostalgia hit me pretty much right in the face.
Since this is a trilogy, I will divide my review in three parts within the same post.
Book 1 - To Live Again
Read on: Kindle
Pages: 93
Goodreads Rating: 3.97/5
Review: Kelsey moves to a quant little Irish town to start her life afresh. Little does she know, that her next door neighbor is this elusive and handsome stranger that might make her a hot mess (Literally!). And that's where it all goes tumbling.
Considering that the series are fairly short, It was a good break for me to get into something moving that my regular reading challenge which you'll know I'm doing poorly at if you follow me on Goodreads. I didn't have an issue with the pacing of the book, however I did feel that for a keeper of secrets and supposedly being so discreet, Shaun was more forthright and oncoming than Kelsey herself. I expected Shaun's past to have a huge looming shadow on his personality, someone majorly flawed yet irresistible.
Maeve is a local girl who befriends Kelsey and is often her go-to person when she has to endure Shaun's hot and cold moods. Thankfully, Maeve isn't a typically shallow girl, she gets straight to the point without hesitation. She's probably my favorite character in the whole lot.
Book 2 - To Love Again
Read on: Kindle
Pages: 101
Goodreads Rating: 4.42/5
Review: After striking a 'deal' with Shaun and assuming the fact that she can handle the situation well, Kelsey tries to flout in and out of Shaun's life, hoping for him to still open up to her despite the adversities.
This one was my favorite in the series. We get a good look into Shaun's past and the darkness that lures in it. His first wife, Carmen is such a prominent character. The incidents that ruin her life keep following building up her trauma. Shaun tries his best to do as he can but he kind of has a clue as to where it would all lead to. Carmen's actions are justifiable in their own way and the consequences endured by the one left behind, i.e. Shaun, was expected. Their story is well detailed and narrated. Again, like I mentioned before, all that Shaun had to deal with should have left him all the more scarred, something I had a hard time believing in the first installment of the series.
Book 3 - To Breathe Again
Read on: Kindle
Pages: 101
Goodreads Rating: 4.68/5
Review: The final book was a bit of a let down because it was so rushed. The point of Serendipity's anger towards Kelsey, Carmen's family's hostility and the scenes that follow were expected but not in such a predictable way. Kelsey's pain is heightened by her natural female instincts, she loves a man who may no be able to shed his past and she has to accept it as it is.
After paying homage to his first wife, Shaun tries to go through life with Kelsey realizing that he wants to be with her. He starts proposing to her, I say starts because he's done it twice already and continues to indulge in her which I found was a bit corny for a man who endured so much. It made me feel unsettled.
Instead if they had a quiet or solemn proposal or decision and ended on that not, then it would have been a perfectly natural ending. This would have been perfect so that there was be an unspoken reflection of all that they had gone through earlier and the seriousness of Shaun's decisions would come through. It would seem genuine to take it further with Kelsey.
Having read the series rather quickly, the author's style of writing is descriptive and witty. It's what make it so easy to read through and I thoroughly enjoyed those bits. Fair warning: this book does contain graphic adult content.
All in all, I enjoyed the wave of nostalgia it brought me. I would ideally recommend this to people on the go, who don't have much time to devote to reading since it's such a quick light read and ardent romance novel lovers.
Final Rating: 2.5/5
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