Review: Ugly Love by Colleen Hoover

When Tate Collins meets airline pilot Miles Archer, she knows it isn’t love at first sight. They wouldn’t even go so far as to consider themselves friends. The only thing Tate and Miles have in common is an undeniable mutual attraction. Once their desires are out in the open, they realize they have the perfect set-up. He doesn’t want love, she doesn’t have time for love, so that just leaves the sex. Their arrangement could be surprisingly seamless, as long as Tate can stick to the only two rules Miles has for her.

Never ask about the past.
Don’t expect a future.

They think they can handle it, but realize almost immediately they can’t handle it at all.

Hearts get infiltrated.
Promises get broken.
Rules get shattered.
Love gets ugly.

Thoughts:

Speechless. Heartbreaking. Breathtaking. 

Colleen Hoover has delivered another spectacularly emotional and heart-wrenching novel that readers will rapidly devour in just one sitting. Each page leaves you hanging, anticipating for the next beautifully written line in Miles and Tate's epic love story. It is a story that appears doomed from the beginning, doomed by Miles' tragic past and Tate's unrequited love. 

The characters are flawed and wrecked - Miles by his shattering inability to open himself up to love; Tate by her uncontrollable hope in Miles. This can be frustrating at times, perhaps even bordering on irritating when Tate seems to drop everything (including her self-respect) for a man who knowingly and repeatedly crushes her tattered heart. Miles has his moments of sweetness but the dramatic contrast between his past, when he loved Rachel deeply and unreservedly, and now, when he is conflictingly cold towards Tate, perhaps leaves some readers less than impressed with his behavior. While he is to some extent justified by his soul-crushing past experiences, there seems to be little time for complete redemption at the end. By forgiving Miles so quickly at the end, Tate also appears a little too easy to please, and perhaps a little foolish for being able to so rapidly open her heart up to the same man who left it broken many times before. Nevertheless, they constructed a beautiful love story from the ugly ruins.
  
Told in alternating chapters by Tate in the present day and Miles six years earlier, the reader is magnetically drawn to uncovering the explosive events of the past and to observing Miles' journey to rediscovering love with Tate. With so many twists and turns in the plot, the author cleverly leaves readers doubtful of whether a happily ever after is obtainable for the two. Of course as is with every romance novel, it does eventually come, albeit a little rushed. 
  
Beautiful writing. Deeply emotional. Happy ending. 

Another must-read for 2014.

Rating:
5/5

Review: Searching for Someday by Jennifer Probst

Kate has given up on love—at least for herself. She is both blessed and cursed with the ability to sense a romantic connection between two people—a gift that her family passed down for generations. When Kate launches her own matchmaking company, Kinnection, with her two best friends in a cozy New York town, she has to put aside her own romantic disasters to make her business a success.

But when a furious man stalks into her office and accuses her business of being a scam, Kate is given the ultimate challenge to prove herself. Slade puts himself in her hands and asks Kate to find him love. Enraged at his arrogance but stubbornly eager to prove herself, Kate agrees, dedicating herself to the journey of finding him love... only to find herself falling for him along the way.

Thoughts:
Spicing up a fun romantic storyline with some magical powers (that ironically involve a unlucky-in-love heroine bringing soul mates together), the author delivers a light and enjoyable read. A promising start to a new series but I struggled to connect deeply with either Kate or Slade. They were not the most likeable of characters at some points in the novel, particularly in Slade's treatment of Kate and her unrealistically quick forgiveness of him as well as her conclusion of love for the guy when he has treated her poorly. Nevertheless, it had all the elements of romance and the author's polished writing skills leaves the reader interested for more in this series.

Rating:
3/5