Friday 7 November 2014

Review: Bittersweet

Bittersweet

Author: Sunday James
Genre: New Adult, Romance
Publisher: Hothouse Fiction Ltd
Publication Date: October 2 2014
Format: ebook
Pages: 320
Source: AToMR Promotions
Purchase: Amazon | B&N | iTunes | Kobo

Rating: ★★★
Sparks fly between a sexy stranger and a small-town waitress in this steamy new contemporary romance…

When new teen TV series 'Bittersweet' begins shooting in Dogwood, Virginia, the small town is abuzz with excitement. But local waitress Cathy Johnson has too much on her plate to waste time being star-struck. To Cathy, "bittersweet" is just the word that sums up her love-life after her high school romance ended in disaster. Since then she’s hardly had time to brush her hair, let alone think about relationships. Certainly not the kind being played out in front of the cameras by impossibly beautiful actors posing as teenagers…

But all that changes when tall, dark, blue-eyed stranger Greg Moran arrives in Dogwood along with the 'Bittersweet' cast and crew. Cathy and the devastatingly sexy New Yorker have instant chemistry. But Greg blows hot (STEAMING hot) and cold with her romantically, leaving Cathy’s head in a spin. She has a feeling he’s keeping something from her… If Cathy is willing to drop her emotional walls, why is Greg still so intense and mysterious? What is it in his past – or present – that means he’s keeping Cathy at arm’s length? How badly has his heart really been broken before?

Cathy and Greg are magnetically drawn to one another, but they’ll have to fight to keep their relationship from turning sour. Will they make it? If it’s hard to let go of the past, falling in love can be BITTERSWEET… (Goodreads)

Opening Lines

“As the sun finally begins to sink lower in the sky, I stare at the piles of trash neatly stacked up in the dumpster with a smile on my face, drawing in a last breath of the warm summer air before I head back inside.”

Bittersweet was a good New Adult read, I found that it flowed well and had a cute small town appreciation. I had some problems being able to connect with the characters but I really loved how Greg wasn't the typical New Adult jerk-character that seems to be in almost every book. He was genuine and so sweet! And Cathy, as much as she had plans to get out of town she said to take care of her father and you can see how much she loves her family.

There was obvious chemistry between Cathy and Greg that just seemed to get hotter and hotter as the story progressed. I really enjoyed the writing style and how descriptive Sunday James was. I felt like I was really seeing Dogwood and it made me love the small town atmosphere more.

What kept Bittersweet from getting 5 stars?

As much as Bittersweet was an interesting read and had good characters I couldn't connect with any of them. There wasn't really anything about them that made me love them or hate them. I felt like there was so much we weren't told about Greg's character. We learned about his past but I still felt there was a lot missing. Also, this book was told completely from Cathy's POV. I would have probably enjoyed this more if there was at least a view chapters from Greg's POV, this would allot for the readers to really get inside his mind and to better understand him. Another issue I had with Bittersweet was I found there was just too many things taking place! It's was like the sub plot had a sub plot and made it very hard for me to follow he story at times. 

Overall, Bittersweet was a cute read! As much as I had some issues with it, I did find it to be a pretty good debut novel for Sunday James. Will I be continuing with this series? Maybe, I'll need to read the synopsis first to see where she plans to take the story.

Giveaway!

(1) $10 USD Amazon Gift Card
-1) $5 USD Amazon Gift Card.



About the Author

Sunday James is the pen name of author Sareeta Domingo, when writing the New Adult contemporary romance series BITTERSWEET. She lives in London and works as an editor at creative book packager Hothouse Fiction, squeezing writing into her mornings, evenings and weekends – but promises she has a life…

She loves all things American – literature, history, popular culture – so much so that she even lived and studied in California, but somehow missed out on being swept off her feet by a devastatingly handsome but mysterious actor while she was there. Luckily, writing BITTERSWEET has allowed her to live that dream.



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