Ella Maise - To Love Jason Thorn (Love and Hate #1)
3 ⭐
Genre: Romance, Contemporary, Contemporary Romance, Fiction
Time: 11h 20mins
Narrator: Alexander Cendese and Lidia Dornet
Format: Audio
Publisher: Tantor Audio/ Audible
Date Published: 3rd December 2015
Book Blurb:
Oh, how stupidly in love with that boy I was. He was the first boy that made me blush, my first official crush. Sounds beautiful so far, right? That excitement that bubbles up inside you, those famous butterflies you feel for the very first time—he was the reason for them all. But, you only get to live in that fairytale world until they crush your hopes and dreams and then stomp on your heart for good measure. And boy did he crush my little heart into pieces.
After the stomping part he became the boy I did my best to stay away from—and let me tell you, it was pretty hard to do when he slept in the room right across from mine.
When tragedy struck his family and they moved away, I was ready to forget he ever existed.
Now he is a movie star, the one who makes women of all ages go into a screaming frenzy, the one who makes everyone swoon with that dimpled smile of his. Do you think that’s dreamy? I certainly don’t think so. How about me coming face to face with him? Nope still not dreamy. Not when I can’t even manage to look him in the eye.
Me? I’m Olive, a new writer. Actually, I’m THE writer of the book that inspired the movie he is about to star in on the big screen. As of late, I am also referred to as the oh-so-very-lucky girl who is about to become the wife of Jason Thorn.
Maybe you’re thinking yet again that this is all so dreamy? Nope, nothing dreamy going on here. Not even close.
My Review:
So again, unpopular opinion, but this romance was so
average. After listening to The Hardest Fall by Ella Maise I had such high
hopes for this book, but those were chattered about halfway through this book.
Don’t get me wrong I loved the premise of this book and for about 40% of this
book, I actually thought it was going to be a 5-star read, but not after that.
After those 40%, it turned into a smut book, without any character progression
or interesting plotline. I can’t believe that most of the second half of the
book was smut scenes that were so repetitive and cheesy, I had to listen to
them on 2x speed, just so I don’t fall asleep.
The book follows Olive who since she was a little girl, was
in love with her brother's best friend and next-door neighbour Jason. Jason
never seemed to feel the same way about Olive and only saw her as his best
friend's younger sister. Now more than ten years later, Olive is a popular
indie author, with her debut book smashing all the book charts. Her book is now
going to be made into a film, but who is going to play the lead in it…None
other than Jason...Yes, the same Jason that Olive loved since she was a kid and
the same Jason her book is based on. He is now a hotshot Hollywood star, who
has a very questionable personal life. To make Jason look good, his management
team decides that he needs to marry someone and that someone should be Olive,
since the story of long lost and now found love will bring Jason back to his
limelight!
I wanted this love story to be deeper, as it had so much
potential and premise to do so. It was heading that way until the book turned
into smut galore and then all I could feel that these characters had towards
each other was lust. This was especially apparent when in every other sentence
Jason mentioned how hot Olives' bum and breasts were. Seriously!? It didn’t
feel at all that they were in love. There wasn’t any character development or
progression in this book either. It all just felt a bit anticlimactic to me. I
just couldn’t connect to any of the characters in this book, nor root for them.
Also, this book had friends-to-lovers, fake dating, marriage
of convenience, and brother’s best friend tropes all merged into one story. It
was just too much! I wish Ella Maise just chose one and went with it because
too many tropes made this book so confusing and with less developed plotlines
and characters.
Overall: Very average romance book that wanted to be all, but fell flat. Too much smut and cheese yet not enough plot progression, drama or character development. Had such high hopes for this, but was so disappointed. Hopefully To Hate Adam Connor is going to be much better.
About the Author:
Writing has become my world and I can’t imagine myself doing anything other than giving life to new characters and new stories. You know how some things simply makes your heart burst with happiness? A really good book, a puppy, hugging someone you’ve been missing like crazy? That’s what writing does to me. And all the hard work, all the sleepless nights, all the anxiety…everything is worth it at the end. And I'm hoping that reading my books will leave you with that same happy feeling.
