Kelly Curry

Synopsis: Grace, 28, operates a struggling massage/therapy clinic in Austin, Texas, named Serendipity. When she wins a round-trip ticket to Paris, she informs Louis Sauvage, a charming and sensitive poet living in Paris she met online and with whom she has exchanged several emails and letters. Her letter is intercepted by his older brother, Luc, who believes she has swindled his much younger brother for a small fortune. Believing the worst of her, Luc assumes his brother's identity and invites her to stay at their family home. When Grace arrives in Paris, she is driven to an elaborate mansion where she meets an incredibly handsome man who accuses her of offering her body in exchange for money. Determined to make her pay for what he believes she's done, Luc forces her to stay where he can keep an eye on her while they keep the truth of their confrontation hidden from Louis. However, having a beautiful woman in such close proximity proves challenging for Luc, and the more time he spends with her, the more confused he is by her. She doesn't seem to be capable of what he's accused her of, but if that's the truth, what really happened to the money? Can either of them trust their mutual attraction to lead to anything more substantial?

The characters are well-drawn, if stereotypical. The hero (Luc) is ridiculously handsome, rich, powerful, athletic, and intelligent. He's every woman's dream. Grace is gorgeous and has a perfect body. She's hard-working and good-hearted. However, their meetings with one another are certainly charged. The sexual tension is palpable in their conversations, and when these two finally act on their attraction, the results are explosive. There is a lot of heat to this romance, and I do not recommend it for the faint of heart. Grace avoids some of the common pitfalls of romantic heroines. She doesn't keep resisting Luc when it's obvious they both want each other. And even after a jealous ex tries to interfere, Grace doesn't immediately believe Luc has betrayed her. Luc develops into a human being after beginning as a tyrant, and in the end you're reluctantly rooting for him.

As enjoyable as this read is, however, there are problems. One is the terrible editing. I'm used to formatting problems with Kindle versions and do not normally deduct stars for minor errors. This book is filled with them, however. One main problem is the omission of commas. They are so lacking as to cause sentences to run together and impede fluency. It's frustrating to constantly have to go back and re-read a sentence to add the right emphasis. Another problem was the development of Luc and Grace's romance. Grace is willing to jump into bed with him, even after he's hurled insulting accusations at her. I thought she went too easy on him. Had he apologized first and acted remotely remorseful, it would have been much better.… (más)

Reviewed by Laci
Review copy provided by author and Amazon
Happily Ever Afton by Kelly Curry. Overall, it’s a good book to read. It has a great plot, many funny moments, and several characters I immensely enjoyed. It was very hard to read, though, as there were many punctuation errors and run on sentences. Those errors made me confused at times and I had to backtrack a good bit.

I enjoyed the initial meeting of Afton and Cooper. They really defined running into each other. Afton is a woman after my own heart. She got pissed at her soon-to-be husband and decided to fight fire with fire. In other words, since he was kissing another woman, *cough* her maid of honor and bff *cough*, and thought he could get away with doing it in a very public place, then she should have no problems reciprocating the gesture. With Cooper. Woo hoo. Way to go girl! Afton’s sense of humor throughout the entire book had me laughing and smiling because she definitely wasn’t a simpering young miss. I’m not sure if Cooper was just going along for the ride or if he really did want Afton’s help with their “Strangers On A Train” theory. Coopers family was super. I loved his nieces, who also took a real shine to Afton. My heart broke for Afton when she feels betrayed, but that she decided to turn the tables on Cooper, I once again found myself cheering for her. She has hudspah for a lack of a more colloquial term. The ending was the best I’ve read in a contemporary romance in a while. I would recommend this book.… (más)