Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

Oh the tangled web we weave… Amelia and Justin were childhood sweethearts. At least until she broke his heart and ran away to live with her father. Nine years later, she inherited a house from her grandmother. The only problem? Half the house belongs to Justin – and he hates her. He also didn’t show up to the house alone. This book had me feeling all the feels- that’s the first reason I’m giving this book one star. I felt all the big ones from happiness to sadness to arousal to furstration but I also felt the more obscure ones and ‘WTF’, ‘Oh, HELL no he did not just say that’, ‘Ummmm’ and ‘Oh, my god’ were all things I said out loud during the course of this book. As the two are reunited and Justin doesn’t seem to be able to breathe without throwing a snarky comment in Amelia’s direction my anger levels were running high. I got frustrated with Amelia for just taking it but it turns out, killing someone with kindness sometimes really is the best way to sort it out. The sexual tension between the two is palpable and it was toe-curlingly delicious watching Justin try and fight against the attraction. This book is told from only Amelia’s POV and I felt like this only added to the angst and tension of this book because you’re left having to decipher Justin’s actions on your own. This book made me change my mind- that’s the second reason I’m giving this book two stars. I don’t want to give the plot away but I will say this: at about the midway point I had some serious doubts about this story and where it was going. Yet, this author managed to turn it around and change my mind about something which is a hard limit for me. Not only did she turn something I despise into something beautiful but she also managed to redeem Justin and his dickish behaviour in the process. This book has a guy who writes songs that rhyme- that’s the third reason I’m giving this book three stars. So, as you may have surmised- I thought Justin was a tool. Actually just a complete and utter jerk with zero filter. I was all about this dude needing to build a bridge and get over himself. But then he started to sing and my memory slipped down to my knees and made them weak. Penelope Ward managed to redeem Justin and make him completely swoon-worthy not only with the words she put into his songs, but also with his actions and his confusion peaking through. This book doesn’t have a bad guy, or a good guy- that’s the fourth reason I’m giving this book four stars. These characters are flawed. Bad decisions are made and things are said but the author makes no apology for them. At no time is there a character who is clearly bad or clearly good and there are no clear choices to be made here. I loved that about this book. It was unpredictable because it didn’t follow the traditional path of the tropes collected in their story. There was no virgin-glorification, there was no bitchy girlfriend, there was no perfect bad-boy turned golden-boy and the path they traveled on was not smooth or idyllic. This book is hot as hell- that’s the fifth reason I’m giving this book five stars. The sexual tension was there, the angst was there and the uncertainty was there. Even when they were at each other’s throats it was clear that they were always just one misstep away from burning each other’s clothes off with fiery looks and combusting in a torrent of passion. The slow build and denial between them had me frustrated to the point of insanity but it also made the whole thing that much more exciting and erotic. Often, for me, the action stops when the characters hook-up and not only did the author avoid that by drawing it out for so long but even after the sexy times did happen; she managed to keep it fresh and I devoured it all! There are some things in this book that may be a hard-limit for some but this is by far my favorite book by Penelope Ward and it comes highly recommended. (ARC provided by author in exchange for an honest review)