Scan barcode
devansbooklife's review against another edition
3.0
Mia Asher has a way of writing. Her descriptions are beautiful, flowery, and moving. This is about finding love after being broken. It is about finding yourself after you lose sight of who you are. It was beautiful and touching. I wanted very much to love Sebastián and Valentina, but something was missing for me. I just didn't connect to the characters, and I felt like I was mindlessly scrolling through this book. I think people who have gone through a loveless marriage will really connect with this book and plot. But for me, I didn't find the connection authentic.
sandeeisreading's review against another edition
3.0
"They say time heals all wounds, but I disagree. Grief never ends, it just changes."
COVER LOVE: That dude on the cover is so fucking hot. *heart eyes inserted here*
PLOT: 3.5 stars. It was pretty generic. It kind of feels like I read it before but with different character names and setting of course. There's a girl not being treated well by a guy, then a guy comes along and shows her how it should be done. Haven't we all read that shit before? The only difference now, I think, is the fact that there was a complication on the girl's part. But really, it's the same thing.
THE WRITING: 5 stars. Mia's writing is still on point. I love the way she writes because it just flows, you know? She writes in a way that you wouldn't be able to stop reading until you finish it.
CHARACTERS: 4 stars but that's only because I love Sebastien so much. This should be more of a 3.5 because I didn't care too much about our female protagonist to be honest. I'm supposed to care about her really, but I just didn't feel it. She's been through a lot with the man she's with, but I just couldn't connect with her character. The other dude though, the douchebag, who I won't even bother mentioning the name because I'm scared my mouth would become fucking filthy just by saying his name. But really, I hate him so much I want him to die. Asher was very effective in making us hate this dude, but not much making us feel for Valentina, which I think is a shame.
PACE: 4.5 stars. I love my stories fast and luckily this one was. But maybe because of that, it suffered a little bit on the character development of Valentina.
ROMANCE: 3 stars. The sex was fine. It wasn't great, unfortunately. The reason why I couldn't give it a higher score was because of the cheating. I don't think this is a spoiler because this info is already available on the synopsis, so fuck it. But I, normally, hate books that deal with anything related to cheating because for me, it's just a disgusting thing to do to someone, even if you don't fucking love them. On rare occassions though, some books make me question myself and my beliefs about it. Mia Asher's Arsen and Easy Virtue had that too, but it didn't bother me as much as this book did.
ENDING: 3 stars. It was alright. Nothing I didn't see coming. Even if I didn't tell you, you probably would be able to guess where the story is going anyways.
OVERALL SATISFACTION: 3.5 stars. It was a fast read. It was the perfect book to get me out of my 5 month reading slump. Was I disappointed? Yes because I love Mia Asher's other books and have been completely blown by them, except for this one.
vickory6's review
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.5
ladywestfall's review against another edition
4.0
"He builds a church with his body in mine, making a sinner and a believer out of me while quieting my demons."
I effin' love this book! I love Sebastien! I love Valentina! Damn, these sexy beasts. And, William can fuck off somewhere. Also, have you even looked at the cover of this book? DAMN. *I know* *wink wink*
Let me start by saying I adore Mia Asher. She is one hell of a good writer. She is so good with words. It would always seem like I feel what the characters feel. This book is just not the clichè NA sexy. This book has a heart. And damn, I do love it. I love every word. Every pain. Every sin. Every page. I kind of remembered her book Arsen while reading this. I remember how people hated Cathy with all their guts and how we broke for Ben and how we confused ourselves with what to feel with Arsen. This is how amazing Mia Asher is. She makes us feel every effing thing with her glorious words. It seeps through the core.
My only problem with it and the sole reason I did not give 5 stars is because the story felt like all Mia Asher's previous books mixed in one. Don't get me wrong. I love it. I just, maybe, expected a little different. A little sway on the other direction? Idek if this is a good or bad thing because hell, I love this book! I love all the characters! How many times have I said that I love it?
How can you not?
I effin' love this book! I love Sebastien! I love Valentina! Damn, these sexy beasts. And, William can fuck off somewhere. Also, have you even looked at the cover of this book? DAMN. *I know* *wink wink*
Let me start by saying I adore Mia Asher. She is one hell of a good writer. She is so good with words. It would always seem like I feel what the characters feel. This book is just not the clichè NA sexy. This book has a heart. And damn, I do love it. I love every word. Every pain. Every sin. Every page. I kind of remembered her book Arsen while reading this. I remember how people hated Cathy with all their guts and how we broke for Ben and how we confused ourselves with what to feel with Arsen. This is how amazing Mia Asher is. She makes us feel every effing thing with her glorious words. It seeps through the core.
My only problem with it and the sole reason I did not give 5 stars is because the story felt like all Mia Asher's previous books mixed in one. Don't get me wrong. I love it. I just, maybe, expected a little different. A little sway on the other direction? Idek if this is a good or bad thing because hell, I love this book! I love all the characters! How many times have I said that I love it?
How can you not?
itsmykhal's review against another edition
4.0
Okay, this review will have spoilers as I am trying to keep track of the books I read and what the hell they were about. Just know this is a story about a marriage falling apart and what do you know, a hot broken guy comes along the way.
Valetina, is this 30 something year old woman who has been married for over 10 years to an asshole named William. I didn't think he was a complete asshole in the beginning. I thought he was the husband who let lust and weakness overcome him once and he would've done anything to gain Val's trust once again. That is how I took it from the beginning. He promises to take her to Paris to work on their marriage and to focus on her wants and needs before his work. She goes to Paris before him which I could've guessed he got caught up with work and couldn't come. Randomly she runs into Sebastien who kisses her within the first few second of meeting her *like that happens*. Her being vulnerable in her marriage can't forget the hot french man who kissed her uninvitingly. Instead of trying to fix her marriage or give it a real chance to live again, she basically cuts off her husband telling him she needs sometime to herself and find out who she really is. The fact that this isn't a new story line is proof that women need to live their 20s alone before promising your youth to a guy. Personal opinion and advice. The story takes this wild turn I was not prepared for. Her husband William is this A1 asshole who didn't only cheat on her once but multiply times. Seriously, guys, just leave if you're gonna do this shit. Later on we come to find out that he is fucking his step-sister as well. And she is very much married too. Somehow William's adoptive parents fought a lot and he witnessed his foster dad beat his foster mom and even at one point forcing William and his step sister watch him rape their step-mother. I feel like there was so much potential with William's backstory instead of making him into this sick fucker. Like Val could've been caught between choosing her broken husband who wants to give her everything and the gorgeouse broken Sebastien who lost his first love. The ancipation of her choosing would've drove me nuts! Instead we got the usual, Val was falling in love with Sebs in Paris creating a life for herself while he evil husband plotted his way back into her heart by faking being miserable and telling her he needs her, when he didn't give one fuck about her. William even compared Val's body to his own step-sisters. YUCK! I think I'm just upset that there wasn't more of fight between them and the potential this story had. Only being 200 pages, I know another 100 pages would've filled the void in my heart that this story did not fulfill. I've read Mia Asher's Arsen book before and loved every bit of it, but this one fell so short for me. I am awaiting another release of her because Arsen was that good that I can't let one of her books lead me away from her writing forever.
Valetina, is this 30 something year old woman who has been married for over 10 years to an asshole named William. I didn't think he was a complete asshole in the beginning. I thought he was the husband who let lust and weakness overcome him once and he would've done anything to gain Val's trust once again. That is how I took it from the beginning. He promises to take her to Paris to work on their marriage and to focus on her wants and needs before his work. She goes to Paris before him which I could've guessed he got caught up with work and couldn't come. Randomly she runs into Sebastien who kisses her within the first few second of meeting her *like that happens*. Her being vulnerable in her marriage can't forget the hot french man who kissed her uninvitingly. Instead of trying to fix her marriage or give it a real chance to live again, she basically cuts off her husband telling him she needs sometime to herself and find out who she really is. The fact that this isn't a new story line is proof that women need to live their 20s alone before promising your youth to a guy. Personal opinion and advice. The story takes this wild turn I was not prepared for. Her husband William is this A1 asshole who didn't only cheat on her once but multiply times. Seriously, guys, just leave if you're gonna do this shit. Later on we come to find out that he is fucking his step-sister as well. And she is very much married too. Somehow William's adoptive parents fought a lot and he witnessed his foster dad beat his foster mom and even at one point forcing William and his step sister watch him rape their step-mother. I feel like there was so much potential with William's backstory instead of making him into this sick fucker. Like Val could've been caught between choosing her broken husband who wants to give her everything and the gorgeouse broken Sebastien who lost his first love. The ancipation of her choosing would've drove me nuts! Instead we got the usual, Val was falling in love with Sebs in Paris creating a life for herself while he evil husband plotted his way back into her heart by faking being miserable and telling her he needs her, when he didn't give one fuck about her. William even compared Val's body to his own step-sisters. YUCK! I think I'm just upset that there wasn't more of fight between them and the potential this story had. Only being 200 pages, I know another 100 pages would've filled the void in my heart that this story did not fulfill. I've read Mia Asher's Arsen book before and loved every bit of it, but this one fell so short for me. I am awaiting another release of her because Arsen was that good that I can't let one of her books lead me away from her writing forever.
amandamarie793's review against another edition
3.0
Just Meh.
The story did not seem very realistic. The husband was a grade A ass hole and it all reminded me of a bad soap opera on afternoon TV.
I have read other books by this author that I truly enjoyed but this one just didn’t do it for me.
The story did not seem very realistic. The husband was a grade A ass hole and it all reminded me of a bad soap opera on afternoon TV.
I have read other books by this author that I truly enjoyed but this one just didn’t do it for me.
astriareclipse's review against another edition
2.0
RESEÑA EN ESPAÑOL & INGLES | REVOEW IN SPANISH & ENGLISH
2.5|5 ★
-----E S P A Ñ O L | S P A N I S H -----
Estoy sorprendida con la forma que se escribió el libro, tiene 5 años que se publicó pero no se siente tanto así ,hay dos detalles que se sienten como de esos años pero lo demás puede pasar fácilmente por un libro de este año. Me hubiera gustado tener una 50 hojas más del libro para explotar unas pequeñas cosas más, pero está bien
-----I N G L E S | E N G L I S H -----
I am surprised with the way the book was written, it has been published for 5 years but it doesn't feel that way, there are two details that feel like from those years but the rest can easily pass for a book from this year. I would have liked to have 50 more pages of the book to exploit a few more little things, but that's ok
2.5|5 ★
-----E S P A Ñ O L | S P A N I S H -----
Estoy sorprendida con la forma que se escribió el libro, tiene 5 años que se publicó pero no se siente tanto así ,hay dos detalles que se sienten como de esos años pero lo demás puede pasar fácilmente por un libro de este año. Me hubiera gustado tener una 50 hojas más del libro para explotar unas pequeñas cosas más, pero está bien
-----I N G L E S | E N G L I S H -----
I am surprised with the way the book was written, it has been published for 5 years but it doesn't feel that way, there are two details that feel like from those years but the rest can easily pass for a book from this year. I would have liked to have 50 more pages of the book to exploit a few more little things, but that's ok
cherryredsreads's review against another edition
5.0
And my mind, heart & cherries have been blown away!
This is a short and sweet review because all I am going to say is that you NEED to read it!
Okay of course that cover draws you in but...
the story is just,
Angsty, sexy, heart aching, romantic, and full of great twists and turns that you will literally devour the story of Valentina & Sebastien & William.
You will not expect what this story will bring to you as you read.
Your heart will swoon hard, fall in love, endure pain and then it will soar to a new level.
Beautifully written story.
This book is one I will devour over and over again.
Go One click this Top Must Read for 2017!
**ARC kindly provided in exchange for an honest review***
5 Cherries Popped
bookgirl0925's review against another edition
3.0
I liked the first 3/4 of this book, however it went downhill from there. Too much drama that was unnecessary for the story and too much dialogue between Sebastien and Valentina that was so overly mushy for me that I got a headache from all the eye rolling. And that ending?? A bit disappointing to say the least.
jenrich26's review against another edition
3.0
I enjoyed aspects of this book, but it felt slow and lacking depth until at least 60% in. I wanted to know more about Valentina. Why had she lost herself in her relationship to William who was she before him? I then would have liked to see more about her finding herself again that felt glossed over in lieu of more sex scenes. I love Mia Asher and maybe my expectations were too high going into this story.