Kaleidoscope Hearts by Claire Contreras

He was her older brothers best friend and she was never suppose to be his. They thought they could get it out of their systems... One did and one left.

This second chance romance really did it for me... I'll say that right off the bat. 

Elle and Oliver have known each other forever. Oliver is Elle's brother Vic's best friend (that's a mouth full). This means by bro code they can't date. This issue never kept them from secret met ups. Oliver however decided that relationship aren't for him. So Elle goes her way Oliver goes his.

Elle of course is our leading lady. She ends up engaged to an older successful artist, who teaches her how to master her art. Together they open a studio. Once her fiance dies her world is thrown upside down (not a spoiler Fyi says it in like the first few pages). Elle sells their house and moves in with her brother Vic. Oliver our main man left Elle shattered after keeping their relationship a secret for years. He decided that he would focus on med school and just keep up with his womanizing ways. Both characters were realistically written. They were both characters that stood well on their own and together. As much as I liked Oliver, I liked Elle more. Even though sometimes she made me mad with her choices I really liked her character overall. She was silly, fun, and selfless. Oliver, who earlier on I didn't think I would like I ended up loving. His back story was sweet and his reasons were the same. His character development really did it for me. It's odd that every book I've read lately has been involving art/artist. Again though, it was another book that prefect wove in this aspect.

The story's plot circles around how hard it is to get over your first and only true love. And I for one am a sucker second chance love. The plot isn't rushed and though Contreras has it written that it could have been broken up into several books, I like that she choose not too. I loved how the novel goes from Elle's point of view in the present to Oliver's point of view being in the past. This had it so the story came perfectly together, and solved any unanswered questions. The reason I didn't give this book a higher rating was only because at a few points I did feel like it got a little repetitive. There was one or two times were I was like "ok come on I know where this is headed we've heard this song and dance already". Other than that I really enjoyed this Chick-lit of a read. 

Kaleidoscope Hearts was a sweet fun you know what you're getting into read and I really enjoyed it. 

8/10 Stars 
-Angela 
 

(Kaleidoscope Heart Audio Clip)
(Kaleidoscope BookDepo)