Saturday 5 September 2015

REVIEW; Carter Reed #1, by Tijan

Rating: 

Genre: New Adult, Romance, Drama

Recommend: Yes


SPOILER-FREE

Summary:

Emma walks in on her roommate being raped by her boyfriend, and shoots him dead. But he’s a part of one of the most powerful Mafia families. Gone into hiding, Emma remembers her brother’s best friend when he was alive, Carter. He promised her that Carter would protect her when she needed him, so she turns to him.


Known as the Cold Killer, he’s a weapon to the main rival mafia family. He takes Emma in and vows to protect her from all harm, as both are thrown into a world of danger, death and romance.


My Thoughts:

Tijan is one of my favourite authors. I fell immediately for her writing from the Fallen Crest series and was so looking forward to starting Carter Reed. He sounded like a top Book Boyfriend who would challenge all that came before. 

Emma: I loved her as a main character. She wasn’t afraid to kill someone but yet wasn’t immune to the inevitable guilt associated with it. She wanted to be a part of what was going on and fight for herself, something that was admirable as she didn't fall into the helpless damsel. Although she did turn to Carter, it was still clearly a hard decision to commit to as she really wanted to be self-sufficient. 

Carter: Gahh… I’m so undecided about him. He seems so powerful and gorgeous but I didn’t fear him as much as I wanted to. I didn’t feel the killer vibe from him, maybe this was due to Emma trusting him, but there was no fear whatsoever and I wanted to sort of fear him. From the start he appeared to melt in front of Emma and let her in so easily... I was expecting more of a cold front and more mysterious and just a general bad-ass vibe.

Love: this wasn’t a love story like I expected. I know it was primarily the drama between everything but Emma and Carter got together so quickly with no chase whatsoever. There was no build up of tension but rather they just both admitted mutual feelings and became a duo. Even the steamy scenes weren’t steamy, something I’d have expected from Tijan. It all just seemed a little flat and... teenage? As a result, I didn't really feel their romance was genuine or there be much chemistry; rather it was just an outright declaration of their love. 

Story: Deep down, I loved the plot behind all of this. It went beyond the usual drama in a love story and the action was definitely more of the story than the romance was. I definitely kept reading this just to find out what happened amongst the Mafia crowd more so than down to Carter and Emma.




Overall: 


I am undecided with this. I would recommend it, especially to people that have read other works of Tijan. But overall, it really did lack for me. I wasn't as invested in the characters as I wanted to be and at times, I got lost with who was who in the mob scene. It was like the novel didn't know if it were a romance or an action, and it didn't work as a bit of both this time.


Goodreads 
Amazon UK
Amazon