The more I think about Bad Romeo the lower I want to rate it... I normally go into a review knowing what star rating I'm going to give it, but in Bad Romeo's case I'm just going to wait till I'm completely done with the review before I decide anything.
With a cover like this I had high hopes for the book. I found Bad Romeo entertaining enough that I wanted to finish it, BUT there are also A LOT of things about it I hated.
The story follows two main characters Cassie Taylor and Ethan Holt. My main problem with the stories starts right there... With Cassie. At the start of this story she is a strong sassy leading lady, but as the novel continues, in both present and past tense, she became BEYOND annoying. When she is originally introduced I loved her. She seemed like she could hold her own against the leading tough guy Ethan. Cassie ending up spending 90% of the book begging (yes begging) for him to give her the D.
She was so whiny and childish. Yes, some of her sexual commentary was funny and did give me a good LOL now and again but after 300 pages of her groveling for him to have sex with her I was just over it. I like up front ladies but it was just too much. Now on to Ethan. I liked present day Ethan a million times more than past Ethan. If you read this book you would probably think my reasoning for it is because present Ethan is swoon worthy and sweet... but you'd be wrong. It would be because he no longer went on and on about how much of an asshole he was. He spent WAY, WAY too much time talking about how he was a dick. WE GET IT YOU'RE SUCH A TOUGH GUY WITH A HORRIBLE PAST. (Just like every other Ya hottie.) Bad boy-don't want a girl friend-attitude was cute maybe the first 5 times you said it. Once again his character got really old fast! Present Ethan though; I'd take him any day of the week. I did really enjoy his characters verbiage and the way he brought about banter. The main and one of the only things I liked about the characters is that their relationship is more "realistic" because it's not rushed. They spent years building what they have (good or bad) as the book follows their 6 year journey.
"Think about it, Taylor," he says as he leans forward. "If Romeo thought he loved Rosaline and she broke his heart, why wouldn't he be terrified of Juliet, considering his connection to her is a hundred times stronger?" I raise my eyebrows. "Maybe he's brave enough to think it's worth the risk."
As far as the plot went, it was a little weak. The time-line does bounce between present day, six years earlier, and a few dairy entries. I found for the most part that the diaries entries were a little pointless. I got why they were there, I just didn't think they severed a real purpose. The back and forth between past and present never seemed to bother me however. The main point to the story is that Ethan apparently did Cassie wrong. Not just once, but twice. So in present time he is fighting to win her back. This is another issue I had with the book. It is only slightly suggested what the first thing he did to her was... the second item isn't even blinked at in this book. I like as much as the next book reader to use my imagination and draw my own conclusions now and again, but sometimes I just want you to flat out tell me what happened. I wouldn't of minded waiting for book two too get the second answer BUT for the love of mike just flat out tell me what he did too her, don't just blush at it then move on. The story was dragged out for way too long. This book is just over 400 pages and it could have been around 250-300.
As far as positive feedback, the things I did like about this book were: some of the phrases Leisa used to describe scenes and situations, the few actual romantic moments, the way the title was brought into play, and the steamy scenes were well written.
"When he looks at me with eyes full of agony and saltwater, I feel like I'm drowning"
Like seriously, you can't just write short, sweet little phrases like that, but then give us very little of anything else. Other than the handful of nice items I liked, I overall wanted more out of this story. I was promised a romantic tale of star-crossed love lost, but what I got was a short stop ending with not even half answered questions.
4/10 Stars
-Angela
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