Review: Good Story but wanted more Brooks!
Rating: 3 out of 5
Date: 02 27, 2014
I gave Love's Suicide 3.5 Stars.“Brooks, the man that I shattered and abandoned, had given me more than his heart that night we’d made love. He’d give me something even more fragile.”I was an early fan of the Mitchell series by Jennifer Foor so I was looking forward to reading this new story, the synopsis intrigued me and I needed to find out more.Katie Michaels is dealt a tough hand in life, losing both her parents in the September 11 attacks, she moves in with her parent’s best friends. That also means she will be living under the same roof as Branch and Brooks, twin brothers who also happen to be Katie’s best friends since birth. But growing up, friendship turns into more and when feelings and hormones get involved, the happy trio break apart. Katie makes her decision to be with Branch even though that’s not where her true feelings lie, a lot of miscommunication and manipulation goes on.The night before her wedding to Branch, Brooks returns from the army and Katie can no longer deny her feelings. Brooks thinks this is the start of their life together but Katie is so ashamed with her actions and the consequences that she flees her hometown and the only family she has left.The years that follow are full of ups and downs, Katie starts over in a new town and builds new relationships. Leaving Brooks behind may have been the hardest thing she had to do but raising his daughter alone and without his knowledge proves even harder. Katie marries her friend Bobby for convenience and comfort, she is up front that her heart lies with Brooks and Bobby is ok with that to begin with, believing her feelings will change with time.When Brooks reappears Katie’s life is once again up in the air. She has to gain Brooks forgiveness, escape from crazy Bobby and confront her ex-fiancé Branch, all the while protecting her daughter. It all goes down in this book and you are in for one roller coaster ride!The story started strong for me, there were tears when Katie lost her parents, and I liked getting to know Branch and Brooks. It was clear from the start that Katie should have been with Brooks but they were both young and Branch made it impossible for them to be together. When Katie left town and started over, the pacing of the story slowed down. It’s not often I think time jumps are a good idea but in this case I think it would have worked, we got a lot of Katie’s life on her own and her relationship with Bobby. When I’m reading a romance, I need the connection with the two main characters, so for Brooks to be missing for half the book this did take away some of my enjoyment. I wanted Bobby’s role summarised and Brooks’ expanded.Brooks was my favourite character by far, even though his actions when he was younger were questionable, I loved the man he became and he really was sweet, protective and kind. The scenes with his daughter melted my heart. Katie on the other hand frustrated me at times, I wished for more character growth on her behalf. She did a lot of running, avoiding and blaming herself. I did soften towards her at the end as she was put through a lot and I was glad she got her HEA.I really enjoyed the dialogue between Brooks and Katie; there were some sweet lines. These two were clearly meant to be together and even though they had a lot of miscommunication and a back and forth relationship, in the end it was shown they were meant to be.I did feel there were many storylines merging at the end and it all got a bit too much, Bobby, Brooks and Katie were the focus but then Branch reappeared, creating drama and then a curveball was thrown it at the end with the twins’ mum. It was a lot to take in.I liked the storyline and I think if it was streamlined and the flow of the story was more consistent then I would have loved this book completely. With that being said, it was a good, angst filled read with plenty of drama and you should check it out today. ~Ava*I received an ARC in exchange for an honest review.*