Unfortunately I really couldn't get on with this book.

The characters and plot felt flat and stereotypical. I felt one step ahead of everything which is not the experience I want reading a book. The relationship between Red and Caleb was wooden, the constant drama made it feel repetitive that eventually I DNF'ed.

Although this seems to be aimed more for young adults, kids, I wouldn't promote these kinds of characters or relationships to them.

The first book, Chasing Red, was a DNF for me. I couldn't get into it. So, I will not be continuing with the series and will not be giving any feedback on this book.

So I asked for the chance to review Always Red before I read Chasing Red. No problem there just gave me a good reason to expand my bookshelf. These two books (Chasing Red and Always Red) are a continuation of each other, so it's best to read them in order. Although I've learned that you can still enjoy Always Red if you read it as a stand alone.
I enjoyed Isabelle Ronin's writings her characters depth and speak to you. The plot is well written and believable that in some time this could happen to a couple of college kids.
I loved watching the romance unfold between Caleb and Veronica. Beatrice was the perfect twist to it all.

Caleb and Red have a lot of issues to work through. Will their relationship survive? Can they beat the odds? Will they learn to trust?

Discover young love and the desperate things that love can lead us to do.
Can love conquer all?

While this is released as a standalone I find it best to read after Book 1.

This is another really sweet romance and picks up where Chasing Red finished.I really enjoyed Veronica and Caleb’s story this book see's the couple trying to come back together and make it work but will their love for one another be enough?it was a fantastic read that keeps you interested all the way through.If you have not read these books you are really missing out.

I was really amped up on this series after the first novel, CHASING RED. Unfortunately, ALWAYS RED was a lot slower and just a little to YA for me.

I so much enjoyed Veronica and Caleb's story in the first book, and completely fell in love with them as a couple. There was just something about their dynamic that just appealed to me that I was so distraught at the end when they broke up because of a horrible misjudgment. In Always Red, something is different. In fact, it feels like a completely different book because it tends more towards soap opera and dramatics. This time as Caleb and Veronica try to work out their problems they're hindered by Caleb's jealous teammate, Justin, and also his jealous best friend, Beatrice-Rose, who has resorted to extremes to break up the couple for good.

So here's what didn't work for me: I felt Beatrice-Rose's character hijacked this story. She has some serious mental health issues that I felt were acknowledged but then just set aside. Her actions became too over the top for me that she became more of the cliche. I felt Veronica and Caleb's relationship suddenly hit the accelerate button once they got back together and that didn't feel right to me especially when she still had trust issues that keep popping up.

What did work for me and what I wish there was more of: Justin. He's the supposed friend who is insanely jealous of Caleb and we learned of this in the first book. He also suffers from becoming a cliche which disappointed me because I would've been interested in his backstory and his attempts at undermining Caleb whenever he can.

I was really looking forward to Always Red and in the end, this sequel felt like a soap opera which was not for me.

This book goes on my list as one of the best books of 2017 because this book has everything. I absolutely fell in love with Caleb in this book and I will tell you why in a second. This is book two in the widely proclaimed Red series and it picks up where book 1 left off. I would like to add that it would be helpful to read book one first before picking this up. I will also add that I gave book one 3 stars and you can check out my review for Chasing Red, so for me to give this book 5 stars is pretty major. Now back to book 2, in this story we have Veronica, a.k.a Red, finally accepting Caleb, her feelings and the strong love that he has for her. While book 1 was about Caleb trying to get Red to love him, in book 2 their relationship takes off in a major way, but they are faced with obstacles of course. This book still has the supporting colorful side characters and I still want the author to do a book about Kar and Cameron. I am really interested in their story and at times, they were more interesting than Caleb and Red.


The only flaw that I have with the book is the repetitiveness of the "mushiness" if that makes senses. Caleb professes his love for Red and the fact that she walks on water a whole bunch throughout this book. While it was endearing, it became very repetitive and it dragged the story a little bit. I also felt that it took too long for the shoe to drop with Beatrice-Rose. No spoilers but if you read book one then you know that Beatrice-Rose is coocoo for CoaCoa puffs.

Another plus with this story was the fact that Red was not as stubborn as she was in book 1 and she had some fight in her in this book too. Now Caleb….Caleb…Caleb made me swoon like really. This man spoke poetry when it came to Red and it was most definitely evident that he loved and cherished her.

I absolutely loved this book with its heart, humor, heat, and intensity and, of course, Caleb. I am so glad that the author held on to that same intensity throughout this book and I highly recommend this read. Now go pick it up. :)

I’ve just finished a great finale to a duology. Always Red is the sequel, and finale to Chasing Red, which I reviewed earlier on this year. I can say that Always Red was just as good as Chasing Red. This duology is a character driven story, I’d say, as most contemporaries are.

Always Red concludes the story of Veronica and Caleb. From Chasing Red, we know that Veronica hasn’t had much of a life as she lost her mom when she was really young. Caleb saved her, in so many words, from a life on the streets when they were both in a club one night in book 1. Do they continue to better their lives in Always Red? You’ll have to read it to find out...

5 Stars...

NOTE: As this is a New Adult duology only readers that are 16+ should read it, as it’s got a storyline that mentions drugs and has some sexually explicit scenes. There’s also a mentally unstable character and a gun scene.

Spoilers Below...

“There was a charge in the air, when he was in a room, and I always felt it. But this time I didn’t feel his presence. I felt nothing, just emptiness”

This is what Veronica is feeling when she and Caleb are separated at the beginning of the book. Beatrice Rose, Caleb’s old friend put them in this situation in Chasing Red. Beatrice Rose is the evil mastermind in this duology. She’s a really selfish character who doesn’t care about who she hurts as long as she gets Caleb to herself.

This is seen further in, “Frankly, I’m the one getting sick of you and your accusations. You’re imagining things. I am trying to be patient and understanding with you, Veronica, but you make it so hard. And now you’re accusing me of what? Stealing?”

Here, Beatrice Rose is making out that Veronica is wrong and that she’d never steal or do anything to hurt her. She’s talking down to her as well, so it’s as if Veronica is at fault. The Beatrice Rose drama comes to a head at the end of Always Red, and I don’t want to spoil it here, but it’s good.

Caleb also hates what Beatrice Rose is doing to Veronica. “But the thought of Beatrice Rose spreading lies about Red made me want to hit something” tells us this because he just wants Veronica to be happy. He doesn’t want any of this drama or angst. The use of italics tells us he’s really annoyed by Beatrice Rose’s actions.

Veronica still has her friends to help her when Beatrice Rose annoys her, though.

“Yet I felt a flutter in my stomach at the thought of carrying Caleb’s child one day”

Veronica is talking about her future with Caleb with her best friend, Kara. Veronica feels that she can discuss everything with Kara.

There’s also jealousy from Caleb when he sees Damon with Veronica. When Caleb asks Kara, “Does Damon know that she’s mine?” we see the jealous side of Caleb come out. In Chasing Red, we see Damon as potential competition for Caleb to contend with.

“It’s not mine Damon. I don’t know why it’s there. I...Beatrice Rose probably planted it there. I’m going to kill her!”

is when Damon helps Veronica see sense when she’s found at Caleb’s birthday party with drugs.

Always Red is also about learning how to trust. Caleb wants to be able to trust Veronica to always tell the truth.

“Trust is very important to me. My parents didn’t have enough of it to make their relationship work. I didn’t want that for us”

This tells us that Caleb needs to learn to trust in the person that he loves. Otherwise their relationship won’t work, like his parents’ didn’t.

“Some day I’ll have my own cafe, just like this” tells us that Veronica has her own dreams and aspirations. She doesn’t just want to live off of Caleb and his funds forever. She wants to help create their life together.

I’m not going to write any more plot points because I don’t want to spoil anymore of it but there are a few significant events that build up to a worthwhile ending.

What did I like about Always Red?

I liked how the story continued straight on from book 1. There’s no gap, where we’re left wondering what happened.

I liked how the characters were the main point of Always Red. The plot came secondary.

I liked how mental health was brought into Always Red a little bit.

What didn’t I like about Always Red?

I didn’t like how there was only one main villain. I thought the story could have been fleshed out more if there had been another evil character.

Overall then, I really enjoyed reading this duology. I thought the story could have perhaps been lengthened to see what Veronica and Caleb would be like as parents but that’s more a critique of the duology rather than just this story. I therefore give Always Red, 5 Stars.

Chasing Red is the Wattpad phenomenon with over 130 million reads, and one million reads each week. Revised and with new original content, it will be published in two volumes, Chasing Red and Always Red. New readers and fans alike will fall in love with Red and Caleb--over and over again.

THE RIVETING CONCLUSION TO RED AND CALEB'S EPIC STORY
Veronica "Red" Strafford's painful past has made trusting Caleb Lockhart difficult. But Red might have pushed Caleb away one too many times...

I want you to fight for me. Just as I fought for you. But you wouldn't.
I stood there, staring after him, tears pouring down my face.




Review:




So, this was the second book this week I read out of series order. This one really needs to be read in order. I picked up very quickly what was going on but since this book starts where the last one ended, for me I would have liked to read them in order.




I picked this up because I was intrigued by the blurb on Netgalley. If I had realized how young the characters were I might not have picked this up, NA is not one of my favorites. I did enjoy this, though for me it was a little over the top with the angst. This is a new-to-me Author and I thought her writing was excellent. The characters were interesting, even the ones I was not sure if I should like them, like Damon. Beatrice-Rose and Justin were a little over the top. Now, Cam and Kar held more interest during parts of the story then the main couple did.




My overall thoughts, good story. For a mature reader probably a little to angsty. I would read this Author again.




3Stars

*I voluntarily read an advance reader copy of this book provided by the publisher.*

I enjoyed the conclusion to Caleb and Red’s story. Their love is true and strong and strengthened even more by the trials the outside world throws at them. I enjoyed Veronica more in this book and fell further in love with Caleb.

There is lots of other woman drama here with Beatrice-Rose and her machinations but I was glad to see that Red was at a place with Caleb that she could handle the trouble that arose.

This is a well written fast paced read with plenty of steam and lots of possessive, protective and devoted actions from the hero. What’s not to like about that?

This is an honest review of an advanced copy provided by NetGalley and Sourcebooks

Dual POV
Safe from cheating although ow drama is rampant, the hero never falters in his loyalty
Possible triggers – physical abuse and emotional abuse

A wonderfully sweet and swoony new adult romance.

Tension, tenderness and sexiness are all wrapped up in Isabelle Ronin’s conclusion of the Red duet. Veronica and Caleb’s story snapped, crackled and popped with sweetness and will leave Ronin’s fans in swoon heaven.

Always Red starts right where Chasing Red left off when Veronica “Red” Strafford pushes Caleb Lockhart away without giving him the benefit of the doubt which leaves her miserable and doubting her decision about not trusting him. We get to see her overcome her fears, find courage and come into her own, while trying to find her footing in the intense relationship with Caleb.

And of course there’s Caleb. An incredibly in love man who is the exact opposite of Veronica in the sense that he’s not afraid to express his emotions towards her and jump into a forever kind of relationship. He’s confident, but not so much when it comes to his beloved Red, because he’s afraid his intensity might push her away. He's adorable! But the more these two open up to each other the harder they fall and their relationship only becomes stronger.

As with the previous book, the story unfolds in a dual point of view. It was a bit on the lovey dovey side, but that is the nature of young love.

Always Read is the swoony conclusion with a bit of suspense and a tad of sexiness to the Red series. It is not a standalone book and should be read after book #1.

The only reason I am reviewing this book is because I always honor the review requests I submit or accept. And thanks to the hype, I requested Always Red here on NetGalley, which is the second book in the Red duology, right along with the first book - Chasing Red, without even reading the first book.

So I really only have myself to blame for this whole train wreck of a duology that I had to suffer through. Though in the interest of full disclosure, I must say that I did not read either book in full. I DNFed the first book at 30%, and only skimmed through this one, but even doing that felt like a gross waste of time.

And trust me, I tried to like these books, I made a real effort with the first one, and if you have followed my reviews long enough, you know that I normally shy away from writing scathing reviews, giving the book and the author the benefit of doubt whenever possible, but this time it was just too much for me to endure.

Because this time it wasn't just the poor writing, or the silly protagonists, or the lack of even a semi-original story line that bothered me. The thing that really annoyed me in this case was how the author tried to milk this thing and make it into two books instead of one.

I mean if you cut out the over-abundant fluff, and all the unnecessary repetition of the said fluff, there is barely enough there for one semi-decent book, but splitting it into two books is just a rip off.

Firstly, there is absolutely nothing new here in the second book - same immature protagonists, same contrived situations, same pointless drama, same terrible waste of time.

In-fact, there was so much unnecessary fluff in this story, that even though I DNFed the first book at 30%, when I picked up the second book, within the first few chapters, I was effortlessly able to fill in all the gaps in my knowledge.

It was almost as if I missed nothing, which is probably the case. I mean of-course I must have missed the 88 million repetitions of Oh Red is so awesome...so perfect...she owns me....God I want her...yadda yadda yadda, but that's about it.

Which is why I don't understand, how someone in good conscience, can think about milking this half-baked story, and publishing it as not 1, but 2 separate books.

All in All: Unlike what the marketing copy says - RED is NOT the new GREY. In-fact GREY seems like a work of literature when compared to RED. So give this a skip, there is so much that you can be reading instead.

I finished this book a couple of weeks ago and my time's been super crazy that I couldn't sit and type about my feelings for this book. It's a duology if you're new reading this, the first book is Chasing Red and this one is the segment so it's not really my fault if you get any spoilers from now on, I always try to avoid doing it but sometimes it might be inevitable.

So let's begin!

I really really enjoyed the first book, Chasing Red was like this fresh air on my romances and I love a good cliché, I love when the author can be adorable and obvious with the book in a good way. Red and Caleb are so meant for each other that I was flipping when Veronica (aka Red) took forever to go and talk with Caleb so they could figure their situation together. Can someone please bitch-slap Beatrice-Rose for me?! Also if Isabelle doesn't write a book with Cam and Kar I will kill somebody and I totally mean it. They deserve so much to have their story explained, to have their own happiness with or without each other. I mean reading Always Red you understand more of their story but it's still not enough and deep down I think the author has done on purpose so she can have this wing to write their own story.

PLEASE. DO.

I'm dying for KarCam/CamKar story or CamCam (I found out that the original on Wattpad they shared the same nickname).

Going back to Red story. She's at least better in seeing that Caleb hasn't done anything to betray her trust and that he's not her past nor will be. Now the ball is in her court, what will she do to win him back? Both of them are miserable and we have Beatrice-batshitcrazy-Rose and Justin-WhoDoYouThinkYouAre to be watching out for. It's so frustrating that they are actually capable of so many damaging. Back off bad guys!

We see more sides of Caleb too, he wants to be trusted and he doesn't take it lightly when Red tries to hide things from him. For him it's all or nothing and now he's gonna graduate and work, they need to trust each other if they're gonna make it for her last year of college.

And I need to talk about Theo and Beth! How can he be so blind?! Again I expect a book so I can see their story too! Please? Pretty please? I like the way the author introduced the character to make you curious and wait for more, I expected much more interactions so you could actually be begging desperately for another book, but I can be happy with what I've got.

This second book it's more closure to Caleb and Red story. I liked, I would've like more drama, more craziness, but it was a good cliché which I'm sure Isabelle it's not done, there's not way she will let Cam and Kar hanging there in the open space, so we will get to see Caleb and Red some more. I still love so much Kar moments in the story, she's so sassy, punk, true to herself, funny and such a fierce friend, I love how she picks Red up, kicks her butt and makes her move on.

It shows you that our past might be nerve-wracking, a total nightmare, a darkness without a hint of light but it can't be reflected in our present or our future because we are better than that, we deserve better than that. I can't wait for more to come.

Isabelle is a very good author, her writing style is enchanting and she can quickly draw you to the story. She's a good storyteller and I can see why she made such a success in the Wattpad world before releasing her original book.

If I need to choose, I liked Chasing Red better than Always Red but it's still super good to get to the end of a story that got you so excited in the first place.

The book will be release now on November 7th so be sure to grab your copy and dive in right after Chasing Red!

I had such high hopes for this book. Sadly they were all crushed within the first few chapters.
Caleb is even more obsessive over 'Red" in the book. With taking a mile when she gives him an inch, and talking her into rushing things. On top of that if she is even around another guy he gets extremely possessive and assumes the worst.
Then we of course have Beatrice Rose who is still a major problem and yet Caleb still keeps talking to her and interacting with her even though she keeps terrorizing Red and making life extremely difficult for the both of them.

Between a rushed engagement, Caleb trying to rush Red into things she's not ready for yet, I couldn't like this book.

Always Red picked up right were book 1 left off. It is not a standalone and would be best to start at book 1.

I enjoyed this book a lot more because once Veronica and Caleb mend things, they are pretty solid. No more of Veronica running away which happened a lot in book 1. They still have issues to work through and we still have the interference with Justin and Beatrice Rose, but I loved how Caleb and Veronica stuck together. I also felt the characters behaved more maturely in this one.

This does end on a HEA, so no cliffhanger! ***ARC provided by NetGalley.

Great conclusion to this series. My only complaint about this book is the way Red struggled with her feelings towards Caleb. I understand why she felt the way she did but at times it seemed a little much. Other than that this book was so swoony and romantic. I love that once Caleb found Red he was all about her and there was nothing that could sway him. His love and devotion to her are the stuff dreams are made of. I love the secondary characters in this book, especially Kara. I would love to read her and Cameron's story. If you want a feel good, super romantic read you'll really enjoy these two books.

Hiya bessies!
How are you all?

First off, I received a copy of this book via Netgalley in exchange of an honest review. That didn’t influence my review in any way.

Let’s start bessies!

Bes, you noticed that I just posted my review of Chasing Red and now I am posting the review of its second book. You must be thinking, I should have just combined them just like I always do whenever I read a series in one go. But then, I have different thoughts for the two books so I decided to separate my review.

You bessies know that I absolutely loved the first book. It was amazing and it really stuck to me. However, the second book fell a bit short for me.

Let’s just skip the character review because they are still the same way they are on the first book. Let’s go to story now.

As I was reading the second book, I keep asking what would be the problem needs solving in this book now that Caleb and Veronica finally worked their issues and decided to be together. Every time I flip the page on my Kindle, I was just waiting for something, a trigger, for that said problem. And when I found it, bes, everything is predictable after. From the twist to the solution, it was all predictable. I’ve seen it all coming. I wasn’t surprised to the part where it was supposed to be a surprise. You know what I mean?

So I wasn’t that thrilled when I read the climax part of the book. However, even though I was already expecting the rest of the things happening in the book, I still want something to surprise me or satisfy me. I was hoping that Justin and Beatrice-Rose wouldn’t go that easily. They are the antagonists of the story and they did pretty bad things. So I was kind of expecting that they would pay for it badly too. But then they didn’t. They didn’t even have a proper closure.

So if I love the first book so much, I kind of felt disappointed on this second one. There weren’t any kilig moments in this one too. Not many funny moments except from the ones where Kara opens her mouth. So this second book feels lacking.

I kind of didn’t feel the ending too. I mean, it answered that one last mystery from their past but I don’t know why I wasn’t feeling satisfied by it. It really feels lacking. I wasn’t as into the second book as I was on the first book.


To wrap this up, this book is still good. It is the conclusion of the Chasing Red but I kind of still wanted more. I feel like Ms Isabelle Ronin could still do better. Also, I will be reading the Wattpad version of Chasing Red and maybe see the difference. For now, I would still recommend this book. The first book will make you read the second one, I know. I just hope that it won’t fell short to as it did to me.

Please note: I received a copy of ALWAYS RED from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Five stars and here’s why:

Ms. Ronin’s fast-paced writing with the flair for hella-hot, dramatic scenes kept me glued to the story. Talk about a book hangover! I had a hard time putting it down and ended up finishing the book in the middle of the night! ALWAYS RED is the second book in the epic RED series about how Caleb and Veronica/Red learn to trust after overcoming a painful past. If you love sweet, sexy guys and strong, savvy women, this book is for you. Highly recommend.

I did like this book a little better than the first one, although I did not like Caleb here as much as in part one, because he is to much Alpha-Male to Red. There was a lot of Drama - sometimes a little bit too much. There´ve been a lot of sweet and romantic scenes, and I liked that Red turned out to be a woman who doesn´t back of.

But alltogether it´s been too much of everything - Drama, Sweetness and Alpha-Male.