This was a fun and cute book about how two polar opposites ended up falling in love. When I say cute, that doesn’t mean that this book didn’t have any spice in it.
Title: Black Swan Affair Series: Standalone Author: K.L Kreig Genre / Themes: Adult, Contemporary Romance Point of View: First Person Publisher: Self-published Publication Date: September 20th 2016 Pages: 337
I’ve loved him as long as I can remember.
The gangly boy with big brown eyes and unruly hair who grew up into an intoxicating man. He wears scruff like he invented it and ambles with a swagger that makes panties drop.
Killian Shepard.
Shep.
We grew up together. We played Ghost in the Graveyard. Had our own rock band. It didn’t matter that he was five years older than me. It didn’t matter that he looked at me as a kid sister even as I grew into woman. It didn’t even matter when he left me behind to go to college and start his adult life.
He’d be back. He was always meant to be mine.
He came back, all right. But instead of smelling of promises, he stunk of betrayal. And he destroyed me—us—the day he married my sister instead of me.
So I did the only thing a girl like me in my position could do.
I got my revenge. I married his brother, Kael. Now we’re one big happy f*cking family.
***mature content appropriate for 18+
“While he was the sun that lit your world, you were the darkness that shadowed mine.”
❝And this last year I also realized there are different kinds of love. There’s the dreamy kind you always thought you wanted and then there’s the steady one you never understood but the second you let yourself feel it…it’s nothing like you could have imagined in your wildest dreams.❞
Just wow. I wasn’t really expecting too much when I started this. I just thought the synopsis was rather interesting, having two brothers falling for the same girl and the girl marrying the brother she didn’t love just to spite the one that she does. It’s a messy family drama. I was just looking for a steamy read, so plot-wise, I wasn’t really too hopeful that it was going to be good.
Luckily. It was. It kind of all made sense in the end. At least for me.
MEET THE CHARACTERS
→Maverick
Not gonna lie, I sort of hated her in the beginning.
❝I’m anything but innocent. My soul is lost. My heart cold. I’m a devil in angel’s skin, trapping a man for life who could have any woman he wants but for some reason wants me.❞
I mean who does that? Marry someone you don’t love just so that you can get back at someone? Who does that really? Apparently, Maverick does that. Eventually though, I liked that she grew as her own person and realized all the things she thinks were the best for her before. However, I think if her best friend does not exist, she might not be able to realize this on her own. It took her a hell of a long time to figure things out and what things she really should focus on. She got there though. I ended up being so proud of the growth she had then. She wasn’t perfect and she acknowledges that. I am really drawn to characters that admits to their flaws and acknowledges them and try to make up for them.
→Killian
What can I say about him? I can’t say I hate him because even though he was such a dick, I understood why he did the things he did but just because I understood them, doesn’t mean that I think he did the right thing though. In my opinion, there were a hundred other things he could have done aside from the choices he made. Reading about Killian actually made me remember about my ex-bf, who was caught in a similar situation where he chose the easiest way out.
→Kael
From the get go, Kael just took my heart away. He is perfect. I don’t think there is anything else to say about him. Oh yeah, there is. Secrets. Like Killian, Kael made mistakes. And like Killian, he did have a choice. He should have chosen the right one from the beginning. But I guess, I can’t really blame him too because he got caught in the middle of a messy family drama, and of course, family is family at the end of the day. But over all, Kael is such a sweetheart and also super fucking hot. I want my own Kael.
For some reason I imagine him looking like this:
Goddamn it. If Maverick doesn’t like him, I would take him home and do… stuff to him lol.
LETS TALK ABOUT THE LOVE TRIANGLE (OR SQUARE)
Maverick (our female protagonist) grew up with Killian and Kael (who were brothers if you didn’t already know lol). She was closed to Kael who she treated like her best friend but she fell in love with Killian. They seem to have this mutual attraction but ultimately broke her heart and married her sister. Yeah. Wtf right. Distraught Maverick wanted to get back at him, so she married his brother, Kael. Yeah. Another wtf.
It was a messy romance but I really liked how everything wrap up in the end. I don’t want to spoil anything about who ended up with who because it’ll ruin the story. Overall, I feel like the ending satisfied everyone in the end, maybe not completely satisfying two of the characters but they are where they need to be at the end.
SMUT LEVEL
I was satisfied but I wanted more. The sexy scenes definitely got me hot and bothered lol.
OVERALL THOUGHTS
It’s been a while since I really got hooked with a male character. Kael was the highlight of this book for me, I absolutely fell head-over-heels in love with him. Not saying what happened though on whether he got the girl or not but for me, he takes the big cake for me.
This novel was told in a alternating timeline which I actually liked. Sometimes if not done right, it will cause some problems narratively. But K.L Kreig really did a good job in making the story flow nicely despite the non-linear narrative.
“Back then, I had an oversize sense of self-importance and absolutely no self-worth. It didn’t matter how gorgeous I was or how great my voice was or what magazine I was on the cover of. I mean, there were a lot of teenage girls that wanted to group up and be me in the late seventies. I was keenly aware of that. But the only reason people thought I had everything is because I had all the things you can see.
I had none of the things you can’t.” – Daisy
Everyone was talking about Daisy Jones & the Six last year. However, because I try to stay away from hyped books as much as possible, I didn’t read this book until early this year – It was the best decision ever.
I am in love with Daisy Jones & the Six. I completely agree with all the hyped stuff everyone has been saying about this book because it was amazing. Nothing short of amazing.
DISCLAIMER: I have read this book back in 2016 and posted this review on Goodreads but my thoughts about this still has not changed. A lot of my Goodreads friends have loved this book; I was one of the few that did not love this. All The Bright places will be getting a movie starring Ellie Fanning, and while I believe she’ll do a great job of being Violet, I’m not sure if it’s something I’ll be watching if the story is much like the books.
DISCLAIMER 2: Don’t be fooled by that title. This book does not have a happy ending. Sorry to spoil things for you. But I just needed to say it. It’s one of the things I didn’t like the book.
Was it a love story? Yes. But not the kind of love story we are used to.
• I am in love with the artwork. Beautiful.
• While the main character (Akizuki) seemed pretty fleshed out, I feel like I connected more with the secondary character (Yukino). Probably because I am at this point in my life where her struggles are pretty much in line with mine.
TITLE: Verity SERIES: Standalone AUTHOR: Colleen Hoover PUBLICATION DATE: December 7th 2018 NUMBER OF PAGES: 333 pages PUBLISHER: Hoover Ink GENRE: Mystery, Thriller, Romance
Lowen Ashleigh is a struggling writer on the brink of financial ruin when she accepts the job offer of a lifetime. Jeremy Crawford, husband of bestselling author Verity Crawford, has hired Lowen to complete the remaining books in a successful series his injured wife is unable to finish.
Lowen arrives at the Crawford home, ready to sort through years of Verity’s notes and outlines, hoping to find enough material to get her started. What Lowen doesn’t expect to uncover in the chaotic office is an unfinished autobiography Verity never intended for anyone to read. Page after page of bone-chilling admissions, including Verity’s recollection of what really happened the day her daughter died.
Lowen decides to keep the manuscript hidden from Jeremy, knowing its contents would devastate the already grieving father. But as Lowen’s feelings for Jeremy begin to intensify, she recognizes all the ways she could benefit if he were to read his wife’s words. After all, no matter how devoted Jeremy is to his injured wife, a truth this horrifying would make it impossible for him to continue to love her.
A standalone romantic thriller from #1 New York Times bestselling author Colleen Hoover.