! ! ! Butterflies to the max ! ! !
You know a book is good when you hate being pulled out of the story only to return to the real world.
With other romance books, I usually love the romance and hate the couple. But something about this book hit me differently. Especially the first half, thanks to a certain someone…
The male lead, Tristan, had me wrapped around his finger. He did all the little things perfectly: went out of his way to make sure Zoey’s comfortable and safe, always held the door open, matched her pace to walk beside her, and he’s a good listener. It’s even more than that. Every response of his is literally what I want to hear.
In short: someone wrote a novel with my biggest wish-fulfillment in a guy. The kind of guy I dream up in my daily fantasies. Even the tropes were all ones I loved: childhood friends, brother’s best friend, the protecting but respecting type… I was fawning all over Tristan.
I’m pressed against his chest, my head resting just below his chin. I can’t even remember the last time someone held me like this. And then it dawns on me. It was him. Back when I was eleven. My hands are flat against his stomach, and I can feel the topography of muscle beneath his T-shirt. With my ear pressed to his chest, I can hear his heart beating, strong and steady beneath my ear. I can feel the warmth and strength of his arms, and his hands, one on the center of my back and the other on my shoulder, holding me tight, pulling me closer. Over my sobs I can hear him saying, “Shhhh,” and his lips brushing the top of my head, sending a shiver down my spine that I don’t fully understand. It’s not a shiver that ends when it reaches the soles of my feet, but rather it turns and travels all the way back up my spine. Eventually, my breathing starts to calm down, to fall into sync with his, and I become acutely aware of other things, like how good he smells. I breathe in deeper, a great heaving breath that manages to calm me even further. I know I should probably pull away because I’m no longer crying, but I don’t want to. I feel safe in his arms.
My notes are all “I love him,” repeated over and over.
After one chapter, I’m like, where’s the ring? I’m getting married. He’s the dream guy, doing everything right. He’s the whole package. Oh, he’s fictional? Ouch.
“Are you cold?” Tristan asks. I shake my head. “You’re shivering,” he says, and he pulls off his sweater and gives it to me.
This had me like in GTA: BOOM WASTED.
“It’s too big on me, of course, but it’s so warm that I feel cocooned and, for a split second, even safe. It also smells of him, of citrus and something muskier, too, that makes me want to bury my nose in the fabric and breathe in deeply.”
I had to physically hold myself back from screaming. This is why I need to read these kinds of books at night when my facial expressions are hidden in the dark and no one to observe me. I want to like jump with excitement at this book. It’s so good.
It was starting to become dangerous territory. Like, I’ll never be able to look at a man the same and not have him fall flat in comparison to Tristan’s manners at the start of this book.
I even wrote, unfollow me now this is about to take over my day. I was right. I devoured this without even stopping.
I also loved the attention to detail in the writing, like the many phrases on looking at each other across the room or wanting to touch each other casually… This is what makes up a romance, noticing their eyes on you while sneaking a look.
And for once I didn’t even hate the main character. I could feel for Zoey. I understood her wholeheartedly. She’s so used to carrying the world’s problems on her shoulders that when Tristan, this kind, broad-shouldered guy shows up telling her she’s doesn’t have to face everything on her own, I was swooning. The first half of this book, i.e. the thrill of the chase, I would give five stars because it had everything I wanted. Butterflies to the max.
The second half, however, after the thrill of the chase, when the plot focused on everything but the romance is when the book started going a bit off track, for me. This is a romance! Please, don’t let side drama take over the majority of the story. This had so much potential in the second half had the side plot been dropped. Instead, it felt like another mindless episode of NCIS. Not what we’re here for…
Still, I’d recommend this book for the first half without hesitation. One of the best romance couples I’ve read in ages, if not The Best™. That’s saying a lot coming from someone who usually doesn’t like the couple at all in romance books.
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