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jinginsg's review against another edition
1.0
This was such a waste of time, it's not even remotely funny. I do not understand the amount of stars that this book got. The heroine was insipid, the hero was ok (though sometimes I felt like he was bordering on sexual harassment). The drama felt contrived and it dragged on and on and on. Gosh, please spare yourself from this book.
marthadreamer's review against another edition
4.0
Chasing serenity book review
This book has ups and downs that I believe no book should have that many, but this book does. If that is not enough to pull apart your heart stings and mind, throw in that the main heroine, Autumn, loses her mother right at the beginning.
What a book!
The story line has you, the reader on the edge of your seat wondering what will happen next. The realism of this book is spot on to be in your own neighborhood or even something you, the reader, would go through.
The only down fall of this book, that I could find, was the characterization of these characters. The characters were not developed enough for my taste. I could predict what they would next and that is a flaw in my book. The characters were enough developed to understand why they did what they did. I believe the book could be a little longer for more character development.
4 Stars
I got an ARC for a real honest review.
This book has ups and downs that I believe no book should have that many, but this book does. If that is not enough to pull apart your heart stings and mind, throw in that the main heroine, Autumn, loses her mother right at the beginning.
What a book!
The story line has you, the reader on the edge of your seat wondering what will happen next. The realism of this book is spot on to be in your own neighborhood or even something you, the reader, would go through.
The only down fall of this book, that I could find, was the characterization of these characters. The characters were not developed enough for my taste. I could predict what they would next and that is a flaw in my book. The characters were enough developed to understand why they did what they did. I believe the book could be a little longer for more character development.
4 Stars
I got an ARC for a real honest review.
thebooktrollop's review against another edition
4.0
So this book has been on my TBR for a while (probably since it came out in October). I remember downloading it because some other blog mentioned it and I liked the cover and the name of the main character, Autumn (conceited much?? Probably! But there are not a lot of Autumn main characters so yeah)...
When Eden contacted me to review it for her before her next installment came out I was thrilled... I politely stalked this author a few times and I kept wanting to read this book but I kept getting backed up and never had time for my own personal TBR list.... Anyway, I actually had time when she emailed me so I said what the hell and started reading it pretty soon after...
I liked this story very much but I didn't LOVE it like I wanted too. It got to be too much back and forth between Declan and Autumn and I got more annoyed than anything with them. Autumn is stubborn (must be a name thing because I am the same way)... And Declan was crazy about her BUT there were things in the middle of this romance and Autumn has no idea what they are... When Declan can't tell her, she eventually finds out in one of the worst ways possible.
It was all very dramatic and anxiety ridden. I was annoyed but I still loved the story. I couldn't guess what the big secret was and that is unusual for me because, mostly, I guess shit right from the beginning and this time I couldn't... Once the secret was out, I was again irritated at Autumn because she blew shit out of proportion and kept blaming the wrong people... It got to be too much...
The overall story was amazing. Loved the setting and I actually felt like I was there and could picture it easily in my head without much detail given to me. I LOVED Declan and his Irish hot self ;)...
The secondary characters were entertaining and in the end I got everything I wanted. It just took a long time to get there...
LOVED the library scene and aheeem others as well... I definitely had butterflies while reading scenes with Autumn and Declan... Lots of feels for them!!
Overall, I give this story a 4/5 "frustrating but amazing story" STARS
bookflutter's review
5.0
Chasing Serenity takes us into the life of Autumn McShane, a graduate student who is trying to put her life back together after the tragic death of her mother and the years long absence of her father. Lucky for Autumn she has a close knit group of friends and her Godmother Ava to help her along the bumps as she navigates the curves life keeps throwing. A new school year in the small college town means covering more classes, more papers to grade, more thesis work to plow through and another season of rugby. Autumn finds herself caught between her ex-boyfriend Tucker who left her in the dust before the accident that injured her and claimed her mother, he didn’t even call or try to get in touch with her in the months since, but he swears he wants her back. New boy Declan Fraser sees through Tucker just as well as Autumn, but Autumn isn’t sure she can trust him. Along with dealing with the rugby players she also has to deal with her father’s sudden return to her life and face her fears about her injuries from the accident and what that means to her life long term. I loved the interactions between the characters in this novel. I also loved that the feeling of a small college town where everyone knows a little bit about everyone else be it good or bad was also woven into the story.
shannon_cocktailsandbooks's review against another edition
4.0
I ♥ Declan Fraser! There, I've said it. There are so many things to love about this book, but for me, it was this broken Irishman who captured my attention.
CHASING SERENITY is about Autumn McShane, a college graduate student trying to come to terms with the loss of her mother living in a small town Irish enclave. Autumn's world turns upside down when she meets the newest member of the college's rugby team, Declan Fraser, when he drunkenly kisses her. Autumn is not at all prepared for just what kind of an effect Declan will have on her.
I will admit, Declan could be an irritating ass, but you could tell there was more to him. Despite his tattoos and boorish behavior, we discover Declan and Autumn share experiences and loves that bond them. Their mutual love of rugby, literature and television shows brings them closer together and help their "spark" grow into something much more. Autumn fights her attraction to Declan, worried she's going to fall into the same kind of relationship she had with her ex, but Declan is persistent and proves to her they were different.
Autumn is a hard character to like. She's been through something incredibly tragic, which will change anyone, but there are times where I wondered why her friends or Declan even bothered with her because she would come off as such a bitch. I can understand wanting to protect yourself, but at some point you have to realize the ice needs to thaw a bit or else you risk pushing everyone away. Despite being turned off at times by Autumn, I was invested in her character and needed to make sure she didn't destroy Declan (because she definitely had the power to do that). Luckily, Autumn figures things out before she got to that point.
I really enjoyed this book. Even with my difficulties with Autumn, Declan and the secondary characters had me turning pages to keep up with the story. I hope we get more from the group because I can definitely see stories for Sayo, Mollie, Layla and probably Tucker (although I would like to see him get the Autumn treatment to the junk like she did Declan).
CHASING SERENITY is about Autumn McShane, a college graduate student trying to come to terms with the loss of her mother living in a small town Irish enclave. Autumn's world turns upside down when she meets the newest member of the college's rugby team, Declan Fraser, when he drunkenly kisses her. Autumn is not at all prepared for just what kind of an effect Declan will have on her.
I will admit, Declan could be an irritating ass, but you could tell there was more to him. Despite his tattoos and boorish behavior, we discover Declan and Autumn share experiences and loves that bond them. Their mutual love of rugby, literature and television shows brings them closer together and help their "spark" grow into something much more. Autumn fights her attraction to Declan, worried she's going to fall into the same kind of relationship she had with her ex, but Declan is persistent and proves to her they were different.
Autumn is a hard character to like. She's been through something incredibly tragic, which will change anyone, but there are times where I wondered why her friends or Declan even bothered with her because she would come off as such a bitch. I can understand wanting to protect yourself, but at some point you have to realize the ice needs to thaw a bit or else you risk pushing everyone away. Despite being turned off at times by Autumn, I was invested in her character and needed to make sure she didn't destroy Declan (because she definitely had the power to do that). Luckily, Autumn figures things out before she got to that point.
I really enjoyed this book. Even with my difficulties with Autumn, Declan and the secondary characters had me turning pages to keep up with the story. I hope we get more from the group because I can definitely see stories for Sayo, Mollie, Layla and probably Tucker (although I would like to see him get the Autumn treatment to the junk like she did Declan).
ccoleman813's review against another edition
4.0
I'm rating this book 4 stars even though I didn't finish it because I really liked the story line, and the characters. I honestly just wasn't in the mood for this type of love story, where the girl just fights falling in love. I got to 65% and then I skimmed the rest to see how it actually ended. So, I did enjoy the book, at least what I read of it.
bookflutter's review against another edition
5.0
Chasing Serenity takes us into the life of Autumn McShane, a graduate student who is trying to put her life back together after the tragic death of her mother and the years long absence of her father. Lucky for Autumn she has a close knit group of friends and her Godmother Ava to help her along the bumps as she navigates the curves life keeps throwing. A new school year in the small college town means covering more classes, more papers to grade, more thesis work to plow through and another season of rugby. Autumn finds herself caught between her ex-boyfriend Tucker who left her in the dust before the accident that injured her and claimed her mother, he didn’t even call or try to get in touch with her in the months since, but he swears he wants her back. New boy Declan Fraser sees through Tucker just as well as Autumn, but Autumn isn’t sure she can trust him. Along with dealing with the rugby players she also has to deal with her father’s sudden return to her life and face her fears about her injuries from the accident and what that means to her life long term. I loved the interactions between the characters in this novel. I also loved that the feeling of a small college town where everyone knows a little bit about everyone else be it good or bad was also woven into the story.
brewtifulfiction's review against another edition
3.0
I give this one 3.5 stars. It isn't that I didn't enjoy the story overall and Declan well can we say hot especially with the Irish accent but there were some parts that I felt dragged and others that went too fast, I can't quite put my finger on it but it was missing a certain spark.