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lesburrata's review
emotional
hopeful
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
aliu6's review against another edition
4.0
4.5 stars
Madison Prescott is the daughter and sole heir of her family's banking company, and Ana Perez is the daughter of the maid. Even so, the two young girls strike up a friendship which eventually turns into young love. But Madison's father is dead set against their relationship and will keep them apart at all costs - literally. All those years ago, Madison pushed Ana away to protect her from her father, and now that her father is dead, Madison can finally be with Ana again. Except that Ana never forgave her, and Madison is beginning to wonder whether she will ever be able to change Ana's mind.
I'll start by saying that I don't typically enjoy second chance romances, but wow. This one was really good. In the sense that it was so angst-packed. (The verdict is in: Elle Spencer is great at angst.) I read a fair share of easy-breezy romances, so I appreciate it when characters really go through it all and still find their HEA.
I loved how both Madison and Ana are powerful career women who are willing to give up everything for each other. When they met later in life, I could feel the buried emotions between them. I guess I also liked how there was an actual villain to overcome in this book, whereas in most romances, the characters just have to get past themselves.
Yes, I totally recommend this! But probably don't read this if you're just looking for a pleasant beach read. Because a lot of this book hurt so good.
Madison Prescott is the daughter and sole heir of her family's banking company, and Ana Perez is the daughter of the maid. Even so, the two young girls strike up a friendship which eventually turns into young love. But Madison's father is dead set against their relationship and will keep them apart at all costs - literally. All those years ago, Madison pushed Ana away to protect her from her father, and now that her father is dead, Madison can finally be with Ana again. Except that Ana never forgave her, and Madison is beginning to wonder whether she will ever be able to change Ana's mind.
I'll start by saying that I don't typically enjoy second chance romances, but wow. This one was really good. In the sense that it was so angst-packed. (The verdict is in: Elle Spencer is great at angst.) I read a fair share of easy-breezy romances, so I appreciate it when characters really go through it all and still find their HEA.
I loved how both Madison and Ana are powerful career women who are willing to give up everything for each other. When they met later in life, I could feel the buried emotions between them. I guess I also liked how there was an actual villain to overcome in this book, whereas in most romances, the characters just have to get past themselves.
Yes, I totally recommend this! But probably don't read this if you're just looking for a pleasant beach read. Because a lot of this book hurt so good.
jsjarvis71's review against another edition
5.0
The Road to Madison is a wonderful story of never-ending love, despite a homophobic father who is determined in life and in death to keep his daughter and only heir from being with another woman, someone she has loved almost her entire life. I loved the continual flashbacks to Madison's and Ana's childhoods where they first became friends and slowly fell in love before being pulled apart by Madison's father, George Prescott.
George is a true bastard for how he treats those who are not of his same class or beliefs. Even after his death, he knows his daughter will try to reconcile things with Ana and he still tries to keep them apart. What a scumbag! He is one of the most hated characters I have read in all of the lesfic stories I have read.
In the end, this story is an amazing story of love that has never ended, despite all of the hatred that has kept them apart. It is a story that I didn't want to put down and kept me wanting the two women to get together all the way to the end. It is a definite must-read for any lesfic fan.
I received a free copy of this book through NetGalley in exchange for this unbiased review.
George is a true bastard for how he treats those who are not of his same class or beliefs. Even after his death, he knows his daughter will try to reconcile things with Ana and he still tries to keep them apart. What a scumbag! He is one of the most hated characters I have read in all of the lesfic stories I have read.
In the end, this story is an amazing story of love that has never ended, despite all of the hatred that has kept them apart. It is a story that I didn't want to put down and kept me wanting the two women to get together all the way to the end. It is a definite must-read for any lesfic fan.
I received a free copy of this book through NetGalley in exchange for this unbiased review.
banrions's review against another edition
3.0
This one was fine. Perfectly enjoyable, but not one of my favorites by Elle Spencer. I’m totally down with angst but this one def had it in spades and if that’s not your thing, this one might not be for you. I both sort of liked and sort of found it annoying to get so many different secondary povs and flashbacks. I think I might have enjoyed it a little more if it was just mostly Anna and Madison, but it was also nice to see some other perspectives. It’s a change up and it was interesting. Sometimes this veered a little more to melodrama than general drama/angst, but that can also be fun when that’s what you’re in the mood for. I think maybe a tiny bit of the disconnect for me is that we didn’t really get to see a lot of Anna and Madison In Love before everything goes to shit, and the bits we get in flashbacks, while cute, didn’t quite lend itself (for me personally) to buy into this Epic Love Story quite as much as the narrative (and even the narrative in 30 Dates in 30 Days, which IS my fav Elle Spencer book) seems to think it is. I def enjoyed it, and Lori Prince was as fantastic as always and her Anna voice was one of my favs, but this probably won’t be a re-listen one for me.
sandra_emma's review against another edition
3.0
I received an ARC from Netgalley.
This is a typical forbidden romance story between rich girl Madison Prescott and poor girl Ana Perez, when they're suddenly ripped apart by Madison's father George who is set on making Madison the perfect heir for his company. 15 years later Ana and Madison meet again when George dies. Madison is set on making everything okay between the two but Ana still feels betrayed and heartbroken.
I'm not sure how I feel about this book, 40% in I was ready to just DNF it but I continued and it actually ended up getting better.
I think the one thing I didn't like about this book was the writing. All the different perpectives left me pretty confused at times and made it feel like I was watching a tv show.The flashbacks left me confused a lot of the time as well, and I had to go back and re-read certain things to understand what was going on.
I think what made it better towards the end though was that it focused more on just the two main characters and not everyone around them as well. All scenes between Madison and Ana were great and filled with passion and chemistry. It was super angst filled as well, maybe a little too much at times for my liking.
It wasn't my favorite book ever but I did end up liking it more than I thought when I started it. I have another Elle Spencer book on my shelf and I will definently give her another chance.
I ended up giving this book 3/5 stars and I would recommend it if you're a fan of forbidden romances that includes a lot of angst but also cute, romantic scenes.
This is a typical forbidden romance story between rich girl Madison Prescott and poor girl Ana Perez, when they're suddenly ripped apart by Madison's father George who is set on making Madison the perfect heir for his company. 15 years later Ana and Madison meet again when George dies. Madison is set on making everything okay between the two but Ana still feels betrayed and heartbroken.
I'm not sure how I feel about this book, 40% in I was ready to just DNF it but I continued and it actually ended up getting better.
I think the one thing I didn't like about this book was the writing. All the different perpectives left me pretty confused at times and made it feel like I was watching a tv show.The flashbacks left me confused a lot of the time as well, and I had to go back and re-read certain things to understand what was going on.
I think what made it better towards the end though was that it focused more on just the two main characters and not everyone around them as well. All scenes between Madison and Ana were great and filled with passion and chemistry. It was super angst filled as well, maybe a little too much at times for my liking.
It wasn't my favorite book ever but I did end up liking it more than I thought when I started it. I have another Elle Spencer book on my shelf and I will definently give her another chance.
I ended up giving this book 3/5 stars and I would recommend it if you're a fan of forbidden romances that includes a lot of angst but also cute, romantic scenes.
stine_reads's review against another edition
5.0
*free copy received from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review*
I luuuuurved this one. It's SO well written, and it's a breath of fresh air in the romance genre.
The changes between past and present works really well, and the characters are great. Often, I find that what sets a book apart for me, is how the supporting characters are written, and here, they have depth and is well written.
To be recommended!
I luuuuurved this one. It's SO well written, and it's a breath of fresh air in the romance genre.
The changes between past and present works really well, and the characters are great. Often, I find that what sets a book apart for me, is how the supporting characters are written, and here, they have depth and is well written.
To be recommended!
jennabeebs79's review against another edition
5.0
Elle Spencer sure can write! Two of my all time favorite books are Casting Lacey and Forget Her Not and I anxiously awaited this book. Elle has a way of weaving in emotions with compelling and entertaining dialogue so that the reader can feel the raw emotions of the characters. Madison and Ana's relationship was portrayed in a way where the reader was rooting for them from the beginning. The book was filled with enlightening flashbacks to help the reader understand the love Madison and Ana had for one another from age 8 and how it was demolished by Madison's father George. This reader couldn't even imagine what kind of human would do the things he did to his daughter. But she was smart and strong and mangaged to become a wonderful person, no thanks to him. This book was emotional and definitely pulled at the heartstrings. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and can't wait for the next one from Elle Spencer!
mstaples98's review against another edition
emotional
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
sixphanel's review against another edition
2.0
Surprisingly enough, I didn't enjoy this book too much.
The story is this: Two women who grew up together and ended up falling in love got separated, and you get told the story of how they got separated in flashbacks while you start seeing them get to know each other again (with lots of one-sided hate).
This had potential: the girl who has nothing and who used to work for the rich family ends up becoming super successful, which is y'know, a trope that I adore. But... the father happens. And actually, something like this happened as well with the last book I read before this one! The "evil" character is pure evil, but instead of being the mother... this time, it was the father. Being 100% pure evil makes things boring for me, there's no surprise, no evolution, no travel... he stays the same during the whole book: being a ball of pure homophobic hate.
I've seen friends' reviews from this book asking why we didn't get more positive flashbacks, how the girls loved each other, instead of all the terrible things that end up happening to them. I have to agree with them!
But if you're in search of a book to read... get Casting Lacey, that book from the same author is seriously awesome!
The story is this: Two women who grew up together and ended up falling in love got separated, and you get told the story of how they got separated in flashbacks while you start seeing them get to know each other again (with lots of one-sided hate).
This had potential: the girl who has nothing and who used to work for the rich family ends up becoming super successful, which is y'know, a trope that I adore. But... the father happens. And actually, something like this happened as well with the last book I read before this one! The "evil" character is pure evil, but instead of being the mother... this time, it was the father. Being 100% pure evil makes things boring for me, there's no surprise, no evolution, no travel... he stays the same during the whole book: being a ball of pure homophobic hate.
I've seen friends' reviews from this book asking why we didn't get more positive flashbacks, how the girls loved each other, instead of all the terrible things that end up happening to them. I have to agree with them!
But if you're in search of a book to read... get Casting Lacey, that book from the same author is seriously awesome!
hhushaw's review against another edition
3.0
An honest review thanks to NetGalley. This review is actually pretty tricky for me to write. I loved absolutely loved Casting Lacey; it is one of my all-time favorite lesbian romance books. Which caused me going into this book with very high expectations and sadly this did not meet any of my expectations. I was very disappointed, and it made me wonder how this book fell so far from Casting Lacey, the writing style was much different. I felt like I was being told how the characters felt for each other over and over again, but I never saw it. It was as if the author was trying to force us to believe in their love, but I never felt or saw the connection that I was trying to be forced to see. I really hope the next book by Spencer is more like Casting Lacey. Not to say this is a bad book, it isn't, it is ok, just doesn't compare to her other writings.