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Monday 1 December 2014

{Review} Stepbrother Dearest by Penelope Ward

22843341Posted by Jess
Release Date: November 24th, 2014
Finished Date: November 27th, 2014
Publishers: Self-Published 
Genre: New Adult Contemporary 
Source: Bought
Format: eBook
Pages: 230
Buy: Amazon UK Amazon US

You’re not supposed to want the one who torments you. 

When my stepbrother, Elec, came to live with us my senior year, I wasn’t prepared for how much of a jerk he’d be. 

I hated that he took it out on me because he didn’t want to be here. 
I hated that he brought girls from our high school back to his room. 
But what I hated the most was the unwanted way my body reacted to him. 

At first, I thought all he had going for him were his rock-hard tattooed abs and chiseled face. Then, things started changing between us, and it all came to a head one night. 

Just as quickly as he’d come into my life, he was gone back to California. 

It had been years since I’d seen Elec. 

When tragedy struck our family, I’d have to face him again. 

And holy hell, the teenager who made me crazy was now a man that drove me insane.

I had a feeling my heart was about to get broken again.

Stepbrother Dearest is a standalone novel. 

**Contains graphic sexual content and harsh language. It is only appropriate for adult readers age 18+

The Review: “You were the best thing that ever happened to me. I hope that someday I can say you were one of the best, but for now, it's only you.”

This. Book.

This is the first book that I've read by Penelope Ward, and what a way to be introduced to her. When I found this book during my usual trall of Goodreads, I pretty much wanted to read it straight away. Why? Because I'm a sucker for forbidden romances. A complete sucker.

I was pretty much addicted from the start of the book. I actually didn't want to put it down, but sleep kept calling me as I found myself reading this in bed a lot. Although I wasn't completely keen on her writing style, the story alone was enough though to distract me from the disjointedness (is that a word?) of the book. 


We meet Greta and Elec when they are about to meet for the first time at 17 even though they've been stepbrother and sister for about 2 years...so you know...not really as taboo as some people would think. They have such sexual tension that it is palpable on those pages; that they take you through a complete rollercoaster of emotions, trying to deny their reactions and their lust for each other. Eventually, like as always in these types of books everything comes to a head and they can no longer deny it.

It's been a long time since I read a book, and fell so in love with the hero that when I wasn't reading it, and I thought about the hero (in this instance, Elec) that it actually made my heart flutter. That's a true testament to the power of a sexy hero that oozes off the pages.

I really didn't have many issues with this book at all, mostly because I was involved with Elec and Greta that I just forgot about most things. However, and there is a however for me, other than the feeling of disjointedness of the telling of the story, there wasn't a lot of plot development, there was a sort of in some form or another some character development, but not enough to really notice it. I also didn't quite understand the 'Part 2' of this story. I can kind of see why Penelope Ward decided to write the story this way, but having read the first 80% or so in Greta's POV, to finally get Elec's view seemed a little thrown in, and it isn't really his POV to move the story forward, it was his POV of some of the story that I'd just read from Greta. I just didn't get it. As much as I loved reading Elec's POV, I do think the whole book could have been told alternatively throughout whilst still keeping all the details in there. Those are really my only gripes with this book.

Overall? It's a good book, I really enjoyed it for the forbidden love story. It's a quick read, only about 200+ pages or so. I would absolutely recommend this to anyone who wants a love story, who enjoys the forbidden side of it, who enjoys reading about the tortured hero and the heroine that saves him. If you're a reader who likes plot and character development...probably not the book for you. In my honest opinion, you can definitely look past those flaws just for the love story alone.

I will be reading more from Penelope Ward for sure. I'm just glad that I introduced myself to her with Stepbrother Dearest.

Note: This book is recommended for readers aged 18+ due to sexual (very hot sexual) content, adult language.
 


2 comments:

Lorena said...

I'm a sucker for this kind of romance too, I want to read it!!
Thanks for the review!

alessya said...

Love your review and couldn`t agree more! :)

 
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