I liked the story but I thought it was a little boring and found myself skipping parts of it. I liked the past and present format.

This is a third chance book--the characters having been together and broken up twice before with an aborted trip down the aisle. I liked the two main characters but had a hard time following the story. It alternated the point of view between the hero and the heroine and also between the past and the present. The two meet again on a plane six years after their last (second) break up. I had a hard time putting the pieces together of what happened with their two previous break ups and there was two little time in the present to really help me connect with the storyline.

I rather enjoyed this story. The plot and characters are excellent, but a bit frustrating. The main criticism I have is that six years seemed to be an unreasonable amount of time for Colin and Cecelia to be separated. In order for their behavior to be believable, I think six months would be a more reasonable choice. Then, I could forgive the strong, independent Cecelia for her apparent weakness for Colin. And as for him, it's hard to believe that a Duke, a man who singlehandedly saved his family's empire with his intelligence and head for business, would be so easily manipulated by those close to him. We get a glimpse of his insight to certain characters' personality, so it's hard to accept that he would let so many years pass without getting some answers to some very difficult questions. All in all, a well written book with wonderful characters with whom I would connect more if I felt their behavior matched their character sketch when it comes to the larger decisions in the plot line.Almost 4 stars.

Bad Breakup, Billionaire's Club Book 2, Elise Faber

Review from Jeannie Zelos book reviews

Genre: romance

I liked the sound of this, wasn't expecting intense, but sometimes though I love drama, angst, intensity I want something a little softer and this sounded great for that.

Sadly it wasn't a good fit for me, nothing wrong with the writing, the characters or the story in itself, it was the characters actions that spoiled the story for me.
I don't like the way two “so in love” characters wouldn't even speak to each other after a major event like that, especially after they've already had one bad break-up. Having got past that would they really not talk about what happened? Most of us would want to know why at least, its human nature to want to know why we weren't good enough.
That let the story down from both characters, I really liked them but didn't feel that behaviour was reflective of the people they were – or seemed to be.

The past/present format is one I quite like, it lets me see the past as it plays out, not via a POV of someone who may have slanted opinions.
The Present in this novel covers so little time though that I just didn't really get a sense of reality, of the seriousness of what was happening. It felt like events were very lust driven when both characters were the strong type that I felt would have wanted to know they whys of the past first.
I couldn't see that Cecelia would have caved so quickly given what she thought would happen, and likewise Colin. Would he really have pursued her believing what he did? I know it was a pretty convincing lie that was set up, but to so easily be duped when you supposedly love someone enough to share the rest of your life with them?

Its a shame I couldn't empathise with the couples' actions as the story plot and set up was excellent. I could see that others actions may well lead to That Event, in just the way its described. Its the shock factor, the sense of betrayal that governs immediate reactions, not the side of our brain that says “this person loves you, would they really do that?” so a short breakup is understandable. I don't feel either lead behaved in the way I'd have expected them to, by letting it go on not just months but years. Its hard to believe either would just let all that time pass without trying to find out what, why and how, for a couple so in Love to just let it drop, fade away without challenge.
Maybe a much shorter separation, a few weeks say, and more reality in the present actions, and this would have been a perfect read for me. Still, as always what I want isn't what everyone wants, and this will be perfect for other readers as it is.


Stars: Two and a half. I didn't dislike all the book, loved the characters, and the cause of breakup number two was so cleverly done. Sadly the actions, or rather the inactions, of the couple let to it being a story that didn't work for me.

Arc via Netgalley and publishers

The first sign of trouble was the rough, masculine voice.

The second was the Scottish accent.

God, Cecelia loved Scottish accents.

The last was the scent—his scent—familiar and uniquely Colin.

Cecelia had been through bad breakups before but none had compared to the two, yes two, that had come at Colin’s hands, because she was apparently glutton for punishment and didn’t know better and was young and stupid and in love.

Had been in love. Twice.

And she’d had her heart broken. Twice.

Well, the third time wasn’t the charm and CeCe wasn’t going to be stupid about Colin. Not again, not now that she knew better. Nope. There would be no brooding, gorgeously sexy, Scottish hero in her future.

But had anyone informed Colin of that fact?

Second chance romance.
A good story.
The Hero and heroine are split up by manipulative family on their wedding day and Colin refused to sort it out with her as he got so drunk, then his father died.
Years have gone by.
There is no mention of relationships during the separation.
No intimate scenes with anyone other than the Hero and heroine.
HEA.
Breadcrumbs dropped for future books.

I've received a ARC from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice, shame on me; fool me th- you get the picture. This series is about 3rd chances (so to speak) and misunderstandings, and unfortunately I couldn't resonate with the novel at all. The characters, storyline, content had all fell flat to me and there wasn't a strong plot to draw me in. Just wasn't for me unfortunately.