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A review by thebritishbibliophile_
Crushed by Isabel Jolie, Isabel Jolie
4.0
'An interesting take on a guy-meets-girl, online friends meet in the real world. Except, one knows who the other is, the other does not.'
Thank you to Grey's Promotions for sending me an ebook Advanced Readers Copy for me to read and review.
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I first came across Isabel last year thanks to Grey's Promo, with her then upcoming novel 'Misplaced Mistletoe', to which I also gave four stars. 'Crushed's blurb along with Isabel's writing, was enough to tempt me into taking a chance on this novel to see if something other than a holiday romance would capture my interest in reading more of Isabel's work.
This time around the story focuses on Vivianne and Erik, a bookstore owner and an undercover hunted hacker respectively. Two completely opposite ends of the spectrum, brought together by the love of a shared gaming experience that has spanned well over a decade. The two under all circumstances of chance, were unlikely to ever meet or know the other outside of the world that they had met in, but fate had other ideas. So did chance.
Erik's character was completely adorable. He was written and came across as a big, broad, handsome man which by all accounts and usual romance book standard fare, would usually mean he's either cocky, big-for-his-boots or someone high up in the chain of command (usually a CEO with a domineering presence). But he was the opposite. Not large and in charge, but large and sweet. Kind and considerate. His intentions are good-measured, although a little backwards, and his nerdy vibe even though only on the page, is again completely adorable!
Vivianne was exactly the same as both Erik and I as a reader discovered together, she was completely the reverse of what you would expect her character as a small-town bookstore owner to be. It goes to show we can't judge on stereotypes in books or the real world, as Vivianne much like Erik, was a pleasure to read and get to know. Again, she has her own flaws which makes her only the more human, instead of just a character in the book.
Neither Erik or Vivianne were perfect as people, which makes them only the more relatable and genuine. I loved seeing these two both in their own worlds, and colliding into Vivianne's real world where inevitably at some point in the book, the truth would be revealed as to who they both were to one another. I looked forward to that moment greatly and was not disappointed with it or how Vivianne reacted. You'll see for yourself when you read it too. It was great!
At times the story did seem to linger in places when the pace could have been sped up a bit, perhaps a juicer bit sneaked in here and there, but that didn't devalue the book any less for me. I enjoyed the development of the storyline and how Erik and Vivianne developed with it.
As always when you think you've got things sussed out, the twist comes in and that's exactly how it was with Crushed. I will hand on heart admit that I thought at one point that things were finally in a suitable place until, surprise! A twist. Of course as the pages were getting less and less I was hoping for it to be solved before the final page--as I'm not a massive fan at all of cliffhangers--but luckily for me, the ending was just right.
4/5 stars for Isabel and 'Crushed'
Thank you to Grey's Promotions for sending me an ebook Advanced Readers Copy for me to read and review.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I first came across Isabel last year thanks to Grey's Promo, with her then upcoming novel 'Misplaced Mistletoe', to which I also gave four stars. 'Crushed's blurb along with Isabel's writing, was enough to tempt me into taking a chance on this novel to see if something other than a holiday romance would capture my interest in reading more of Isabel's work.
This time around the story focuses on Vivianne and Erik, a bookstore owner and an undercover hunted hacker respectively. Two completely opposite ends of the spectrum, brought together by the love of a shared gaming experience that has spanned well over a decade. The two under all circumstances of chance, were unlikely to ever meet or know the other outside of the world that they had met in, but fate had other ideas. So did chance.
Erik's character was completely adorable. He was written and came across as a big, broad, handsome man which by all accounts and usual romance book standard fare, would usually mean he's either cocky, big-for-his-boots or someone high up in the chain of command (usually a CEO with a domineering presence). But he was the opposite. Not large and in charge, but large and sweet. Kind and considerate. His intentions are good-measured, although a little backwards, and his nerdy vibe even though only on the page, is again completely adorable!
Vivianne was exactly the same as both Erik and I as a reader discovered together, she was completely the reverse of what you would expect her character as a small-town bookstore owner to be. It goes to show we can't judge on stereotypes in books or the real world, as Vivianne much like Erik, was a pleasure to read and get to know. Again, she has her own flaws which makes her only the more human, instead of just a character in the book.
Neither Erik or Vivianne were perfect as people, which makes them only the more relatable and genuine. I loved seeing these two both in their own worlds, and colliding into Vivianne's real world where inevitably at some point in the book, the truth would be revealed as to who they both were to one another. I looked forward to that moment greatly and was not disappointed with it or how Vivianne reacted. You'll see for yourself when you read it too. It was great!
At times the story did seem to linger in places when the pace could have been sped up a bit, perhaps a juicer bit sneaked in here and there, but that didn't devalue the book any less for me. I enjoyed the development of the storyline and how Erik and Vivianne developed with it.
As always when you think you've got things sussed out, the twist comes in and that's exactly how it was with Crushed. I will hand on heart admit that I thought at one point that things were finally in a suitable place until, surprise! A twist. Of course as the pages were getting less and less I was hoping for it to be solved before the final page--as I'm not a massive fan at all of cliffhangers--but luckily for me, the ending was just right.
4/5 stars for Isabel and 'Crushed'