julie_loves_books's review against another edition
3.0
I was kind of excited about this book as I love MMA fighters and Declan, an underground street fighter, is essentially that. Plus, he's British...sign me up!
Unfortunately, it didn't really work for me. I think the story had good bones and I absolutely adored Declan and his brother Dax, but the writing just wasn't executed well. There wasn't a lot of depth to the characters or their story. Due to a past assault, Elizabeth had control issues when it came to sex and it would have been interesting to see her work through those. The story just kind of skimmed over that and I think that was a missed opportunity.
The next book in the series is about Dax and he has a great personality, so I still may give that a shot.
Nicknames: Unicorn
Love is a knife that cuts out your heart piece by piece, feeding it to the boy you love.
Have sex. Never speak to him again. End of story. It was about control. My choice. My rules. I had to initiate the first move, and I had to be on top. Most importantly, I had to be in my own bed and around my own things.
“Look, I’ve seen you around on campus. You keep to yourself and underneath you seem, well, fragile—and honestly, I like my girls and sex hard. I’d be all over you, and somehow I’m sensing you aren’t down with that.”
“Maybe I want to use you, and I’m not fragile. No one hurts me anymore,”
Elizabeth Bennett was the most awkward person to ever come to a frat party. Not only had she came through the door like she was going to an execution, but she’d asked me to shag her in the most unsophisticated manner I’d ever seen in my days at Whitman. I could live for the next hundred years and my ears would never hear a come-on that bad. Weird or not, no one could deny she was hot as hell.
“You make it hard to stay away when you come in here with pink boots and wet knickers—which clearly aren’t granny panties.”
“I don’t believe in the perfect woman, just the right woman. Elizabeth knows she isn’t perfect, but neither is Darcy. They’re both flawed people who are at times too proud to admit their own true feelings—hence the title.”
“Your scars are beautiful. It means you survived. It means you’re here with me.”
“Are you ready to risk your heart, Elizabeth?” he said softly, watching me.
“Get in the bed with me.” I eyed him warily.
“You’ve got too many wires hooked up to you to get freaky.”
“I don’t want to shag you. I want to love you.”
Unfortunately, it didn't really work for me. I think the story had good bones and I absolutely adored Declan and his brother Dax, but the writing just wasn't executed well. There wasn't a lot of depth to the characters or their story. Due to a past assault, Elizabeth had control issues when it came to sex and it would have been interesting to see her work through those. The story just kind of skimmed over that and I think that was a missed opportunity.
The next book in the series is about Dax and he has a great personality, so I still may give that a shot.
Nicknames: Unicorn
Love is a knife that cuts out your heart piece by piece, feeding it to the boy you love.
Have sex. Never speak to him again. End of story. It was about control. My choice. My rules. I had to initiate the first move, and I had to be on top. Most importantly, I had to be in my own bed and around my own things.
“Look, I’ve seen you around on campus. You keep to yourself and underneath you seem, well, fragile—and honestly, I like my girls and sex hard. I’d be all over you, and somehow I’m sensing you aren’t down with that.”
“Maybe I want to use you, and I’m not fragile. No one hurts me anymore,”
Elizabeth Bennett was the most awkward person to ever come to a frat party. Not only had she came through the door like she was going to an execution, but she’d asked me to shag her in the most unsophisticated manner I’d ever seen in my days at Whitman. I could live for the next hundred years and my ears would never hear a come-on that bad. Weird or not, no one could deny she was hot as hell.
“You make it hard to stay away when you come in here with pink boots and wet knickers—which clearly aren’t granny panties.”
“I don’t believe in the perfect woman, just the right woman. Elizabeth knows she isn’t perfect, but neither is Darcy. They’re both flawed people who are at times too proud to admit their own true feelings—hence the title.”
“Your scars are beautiful. It means you survived. It means you’re here with me.”
“Are you ready to risk your heart, Elizabeth?” he said softly, watching me.
“Get in the bed with me.” I eyed him warily.
“You’ve got too many wires hooked up to you to get freaky.”
“I don’t want to shag you. I want to love you.”
alexandramar1e's review against another edition
3.0
Really really good. I would have given it four stars, but the unfolding of events felt either rushed, or stilted at times, with no in between, but it had so much potential and I loved the idea and characters and chemistry so much.
briewhale's review against another edition
3.0
There was a lot that I liked about this book. Their relationship seemed to be more lusty than love-y though. I expected them to have a few more intimate conversations, but they kept getting sidetracked. I especially enjoyed Declan’s protective hero qualities.
sfirebolts's review against another edition
2.0
It's a slightly better version of Beautiful Disaster.
romancebookshelf's review against another edition
4.0
Overall: 3.5/5
Spice: 2/5
POV: Dual
Tropes: Neighbors, Sports Romance, Pride and Prejudice Retelling, College Age
Main Characters: Declan and Elizabeth
TW: PTSD from Sexual Assault
Available on KINDLE UNLIMITED
Declan is the bad boy on campus. Covered in tattoos and training to be in MMA and partaking in underground street fighting, no one messes with him. Elizabeth Bennet has suffered some trauma in the past that she is still dealing with today. She is guarded and needs to always be in control. When things get a little out of hand at a college party, Declan intervenes. When he takes her home she finds out they are actually neighbors. They can’t fight the attraction between them, but both have some darker pasts and issues that they both have to work through if they want to be together.
This story does have a bit of a creepy twist to it, and I liked the underground fighting/MMA aspect since I don’t read a lot of sports book surrounding that. This is another quick read, and Ilsa Madden-Mills is always a go to if I need a quick pallet cleanser. This didn’t get me as much as some of her other books have, but I still enjoyed the connection between Declan and Elizabeth. Declan is secretly a teddy bear and just wants to make sure Elizabeth is then care of and helps her deal with her past.
Spice: 2/5
POV: Dual
Tropes: Neighbors, Sports Romance, Pride and Prejudice Retelling, College Age
Main Characters: Declan and Elizabeth
TW: PTSD from Sexual Assault
Available on KINDLE UNLIMITED
Declan is the bad boy on campus. Covered in tattoos and training to be in MMA and partaking in underground street fighting, no one messes with him. Elizabeth Bennet has suffered some trauma in the past that she is still dealing with today. She is guarded and needs to always be in control. When things get a little out of hand at a college party, Declan intervenes. When he takes her home she finds out they are actually neighbors. They can’t fight the attraction between them, but both have some darker pasts and issues that they both have to work through if they want to be together.
This story does have a bit of a creepy twist to it, and I liked the underground fighting/MMA aspect since I don’t read a lot of sports book surrounding that. This is another quick read, and Ilsa Madden-Mills is always a go to if I need a quick pallet cleanser. This didn’t get me as much as some of her other books have, but I still enjoyed the connection between Declan and Elizabeth. Declan is secretly a teddy bear and just wants to make sure Elizabeth is then care of and helps her deal with her past.
thanys_thoughts's review against another edition
4.0
More of a 3.5 rounded up because I really liked Declan.
This is supposed to be "inspired by" Pride and Prejudice, and I thought with the lead being named Elizabeth Bennet it would be a LITTLE bit more similar. But it's not. Like at all. Just FYI.
also, trigger warning for the beginning of the main character dealing with the aftermath of her rape. That scene was a little intense.
I liked Elizabeth and Declan though. I liked their chemistry. It was a little too insta-love for me, but I just loved Declan's character. Bad ass, straight-forward tough guy who is very sweet, kind, and caring to the broken Elizabeth.
I'll probably be reading Dax's book next.
This is supposed to be "inspired by" Pride and Prejudice, and I thought with the lead being named Elizabeth Bennet it would be a LITTLE bit more similar. But it's not. Like at all. Just FYI.
also, trigger warning for the beginning of the main character dealing with the aftermath of her rape. That scene was a little intense.
I liked Elizabeth and Declan though. I liked their chemistry. It was a little too insta-love for me, but I just loved Declan's character. Bad ass, straight-forward tough guy who is very sweet, kind, and caring to the broken Elizabeth.
I'll probably be reading Dax's book next.
readwithchey's review against another edition
3.0
Big moments happen with the smallest of actions, and sometimes it’s not until later we connect the dots…
So this was hands down one of the oldest books on my TBR, I mean I added it in 2015, when I was still in high school. A lot of my older TBR consists of New Adult books because after reading Abbi Glines for the first time I discovered the magic that is NA Romance and I’ve been passionately pursuing this genre ever since. My reading tastes have changed a lot since high school, and since I skip around genres so often a lot of my NA TBR fell to the back burner, but as this was the oldest book listed on my Goodreads TBR I’m glad I finally read this and can start hammering through my 2016 backlist.
This book was thoroughly enjoyable, and that’s about it. So it was good; the sex scenes were just as juicy as my other NA faves, the banter was enjoyable and I laughed and squealed and gasped a couple times, and the underlying drama got crazy at the end. It had all of the key points I look for in a NA Romance, there just wasn’t anything that made it stand out for me. It was the standard case of like but not love, good but not spectacular.
I’ll probably be reading the other book in the series, although you don’t have to read one to read the other, but I’m gonna save it for when I need a light and steamy read. I tried to find this book on Barnes and Noble but apparently they don’t have it, so it seems Amazon is the way to go for this one if you’re interested in something light but still sexy.
So this was hands down one of the oldest books on my TBR, I mean I added it in 2015, when I was still in high school. A lot of my older TBR consists of New Adult books because after reading Abbi Glines for the first time I discovered the magic that is NA Romance and I’ve been passionately pursuing this genre ever since. My reading tastes have changed a lot since high school, and since I skip around genres so often a lot of my NA TBR fell to the back burner, but as this was the oldest book listed on my Goodreads TBR I’m glad I finally read this and can start hammering through my 2016 backlist.
This book was thoroughly enjoyable, and that’s about it. So it was good; the sex scenes were just as juicy as my other NA faves, the banter was enjoyable and I laughed and squealed and gasped a couple times, and the underlying drama got crazy at the end. It had all of the key points I look for in a NA Romance, there just wasn’t anything that made it stand out for me. It was the standard case of like but not love, good but not spectacular.
I’ll probably be reading the other book in the series, although you don’t have to read one to read the other, but I’m gonna save it for when I need a light and steamy read. I tried to find this book on Barnes and Noble but apparently they don’t have it, so it seems Amazon is the way to go for this one if you’re interested in something light but still sexy.