Reading Under the Willow Tree

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I really wanted to like Crave and although I got all the way through it I didn’t really like it at all. I had some issues with the characters and writing but did enjoy some parts of it in the end.

My first issue with this is that it felt a little bare and cold. I would have loved a lot more description, instead it read like constant inner monologues of the characters feelings which is fine for some readers but I like a little more.

My second issue was the character voices. If you are going to write a book with two characters Point of views their voices should sound different. The writing pattern for both characters was too alike and I felt they spoke and thought in the same way. If you handed me a page from each of the characters POV’s and blanked out the names I wouldn’t have been able to tell the different. This doesn’t affect the story so much but it took away from the world building and feel of the book.

The characters were the nail in the coffin for me. Archer was ok I didn’t mind him and actually found him quite sweet at times but I couldn’t stand Ivy. She was horrible and I just couldn’t keep up with her mind changes and inconsistencies. Here is an example: Ivy and Archer do the bad and she kicks him out of her room minutes later claiming it was a mistake. The next morning he agrees with her and she gets all upset and heartbroken about it. Then she mopes about for a few weeks because he hasn’t called her. I wouldn’t call the woman either to be honest. She says he ‘fooled’ her into bed but he knocked on her door to give her some thing and she literally stripped off in front of him and offered herself to him, not really sure that can be considered him fooling her. Later when he asks for her help professionally she tells him nothing intimate will happen between them moments latter propositions him. She drove me mad and I just couldn’t relate to her or deal with her.

The romance itself was ok and was one of the stronger parts of the book. The characters had chemistry and the sex scenes were good. This wasn’t for me but I think other fans of the genre will enjoy it more than I did. I may have not been in love with this but I will check out the other books in this series when they come out and hope that I will prefer the characters next time round.



The publisher provided me with a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review