Reviews
“No miles of level desert, no jagged mountain heights, no sea of endless blue Neither words nor tears, nor silent fears will keep me from coming back to you.” AAAAAA. This book is my first Lisa Kleypas book and can I just say I am totally awed by her writing. She truly has a way with words! McKenna and Aline’s story was passionately beautiful as well as heartbreaking (Their separation and then the reunion after that?! ANGSTY). And there were frustrating moments too, but I understand Aline and why she did those. Aside from the main couple, I was also fully invested in the second couple’s story which I love! I hope they can have their own book too… (PLEASEEEEE)
Prekuel dari serial Wallflower. Membawa suasana ke Inggris masa lalu. sudah lama tida membaca harlequinn dan sebangsanya, di awal cerita perlu penyesuaian dengan tatabahasa terjemahan, tapi lama kelamaan mulai terbiasa dan menikmatinya. Cinta yang rumit antara Aline dan McKenna berlatar strata yang berbeda. Putri sulung keluarga bangsawan yang mewarisi gen terbaik dari dua orang tua yang biasa saja. Tumbuh tanpa kehangatan keluarga, dia dekat dengan kepala rumah tangga yang merawat McKenna, si anak haram yang tak jelas asal-usulnya. McKenna pergi atas konspirasi ayah Aline. Diusir dengan paksa. Demi melindungi kekasihnya, Aline pura-pura membencinya. 12 tahun sang Kekasih memendam dendam. Tak tahu penderitaan lahir batin Aline. Dia kembali dalam kesuksesan. Diterima sebagai tamu terhormat di rumah Aline. Semua orang waspada, tak salah, McKenna memang punya tujuan berbahaya. Sampai kemudian dia merasa lebih baik pergi, cinta membuatnya ingin melinfungi Aline dari nafsu balas dendamnya sendiri. Aline terluka lagi. Namun dia tak punya keberanian memberikan alasan kenapa dia lagilagi menolak McKenna. Apa yang sebenarnya disembunyikan Aline?
Aline once fell in love with John McKenna, who she grew up with as a child, but when she became a woman everything changed, and after she had to force him to leave, her life changed forever....and now he is back in her life, and she knows that the least thing he is thinking of is the love they once shared, but revenge that is directed toward her. However as much as she wants to she knows she can't risk telling him the truth no matter how much it makes her ache inside. John, knew that there was no future for them but now he is forever changed from that young innocent stable boy who believed in love and hope for the future. He has created his own future, but Aline has always haunted his thoughts and has come back to get his revenge, only things don't add up and his passion for Aline resurfaces only stronger than ever.....Again The Magic, is the fourth in the Bow Street Runners, I think I may have read this one once before, but I don't remember it but there were parts that seemed familiar. I just fell in love with this book, it was everything I could have hoped for. Aline, is darling, even though I think she could have used more spine to fight for what she really wanted. For some reason John seemed so amusing to me, I really have no idea why, just that his character appealed to me in a certain way that made me smile. I just loved how the story progressed, the bed scenes were very heated but at the same time romantically sweet. I find the more I read this author the more I wish more authors were like her, I just love her stories and how they connect even though the series are different from each other. I also loved how their was a side love story to Aline's and Westcliffs younger sister....I found Again the Magic a very charming love story that just sang to the heart.....even though it had some flaws overall an sweet love story......
Ehh… did not quite convince me. I'm not sure if what I chiefly disliked was the style, or just the plot and this particular set of characters weren't my cup of tea. Perhaps a mix of all three.
3.5. What it lacks in wallflowers, it makes up for in siblings. <3
Ha! I devoured that. The hero was a bit of a prick at times ngl, but overall I really enjoyed this
2.5** did no one else think mckenna was abusive? just me? okay cool
Check out this and my other reviews at My Blog ★Book Basics★ Genre : - Historical Romance Series : - 0.5 in the Wallflowers series. Love triangle? - (view spoiler)[No (hide spoiler)] Cheating? - (view spoiler)[No (hide spoiler)] HEA? - (view spoiler)[Yes (hide spoiler)] Would I read more by this author/or in this series? - Yes Rating - 5 ★Review★ There used to be a time I read nothing BUT historical romances, but I got bored tbh of reading about 17/18 year old innocent virgin heroines who somehow manage to bring the 30 something year old Rake to his knees, but after hearing lots (and I mean lots) about this author and in particular this series I decided to give it a go. And here we do not have the usual characters that are so over populated in the romance genre, no young innocent virginal miss, and the "jaded" rake of a duke etc. Now, given the blurb, there is nothing really in that that suggests it is something I have not read before - re united lovers is a overdone plot in historicals. What made it different - well, the hero is not of the Ton, or a title of any sorts. I have read it the other way around, with the heroine being impoverished, or not having a title or a governess etc, but generally not this way around. And it was so much more than a lovers reunited story. It had true depth and emotion and drew me in as the reader until I felt like I was living and breathing the story myself. You truly felt for both McKenna and Aline, and all they had been through, and what they had meant to each other. We also had a side story (although really it was like another main love story) of Aline's sister and McKenna's friend, which instead of taking away from the main story, only added overall to the book. And again, in this relationship it touched on something not usually done in historicals, that just added to their story, an added depth, pain and overall love to their relationship. Here we had a heroine (or heroines) who were older, had suffered, and were going to reach out and take what they wanted. They knew their own minds and especially in the case of Olivia, Aline's sister, knew their own worth and what they deserved and how they wanted their life to be. A truly perfect historical romance.
I participated in a Twitter read-a-long for Again the Magic, you can see all the tweets by search #ATMLKRead! My Kleypas reading history is spotty. Her work is not part of my formative romance reading history and thus I find myself struggling with her earlier work, especially the male "heroes." I always enjoy my reading experience though as she is a master of angst and language. This is more a review/synopsis and is QUITE spoilery so stop here if you don't want to know. CW: medical trauma, death of parents/loved ones (off page), addiction (drinking), mention of miscarriage Aline and McKenna have grown up together, but conveniently don't have those pesky sibling feelings for each other, but instead have all the throbbing hormone pants feelings that come with young adulthood. They know their class difference means they can never be, and McKenna appears to be the realist, pursuing other girls and having sex with them while poor Aline pines and tries to tempt him into kissing her and more. They are of course caught, but Aline ensures McKenna will have some sort of future by promising to send him away so harshly he'll never return. Her father is a JERK. McKenna immediately believes Aline was using him for a play thing and leaves in anger. Aline is distraught, and wastes away until a kitchen accident burns her legs. She eventually recovers but will forever bear the scars. Cue 12 years later and Aline is still living at home but her brother is now in charge of the estate, her father is dead. A group of Americans is coming to stay and she is in charge of making sure they are comfortable and entertained. There is some sort of train business because is this a Kleypas novel without train business, and ope turns out McKenna is now a very rich man and is back for REVENGE. He will bone Aline and leave her behind him, finally free of her ghost, because he absolutely is NOT still in love with her. No way, despite clinging to her hanky for 12 years. Aline is on to his intent, but hey, maybe let's just go for it as long as we do it in the dark so he'll never know about MY LEGS. She's very concerned about her scars and thus has never married. She may also marry her best friend, a peer who is also gay. I'm not sure how I feel about this rep. She also uses this friend to make McKenna jealous. SO much angst and so much good banter between these two. Both make terrible choices. There's a ton of YOU WILL BE MINE I DON'T CARE WHAT YOU SAY chest thumping. While all this is going on, we also get a delicious secondary romance between Livia, Aline's sister who was ruined after it was found out she was having sex with her fiancee. He died in a tragic accident and she miscarried their baby. So sad. She's also been in mourning for years but now has met an intriguing American who inspires her to seek pleasure and happiness. Shaw has his own demons, and is an alcoholic, which is a big problem. I appreciate how Kleypas handled his addiction. Livia was not a magic lover, who cured all his ills. She in fact tells him she loves him, but she cannot be the reason he tries to get sober. There love story deserved a whole book IMO. Of course Aline and McKenna have a big break, again Livia breaks McKenna's heart, he starts to leave and she runs after him. Not enough grovel for me. And then the book basically ends. We do get to see that Livia and Shaw get their HEA after spending months and months apart so Shaw can work on his addiction. So overall a highly entertaining read, but I'm not swooning over McKenna anytime soon! Shaw's my guy in this story.
Find this review and more at kimberlyfaye reads . I have a confession – I am a Lisa Kleypas addict and it all started with this book right here. Since I decided to try out historical romance (and fell in love with it), nearly every HR fan I know has recommended Lisa's books as the best of the best and the absolute must reads. I totally get it now. Not that I doubted it (or them) for even a minute. But DANG. This is great stuff. I'm not always one who enjoys novellas but I'm so glad I looked at the Goodreads reviews for this book before I cast it aside. I knew after a single chapter that I would love this book. I loved Lisa's writing and I was already hopelessly in love with the characters. Now, I'll admit I was a little nervous when I was in tears early on in the book. I wasn't sure what exactly I was going to be in for, but I couldn't wait to find out. I loved Aline and McKenna's story. I mean, yeah, it broke my heart when they were separated the first time. I adored them together. Seeing them reunited brought out all kinds of emotions because of the changes to both of them in the time they were separated. On the surface, McKenna was a scoundrel and a rake (god I love the language of HR). I was a little concerned what that would mean to a future between him and Aline. Thankfully I didn't really have to worry. Underneath it all – and regardless of the plans he made before arriving back at Stony Cross Park – he was still totally smitten with her. And, naturally, I with him. Aline was a great character, even though I wanted to wring her neck a fair few times as she let her self-consciousness get in the way of her attraction to McKenna and the things developing between them. McKenna was just freaking gold. He's definitely on the favorites list when it comes to book boyfriends. Livia and Gideon's story was a pleasant bonus! I didn't know I would be getting a two for one when it came to romance. The two of them were so well-suited and, honestly, who doesn't love to watch a notorious rake fall head over heels? That's half the fun of historical romance after all. Livia was a great, strong female character. I loved how she challenged Gideon to overcome his addition and become a better man. Between Aline and McKenna and Livia and Gideon, I was on a romance high throughout this entire book. It was sweet, swoony and sexy. The writing was fantastic. When I didn't have a big, goofy smile on my face because of the banter and the romance, I had tears in my eyes because of the feels. So, so good. Whether you're new to HR (like me) or an old fan, if you've not read this book and series yet, you must. It's seriously all the things I love about romance – and reading – in one wonderful book.
