Wow what a tragic start to the book, it truly was heart breaking.
I quite enjoyed this book; you can feel the emotions from the very first chapter. I don’t know who Angel was trying to convince that she didn’t like Gabe and wasn’t interested in him because it didn’t work.
I loved how Gabe wouldn’t give up on her despite only knowing her for a couple of days and her constantly trying to push him away.
I had no problem imagining what the characters all looked like along with the scenes and places from Angels flat to Aunt JoJo’s pub.
I did not see the crazy ex stalker coming though and thought that both Gabe and Angel handled her perfectly. It was a nice little addition and made it so this wasn’t just another boy meets girl love story.
I’m glad she embraced life and started to live again; this story has a perfect ending for me.
It was a nice little book to read and I recommend people check it out for themselves, it’s a perfect Christmas love story with aptly named characters.
I’ve added some links below to help you find your way to Nicola so you can check out this book and her other works as well.
This was my first time reading Drake Leigh and unfortunately I felt that the story could do with a little bit of back story in between the chapters to connect everything together; it jumps from them meeting to the wedding to them having a child with nothing to show how they got to that point or what happened along the way. After the accident when arranging the funeral she mentions being in Cardiff and Blake is flying in from Austin so I assume she used to live in the United States but there is no mention of how she ended up in Cardiff and how, or if her family moved over to the US from the UK, in my opinion it just needed more information to bring everything together.
Reading through the chapters it all seemed a little bit rushed, having the clothes packed up to get rid of before the funeral seemed a little bit soon in my opinion and it just seemed as if everything was being rushed to get to Blake. It needed to be explained a little bit deeper rather than just glossed over.
I found some aspects of the story a little bit unbelievable, I’m not a very horsey person so not sure but I found it hard to believe that Blake would tie the suitcases to the back of the horse, did the horse just pull the cases down the road without them running into it or falling over.
I felt the use of the word Y’all was used too often and sometimes seemed to be in the wrong context in my opinion. I found that it was used in sentences where the word You’ll should have been used as the meaning of the word means you all and not you will. It was used far too often when Blake was only referring to LJ and it just didn’t seem to work with the rest of the sentences.
I also found it hard to believe that Sasha was 12, from the way she spoke to LJ calling her mama and referring to Carl as daddy made her sound so much younger. I thought kids grew out of speaking like that as they got older but maybe I’m wrong.
I don’t understand why there was such an issue with the age gap for it to keep being repeated throughout the book either. I understand when you’re younger 3 years can be an issue to some but at the ages of 33 and 36 it’s nothing or is it because it’s a woman that’s older than the man, it’s not like they’re kids anymore. For someone to call LJ a used up old cow and a cougar the age gap really needed to be more than 3 years it just didn’t work.
I can understand the writing of accents in the story due to them being Texans, but I found it was overdone and by the end of the book the word ya had just become annoying.
I also found it unbelievable that after her car accident she didn’t go to the hospital, she had a head injury and they were worried about a spinal injuries but then she was being transported back to the rodeo grounds on the back of a horse. What happened to the ambulance that Randy was supposed to be calling?
Although you could still understand what was being said or what was meant there were lots of little mistakes with the wording of some of the sentences that I felt the proof-reader or editor should have picked up on before the book was published
I pushed myself to read the entire book to see how it finished and to make sure I had all the complete story to be able to write this review. It was a nice enough story but wasn’t told very well I’m afraid.
I’m not saying don’t read it because everyone needs to make up their own minds and everyone’s tastes are different, but unfortunately this book didn’t speak to me or let me lose myself in the story and characters as much as some books do. I like to imagine what all the characters look like and imagine the surroundings in the scenes, but I found the booked lacked details on the people and the settings and just gave the basics therefore not really allowing my imagination to work, which is a shame because that can really bring a book to life and make it so much more enjoyable.
As I said it’s a nice story but needed a bit more depth and detail to make it all flow together better.
I’ve been wanting to read this book ever since it was released but had to wait a little while, but I can honestly say it was well worth the wait. It takes you on a journey of discovery and soul searching as you travel along with Lucy and Jensen on what sounds like an incredibly awesome road trip; I’m not at all jealous of them. I really wasn’t disappointed at all with this book and I would strongly recommend you purchasing it and taking the road trip along with them.
What I love most about MB Feeney’s books is that I can lose myself in them and imagine the characters and the settings for each of the scenes from the Lucy’s flat right through to Megans wedding venue at the end. Each of the characters have their own uniqueness and she describes them all so well like Jensen’s piercing blue eyes that it’s easy to imagine what they look like.
Once I started reading it, I just couldn’t put it down, literally I spent all day reading it because I wanted to know what happened next and what the outcome was of this second chance at romance that they were both trying to deny. Each page engaged me and spurred me on to read more until I reached the final destination along with them.
This book most definitely gets a 5-star rating from me.
This wasn’t my favourite of MB Feeney’s books but it is definitely up there, I will get to my favourite in a future post so make sure you keep your eyes peeled for it, it’s another one you won’t be sorry to have read.
Go check her out for yourselves, you really won’t be disappointed at all with any of her books.
I first heard Dean sing and play guitar in April 2018 and I am so grateful that I did, having met Dean several times I can honestly say he is one of the loveliest people I’ve ever met, he takes the time to speak to the fans and make sure everyone is OK, he really is a top bloke.
Reason to Breath is Dean’s first solo album and hopefully not his only one, it’s an album that I can have a good sing along to while listening to it at high volume. It has a great rock feel to it and each song has a touch of emotion and story to them, ranging from the one who got away (Amii) to the strains and dreams of a musician (Carry On). I love every song on this album but have always loved Takes You, it has a lot of meaning behind the song which I know resonates with so many people, the acoustic version I first heard blew me away but the more rockier version on this album is absolutely superb, his deep breath in at the very beginning gets me every time. My other favourite on the album would be He Said, if you listen carefully to the words, you’ll understand the meaning of the song and see where he’s coming from.
This is definitely an album I would recommend people to buy and listen to over and over again. If you find you like or love Deans voice as much as I do he’s playing his first solo gig on February 8th 2020 at the Water Rats in London, you’ll find the link for tickets below along with other platforms where you can find him. Give him a listen today; I promise you won’t be disappointed.
This is the first post on my new blog. I’m just getting this new blog going, so stay tuned for more. Subscribe below to get notified when I post new updates.
I’m married with 2 children living in the UK, I used to love reading but found myself getting too busy working full time and looking after my children to find time to read. Now my children are a little bit older; I have over the last year made time for me so I can get back to my love of reading and I’ve started listening to different kinds of music after having attended more gigs in the last year and a half than I have in the last decade. I’ve started to get my life back and am making me time so I can enjoy what I love and have fun with friends while doing it. This blog is simply to let people know about some of the music and books I’ve been enjoying. I’ve been focused on catching up on reading one authors books for a little while and now I’m looking to branch out to other authors and hopefully spread the word to more people. My music tastes may not be to everyone’s liking but hopefully I can also spread the word on some of my favourite artists as well.
Angel Phoenix Book and Music Blog 