scheme | Rebeccabookreview

Title: The Rogue Is Back in Town
Author: Anna Bennett
Date finished: 1/16/18
Genre: Historical romance
Publisher: St. Martin’s Paperbacks
Publication Date: January 2, 2018
Pages in book: 366
Stand alone or series: #3 in the Wayward Wallflowers series
Where I got the book from: NetGalley NOTE: I received this book for free from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. This in no way affected my opinion of the book, or the content of my review.

Blurb from the cover:

Equal parts scoundrel and seducer, he’s returned to London determined to mend the rift with his older brother. All Sam must do is take possession of a tumbledown town house. A seemingly simple task, except the house is occupied—by an infuriating, whip-smart beauty who refuses to do his bidding.

Miss Juliette Lacey’s wallflower days are over. She has a plan to turn her eccentric family into the toast of the ton—but the devilishly handsome rake trying to oust them from their home thwarts her at every turn. How can one man be so vexing and make her simmer with desire?
As her attraction to Sam deepens, Julie’s problems grow—she may have, once upon a time, secretly shared a kiss with his honorable older brother. Suddenly, Julie’s caught between a rogue and a marquess, between passion and respectability. Torn between two brothers, what’s a girl to do?

My rating: 2.5 stars out of a scale of 5

My review: I was provided a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest and fair review.

Can a confirmed rascal really turn himself around?

Samuel Travis has historically been a self-confirmed rogue, but he is now determined to prove himself worthy and turn himself around and start accomplishing something. Juliette (Julie) Lacey is the youngest of three sisters (hence she is featured in the third book in the series) and is the most adventurous of her three sisters. Even though she’s the most daring though, I found it hard to believe that someone with her strong personality would even give thought to Nigel’s proposal (I won’t say what it was but it was shitty). I would’ve kicked him right in the nuts and told him to go F off. And the thing that disturbed me the most really was the lack of closure regarding what happened with the “villain” of the story. He’s a complete and total ass but he just kind of fades into the background in the end and nothing bad ever happens to him, which while it may be realistic is not really something that I end up enjoying in a book. I want to see a little karma take place, and really this guy should’ve been RUINED. Sam’s character was really good and I liked the character development there, plus this was a fairly easy read. And while the ending was kind of a let down for me personally I still thought it was a fairly good romance novel and would say its worth the read!

Link to author website

Click on the cover to go to the book’s Amazon page

Title: Just Fall
Author: Nina Sadowsky
Date finished: 3/15/16
Genre: Fiction, thriller/suspense
Publisher: Ballantine Books
Publication Date: March 22, 2016
Pages in book: 304
Stand alone or series: Stand alone
Where I got the book from: NetGalley NOTE: I received this book for free from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. This in no way affected my opinion of the book, or the content of my review.

Blurb from the cover:

THEN
Ellie Larrabee’s life is perfect. She’s thriving at work, living in a fabulous apartment, and engaged to the man of her dreams. To all appearances, Ellie and Rob Beauman are a golden couple—blessed with good looks, success, and romantic chemistry that’s off the charts. Surely their future together promises nothing but happiness.
But on what should be the most wonderful day of her life, moments after saying “I do,” a shocking secret threatens to shatter Ellie’s happily-ever-after. She learns that the man she just married and loves with all her heart hides a dark past beneath his charismatic exterior. And the more harrowing truth she uncovers, the deeper Ellie is swept into a vortex of betrayal and uncertainty from which she may never escape.

NOW
On the island paradise of St. Lucia, Ellie isn’t basking in honeymoon splendor—she’s grappling with the chilling realities of her violently derailed life: Rob has blood on his hands and some very dangerous people on his trail, and only Ellie stands between him and the lethal destiny he’s facing. Rob never dreamed that Ellie would be dragged into the deadly world he’s trapped in—or used as a pawn against him. And Ellie could never have imagined how far she’d be forced to go to save the man she loves.

My rating: 4.75 stars out of a scale of 5

My review: I was provided a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest and fair review. This book is about a woman named Ellie who discovers an awful secret about her husband (Rob) minutes after the ceremony ends. While she is still in shock, a series of events occur that lead to Ellie taking some extreme measures in order to ensure her husband’s safety. The book alternates between the Then and Now of Ellie’s story, showing us glimpses of her relationship with Rob as it develops and also glimpses into both her past as well as Rob’s before they met. In the wrong hands this writing style can leave the reader completely lost and confused but Sadowsky does a fantastic job of keeping the reader on the right path and leaves subtle clues as to where we are in the timeline without having to put exact dates. I thought it was splendidly done and really increased the tension of the story.
Overall I very much enjoyed this book, the plot line was interested and the story definitely keeps the reader on their toes since it switches between the past and what is happening now. I thought that the book presented an interesting concept, what are we willing to do in order to help those that we love? Ellie and Rob both have dark pasts, events in their lives that changed them. Even though they didn’t discuss those events before they were married, they somehow knew that the other person understood their pain and emptiness. I really liked Ellie’s character, though she did some pretty screwed up stuff in order to protect Rob, I think that she was a really complex character and was just trying to do what was best for her family. There is a lot of grey area in life, decisions that aren’t necessarily good or bad but are the right decision for you to make. I thought the author did a great job of making Ellie’s decisions seem abhorrent and understandable all at the same time. I also really liked how the author was able to intertwine multiple characters and story lines all into a cohesive and (honestly) thrilling story. This was a great read, I can’t wait to see more by this author in the future.

The bottom line: Great book, the plot twists definitely kept me on my toes. Couldn’t put this one down, I would definitely recommend!

Link to author website

Click on the cover to go to the book’s Amazon page