Review: This one had a lot of promise, but wasn't what I was expecting.
Rating: 3 out of 5
Date: 05 23, 2014
Review for Ramblings From This Chick. ramblingsfromthischick.blogspot.comFinding Serenity is the second book in the Seeking Serenity series by Eden Butler. These are standalones with interconnected characters, and it is not required to have read the previous book to understand this one. This book was one that I was looking forward to after reading the blurb. It had everything that I could possibly want in an interesting and different NA read, and who wouldn't want to read about a girl that's a DJ and was raised by a MC president father and ends up with a super hot Marine? But sadly, as much as I wanted to love this story I just wasn't able to.Mollie was raised by her MC president father until he was arrested when she was thirteen. She was sent to live with her mother and sister both of which didn't want her and had nothing in common with her. Now years later she is in college and has created her own family with her friends, and she barely gets to see or talk to her dad because he is still in prison. But when her apartment gets broken into and bad things start happening around her, her father sends someone to watch over her. When Vaughn arrives at her door, she is shocked to find out that the hot guy she had previously met and had blown her off is the same protector her dad sent. Vaughn tries to fight his attraction to her and remain professional so that he can protect her properly, but he and Mollie both feel a connection between them. While they try to get to the bottom of what is going on, their attraction becomes more than they can fight and soon they give in to their feelings. But with Mollie still in danger and Vaughn's painful past, their relationship might be over before it ever has a chance to really start.Vaughn really kind of confused me. He was sometimes a badass, and other times he vulnerable and struggled with his past. He felt like he wasn't good enough for Mollie and used that as an excuse, but other times he said that he couldn't do anything until the case was over and she was safe. He just felt kind of wishy washy to me, and honestly he didn't really live up to what I would expect from a Marine. I wanted to love him so much and he had moments that I did, but overall his character just didn't really work for me. Mollie also had her moments for me. She was strong and capable at times (and had no problem telling everyone around her that either!) but then she would easily give in and rely on others to take care of things for her. She would briefly stand up for herself at times, but then just as quickly roll over. Again, I just didn't really understand what was going on with her character. I also felt that while there was chemistry and attraction between Vaughn and Mollie, their relationship was never really developed. I was waiting for them to really start to connect more than just physically, and I felt like that just never happened. Their conversations seemed forced, and they spent more time ignoring each other or barely speaking than anything.I also felt like this book was really slow and didn't hold my interest. There was a lot going on, and I should have been interested to see what would happen next. But for some reason, I just kept thinking how long the book was and how long everything was taking. It might have been that I just didn't click with the author's writing style and the characters. I did like the secondary characters, and would be interested to go back and read the first book to get Declan and Autumn's story as well as see what happens in the future with Layla and Donovan. For me, this book just didn't deliver on what I had been expecting or hoping for. I think that there are a lot of people out there that will enjoy this book, especially those that have read the first book in this series. I think that if you are a fan of NA books and enjoy some suspense with your romance that you might give this one a shot. I might end up reading the other books in this series, and hope that maybe those will work better for me.**Complimentary Copy Provided by Inkslinger PR**