Author: Sarah Darlington
Release Date: March 4, 2014
Reading Level: Adult (17+)
Genre: New Adult, Contemporary, Romance
"Identical twins, Maggie and Clara Ryder, both grew up with Leo Maddox, billionaire playboy, apparent alcoholic, and heir to his grandfather's world-famous Maddox hotel empire. Their roles were cemented long ago: Maggie, as his best friend and Clara as his childhood nemesis.
But when a simple twist of fate changes everything and both girls start to fall for the lean, mean, ridiculously sexy and seemingly spoiled Leo... which girl will win his heart?
Throw in a little mischief, drama, and one smoking-hot bartender and lines are sure to blur. But one thing's for certain, neither good-girl Maggie nor rebellious Clara will be satisfied until they each figure out where they belong.
*NEW ADULT ROMANCE. Recommended for 17+ due to sexual situations and adult language.*"
But when a simple twist of fate changes everything and both girls start to fall for the lean, mean, ridiculously sexy and seemingly spoiled Leo... which girl will win his heart?
Throw in a little mischief, drama, and one smoking-hot bartender and lines are sure to blur. But one thing's for certain, neither good-girl Maggie nor rebellious Clara will be satisfied until they each figure out where they belong.
*NEW ADULT ROMANCE. Recommended for 17+ due to sexual situations and adult language.*"
MY THOUGHTS:
I received an e-copy ARC of this book from the author.
All my thoughts are honest and unbiased.
Guh! This book just gave me all of the feels, okay? Let me start off by saying I'm someone who doesn't read a ton of contemporary. I don't usually go for new adult, nor do I even own a lot of books focusing on romance and relationships as the main, driving forces. All that being said, I REALLY enjoyed He Belongs With Me. This book had me feeling all the emotions as if I were right there with the characters and I found myself wanting to read it as much as possible as I couldn't get them out of my head. I needed to know what was going to happen next!
When reading this novel, I found myself comparing it to an ABC Family drama like Pretty Little Liars or Twisted. I suppose that's something to expect from a new adult, contemporary romance, but Sarah Darlington pulled it off phenomenally. My mind even drifted to thoughts of High School Musical 2, but I think that's probably because much of the story takes place at a country club just as that movie does. Speaking of settings, I really enjoyed that this book took place mostly in Virginia and New York. I could picture the country club and where everything was located very well and the "world building", if you will, was spot on.
I would say this is quite a character driven book, but that's not to say it's a bad thing. The characters are well-developed and, as far as I could tell, easily relate-able. I found myself siding with one of the twins more than the other which is something that tells me this was a good book. Why? Because I cared enough about the characters to get defensive for them and care about how they were going to end up. In addition to that, there's the typical fangirl notion of picking a guy you like the best. In this book, I had trouble choosing! Although, I obviously settled on Leo. I mean, come on.
Overall, I feel like He Belongs With Me ended up being right up my alley! I laughed at times, totally relating to the twins and the feelings they were dealing with. I also cried towards the end there. I do cry pretty easily, but still.. The clover! GUH. Looking back, I feel like this book was well-rounded and definitely entertaining. I'd recommend it to anyone looking to start reading more new adult books as it was definitely a gateway book for me. I'm sure I'll read more new adult in the near future. In the end, I gave He Belongs With Me a sold 4/5 stars. This book was absolutely peaches. (Is that how you use that word?)
GIVEAWAY:
Enter to win one of 5 eCopies of He Belongs With Me!
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Sarah Darlington lives in the DC metro area, is married to her high school sweetheart, and currently spends her time chasing around a very active toddler. As a former flight attendant, she misses the days of pantyhose, galley gossip with good friends, and traveling to new places. In the future she'd like to return to that career, but, just as flying gets into your bones, so does writing. Whenever she gets a free moment these days, she writes.
I'm going to add this to my Want to Read list! Thanks!
ReplyDeleteAlso, I nominated you for the Liebster award. The information can be found here: http://herreviewsofbooksmoviesandeverything.blogspot.com/2014/03/liebster-award.html