Review: A really good second book, but with a different feel than Madeleine, Abducted and Joseph Fallen.
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 01 29, 2014
First, I have to say that M.S. Willis has a unique talent that 90% of other authors don’t have, and that’s her writing. Not the writing style, mind you, but the actual words. Her prose is almost lyrical, and scenes are so provocative and evocative I could pretty much envision the entire book as a movie. My standards of good writing is when an author is so exceptionally skilled that they are able to transport readers to whatever time period/scene/setting their books are set in and to make us forget our surroundings. M.S. Willis has consistently delivered that again and again with each book in the Estate series, and Hope Restrained is no exception.So why not 5 stars?1. Xander and Hope’s connection. Or the lack of. From the way they “meet” to Xander’s interrogation of her to his blossoming affection for her seemed stilted and forced. I really didn’t think there was enough character development on this part to warrant Xander’s insta-love for Hope.2. Xander: Badass turned Wimp! Later in the book (around 85%) I realized that just like Aaron needs Maddy to keep him grounded, Hope needs Xander, but I didn’t expect that so I was genuinely surprised at how...soft Xander got. He was like play dough in Hope’s hands. Besides, for a top notch assassin, he certainly got slapped around by Hope a lot.3. I felt disconnected with the Estate. The past two books in the series had something in common (besides being freaking AMAZING): the plot, the characters, and basically everything always revolved around the Estate, meaning no matter what part I was reading, I would always be aware of the threat and danger the Estate posed. This added to the thrill, the dark, the mindf*** that these books posed. In Hope Restrained, I felt isolated from the workings of the Estate. If I hadn’t read the first two books, I’d tell you that the Estate is composed of Aaron, Maddy, Xander, Hope, Jason, Patrick, and the housemaid. That’s it. It isn’t until 70% where I could really grasp how the Estate played a role in this second book of the Estate series.Overall, it IS a great second installment in the series, but just keep in mind the approach to this book is different from the first two, and that's not necessarily a bad thing. It's just for me, it wasn't what I expected and it took away from the "dark" part of the book.