Elle CruzRezensionen

A Holiday Romance Anthology

Stepping into Hacienda Luz, an elegant Napa hotel, and being able to attend not only the 100th birthday of amazing Lola Naty but the stories of six couples finding love during the holidays was a treat indeed. The Filipino culture was a character on its own and fun for me to learn a bit more about. This is a book that can be savored a story at a time making it last for a while or, if you find yourself with a day free and wish to step into the Hacienda Luz for the entire event, it can be devoured in a shorter time.

Drawn to this book by my love of Mia Hopkins writing, I read her story first and ILLICIT was just as complex and edgy as I was expecting. It told of the closeness felt by two teens as they met the first time and how what seemed so right went so very wrong. As they meet again for the first time in fourteen years, they are given an opportunity and a second chance that might make that earlier potential come to fruition…loved reading Eden and Nick’s story.

Second up was written by Maan Gabriel, MY ONLY LOVE. It is the story of two chefs with an issue from the past to overcome, if they can, and a huge event to cater. Ruby and Mason were classmates in culinary school, talented chefs in the making, doing well professionally…and yet…there is that thing in the past that really must be discussed before both can move on.

And, as this review should go up NOW and not wait till I finish the rest of the book, I have to say this is a book that has opened my eyes in more ways than one and that more than one author in this anthology will be on my read-again list in the future.

Thank you to Mia Hopkins for the ARC – this is my honest review.

5 Stars

How to Survive a Modern-Day Fairy Tale by Ella Cruz

Claire Ventura works in a book store but dreams of opening her own cookie decorating business. When her grandmother is diagnosed with Alzheimers and put into a living facility her already busy life becomes stressful. The pressure from her family to get a steady job, find love, and to also keep her grandmother Lola comfortable starts to add up.

While trying to stay on top of everything she runs into (literally runs right into him) Nate Noruta! When the sparks fly Nate falls for Claire! But with Nate being a CEO of a tech company and a billionaire while Claire is just trying to survive the day to day will they be able to find love or will their backgrounds be too different?

Overall I did enjoy the story! It was well written and I did enjoy the main characters, but there were some areas that I thought were explained more than they needed to be, I would have liked to understand Nate's connection with Claire a little more. I didn't understand why he fell in love with her so fast. But that is not to say the author didn't do a good job with the book. It is well written and the characters' development into their background was well done! If the author has decided to have another book added to the series then I'm sure the other parts will be adventured into more then. Happy reading everyone!

Thank you Entangled Publishing for sharing this ebook with me in exchange for an honest review!

I picked up this book to read because I liked the cover design... definitely a case of don't judge a book by its cover!

I was going to try to find a way to tone down this review, but after reading several other reviews I have to agree, this book is just not good.

The dialogue is horribly stilted and juvenile. The characters are underdeveloped and shallow tropes. The main character essentially abandons everything about her life the day after meeting the billionaire to follow him around.

I'm not really sure why I finished this book. The ending was possibly the worst part.½

Thank you Netgalley, Ms. Cruz and publisher for the free ARC copy.

I am Filipino and wanted to like this book so much but I read it in just a few hours because I wanted the experience to end. I have no problems with the writing but I have problems with the plot and the characters. The whole story was cliched and definitely been there and done that. The story has nothing new to offer. There are also unexplored plots that just quickly rounded up at the end. It seems like this was done in a hurry just like Clara's cookie orders. The characters are 2-dimesional at best, I'm not saying that this is the worst but the story can be definitely improved on.

When the heroine meets the hero, it's love-at-first-sight. But as the relationship deepens between the two, the heroine struggles with familial expectations, her own independence, and being in the spotlight. How will the heroine balance everything as her world upends in a direction she never expected?

I enjoyed reading this debut story by Elle Cruz. My favorite part of the book is the cultural representation that is exemplified in the heroine's family. The secondary characters really made the story for me, especially Lola. I liked the romance between the main couple, but I feel it needed a bit more exploration in the book. Both main characters are relatable in some way, but it would have been nice to see a better transition in the changes that this journey made for each of them. In a sense, what I really wanted was more details in some parts of the story, but that's a personal preference of mine. Overall, an enjoyable read and I'm definitely looking forward to reading more Elle Cruz books in the future.

**I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.**

I found this to be a well-done romance. I liked the characters right away and wanted to see things work out for them. This book was a pretty quick read for me and I was hooked very early on in the story. I thought that the story tackled a lot of interesting things including dealing with a family member with Alzheimer’s needing nursing home care and a large and sometimes demanding Filipino family. I am so glad that I decided to pick this book up.

Claire visits with her grandmother daily and works in a local bookstore. Her family is a big part of her life and they can sometimes be quite demanding. She also runs a cookie decorating business which is her passion. She meets Nate when she almost hits him with her car and she has no idea who he is. It turns out that he is a well-known businessman who happens to be incredibly wealthy. He is taken with Claire right away and I loved seeing these two get to know each other.

I loved Nate. He might have been a little too perfect at times but he was the highlight of this story for me. I liked Claire to a point but she did drive me crazy at times. I understand being insecure but her inability to stand up for herself and always do what her family wanted her to do drove me crazy after a while. The parts of the story that were focused on Claire and Nate’s relationship were the strongest parts of the story but I was less impressed those focused solely on Claire.

I would recommend this book to others. I found it to be a rather enjoyable read with an interesting cast of characters and a wonderful romance. I would not hesitate to read more of this author’s work in the future.

I received a digital review copy of this book from Entangled: Amara via NetGalley.

Although I enjoyed, for the most part, reading How to Survive a Modern-Day Fairy Tale, I didn't find it to be a rom-com as advertised and there were too many "holes" in the plot for me to accept the HEA ending. For this reader, this read as a novella that was lengthened without the major issues being resolved by the end of the story. Claire had serious issues with doubt and fear that were miraculously dissolved (not resolved) by the end of the story. She also had issues with both of her sisters and these were never truly discussed or worked out to achieve a resolution of the issues by the end of the story. She simply seemed to wake up one day and decide the issues were handled. She never truly resolved the issues with her Aunt Chriss, but again the issues were magically resolved without there being a confrontation or attempt to deal with said issues. The romance element was there but hidden, or overcome, by the doubts and fears of both Claire and Nick. This had all the promise of a great romance read, but it just fell flat along the way. Yes, it had a HEA and yes, the major issues "seemed" to be resolved by the end of the story, but there were simply too many questions raised and never answered for this reader to fully enjoy the story. We won't even mention the utter lack of comedy for this to be considered a rom-com!
I don't normally expect too much from a good romance read other than a realistic story, realistic representations of ethnic groups (achieved here), and a HEA. I do expect the issues raised within the story to be realistically resolved and that just didn't happen here. Even in fairy tales, the issues don't magically vanish, the protagonist has to work towards achieving a resolution (with or without help, magical or otherwise).

I was provided a digital copy of this book in exchange for a fair and honest review.