Review: Overall Rating: 4.5 stars- Kept telling myself “just one more chapter.”
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 05 11, 2014
**For more details, see my profile**Even though I wasn't in love with the first CEP novel, Being Chased, I was still pretty excited to get to the 2nd, Unbreakable Hearts. Partly because it's a Harper book and you already know how I feel about her, and partly because the hero is named Oz and that really pleased me. (Just go with it.)The book was full of surprises. Some because it's actually a very suspenseful book and some because it did not follow a traditional plot line at all (in a good way, IMO) and left me guessing a lot. I really liked it!Now, I feel like I need to say that this is less romance novel than it is suspense with some romance thrown in. That actually surprised me. Not in a bad way at all because the suspense was good. Plus our hero and heroine don't actually even connect until almost 50% into the book so even though you know it's coming, you keep thinking "when? Now? Now? WHEN?" and it adds to the suspense.Tilly and Oz knew each other in high school, but don't reconnect until he's installed an alarm in her house after she is robbed. I must say, that particularly scene was so much fun. It was written in such a way that I could almost hear the swelling music in my head. And then Tilly was a dork and I couldn't help but laugh again.Actually, I did quite a lot of laughing. For a novel that features some pretty dark subject matter (rape, murder, sex slavery, to name a few.) the book itself didn't feel dark or heavy because there is a lot of comic relief. Most of that comes in the form of Tilly's best friend, Quinn. I think Quinn might be featured in book 3 and if so, I CAN'T WAIT because I loved her. She delivered a one-liner so funny that I literally laughed until I snorted. Then I had to put my Kindle down and email Harper to tell her how hard I'd just laughed.Overall, it wasn't perfect. Because our couple doesn't meet until halfway into the book, I found myself wishing for a little more time for their relationship to mature. They really rushed things. Of course, there was drama at play (no spoilers!) that rushed those things along, too, but I would have liked a little more. Of course, that might have meant more smut, too which I would not complain about. Let's just say that Oz is a world class dirty talker. Tilly and I are both big fans. Yum!But outside of that minor complaint, I very much enjoyed the book. The writing (as always) was top-notch. I loved all the characters, and it felt very real to me. I'm definitely looking forward to the 3rd book in the series. Though I'm glad it's not out yet because I spent entirely too much time ignoring my family yesterday because I was sneaking away to read one more chapter here and there.Smut Factor: 4 stars- Smokin’ Hot!Character likability: 5 stars- He’s my book boyfriend and I want to BE her.Storytelling: 5 stars- I wake up thinking this really happened.Writing and editing quality: 5 stars- Excellent!