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4.29 AVERAGE
4.29 AVERAGE
adventurous
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I felt a LOT of things reading this book and to me that is a good thing. Sometimes I read and it truly goes in and out of my brain never to be thought of again and I certainly will be thinking of this book again. This is a second chance romance about Darby (the titular honeysuckle) and Leo (the titular heathen – who, if you ask me, got the raw end of the deal with that nickname). They fall in love as teenagers, something mysterious happens to make Darby leave, and they reconnect ten years later when Darby is a runaway bride at her wedding. And we jump back and forth between present and ten years ago.
My two biggest gripes with second chance books is that 1) I need to feel like the characters have changed in some way so that they actually stand a chance of working this time around and 2) the reason they broke up has to not be dumb or insurmountable. And in the case of this book, I feel like we just barely passed on both 1 and 2.
This book started off really strong. If I had any Canva skills and even an ounce of patience, I would have been making a beautiful, aesthetic Instagram carousel of Leo’s quotes. Some of them hit HARD. And then some of them feel repetitive and childish. For every quote that slammed my heart (in a good way), we got a “suck, honey” which made my eyes roll back into my head. Like sir, are you using WORD PLAY in the middle of sex? Pardonne-moi?
The characters both spoke in big declarative statements and on the nose metaphors which I think worked really well when they were teens because teen brains function that way (at least mine did). But I wish that Darby and Leo’s thought processes and language skills matured over those ten years. And maybe they were mentally stuck at 17 years old but the things they said started to feel repetitive. And it also started to feel like tell instead of show.
I felt like Leo’s character was really well developed. You could see how his traumas shaped him and how Darby impacted his life. Darby felt a little flat. I think it is because she spends a lot of time in the present crying. Which, don’t get me wrong, I am a big cry baby so no hate here, but I wanted to read about her getting angry or frustrated or anything else so that her character had a little more umph.
Darby’s parents, especially her dad, were almost cartoonish in how horrible they were. I thought we’d see him twirling his mustache and tying her up on some train tracks at some point. I don’t remember if there was a content warning in the beginning of the book but he should have his own section in a content warning. The villains in books don't need pages upon pages of backstory but I think knowing anything about why he is the way he is (even if it is that he is truly just a psychopath) would have made him feel a little more dimensional.
I will not spoil the reason that Darby left but I will say that it was a big frustration for me. We don’t find out what it is until around 85% of the way into the book. Because of that, 1) you have to listen to Darby talk about how horrible it is over and over (which again feels repetitive) and 2) there is not a lot of time for the characters to process the reason so that part felt rushed and it also felt very surmountable (oh we wrapped this up in two paragraphs? Why was it such a big deal then?).
All of that being said, will I be reading the next book? OF COURSE. I, too, am a heathen who needs to know what happens to Dahlia (Darby’s sister who truly should have the biggest daddy issues in the world).
Thank you to Page & Vine and NetGalley for providing this eARC! All opinions are my own.
Cute book but I just wasn’t invested in the characters. I do enjoy dual time lines but it felt too fast
"Operation 'Get Honeysuckle The Hell Out of Dodge."
"Show me every smile, and I'll do whatever you want, yeah?"
"Opening up to her is as simple as breathing."
"You don't need a piece of my soul, honeysuckle. You already own the whole g*ddamn thing."
"A honeysuckle and her heathen."
"It doesn't feel so bad now that I have you, honeysuckle." — "Nothing feels quite as bad when I'm with you, heathen."
TROPES:
• second chance romance
• dual pov
• small town beach romance
• forbidden first love
• found family
• runaway bride x pro surfer
• "what letters?"
• summer romance
I'm honestly speechless. I have too many favorite quotes to list. This is my first read of Sarah A. Bailey's and it did not disappoint! This is the type of book I wish I could re-read for the first time. I loved EVERYTHING in this book! This book was such a sweet & spicy, second chance, forbidden first love romance book. I could not put the book down, it kept me on the edge of my seat the whole time. Where's my Leo Graham?! I loved how from the moment they first met, they had such a calming effect on each other, and I loved how over-protective (and possessive) he was over Darby and how he made her feel safe and reassured. I loved the found family between Leo and Darby and their friend group and with Darby's sister, Dahlia and Lou and their grandmother. I really enjoyed the Then and Now chapters, the letters, and the nicknames. This was like watching a (top tier) hallmark movie. I love how he still wore her gold purity ring on a necklace after all those years from their first date as a good luck charm. I thought it was so cute how he remembered all the little things about her. I loved how patient he was back then and in the present. I loved the mentions of places in Utah because I live in St. George. I wish I could reach through my kindle screen and slap Darby's dad! and fun fact, my birth month flower is honeysuckles (and roses) for June!
Thank you, Sarah A. Bailey for the ARC
"Show me every smile, and I'll do whatever you want, yeah?"
"Opening up to her is as simple as breathing."
"You don't need a piece of my soul, honeysuckle. You already own the whole g*ddamn thing."
"A honeysuckle and her heathen."
"It doesn't feel so bad now that I have you, honeysuckle." — "Nothing feels quite as bad when I'm with you, heathen."
TROPES:
• second chance romance
• dual pov
• small town beach romance
• forbidden first love
• found family
• runaway bride x pro surfer
• "what letters?"
• summer romance
I'm honestly speechless. I have too many favorite quotes to list. This is my first read of Sarah A. Bailey's and it did not disappoint! This is the type of book I wish I could re-read for the first time. I loved EVERYTHING in this book! This book was such a sweet & spicy, second chance, forbidden first love romance book. I could not put the book down, it kept me on the edge of my seat the whole time. Where's my Leo Graham?! I loved how from the moment they first met, they had such a calming effect on each other, and I loved how over-protective (and possessive) he was over Darby and how he made her feel safe and reassured. I loved the found family between Leo and Darby and their friend group and with Darby's sister, Dahlia and Lou and their grandmother. I really enjoyed the Then and Now chapters, the letters, and the nicknames. This was like watching a (top tier) hallmark movie. I love how he still wore her gold purity ring on a necklace after all those years from their first date as a good luck charm. I thought it was so cute how he remembered all the little things about her. I loved how patient he was back then and in the present. I loved the mentions of places in Utah because I live in St. George. I wish I could reach through my kindle screen and slap Darby's dad! and fun fact, my birth month flower is honeysuckles (and roses) for June!
Thank you, Sarah A. Bailey for the ARC
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
slow-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
emotional
hopeful
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Someday I'll stop reading books that leave me emotionally devastated. That day was not today.
I'm so in love with these two. Their love is the epitome of soulmates and the way that they never stopped thinking about one another for over a decade. These two pick up right where they left off all those years ago and it doesn't feel rushed at all. It just feels meant to be. I couldn't stop my heart from getting invested in them and as their story unfolded in the past I feel even deeper for them and my heart hurt for how much they had to go through.
These two were not dealt an easy hand in life in the least, but together they found their home with each other and they built a life of love and so much happiness. I was in tears by the epilogue.
My only wish is that Darby and her grandmother would've had the chance to reconnect, but that's a cruel part of life; oftentimes fate intervenes before we'd like it to but I'm so glad that Darby was still able to find some closure.
I can't wait for the rest of this series even though I know it'll be no less heartbreaking than this one. Bring on the heartache 😭❤️🩹
I'm so in love with these two. Their love is the epitome of soulmates and the way that they never stopped thinking about one another for over a decade. These two pick up right where they left off all those years ago and it doesn't feel rushed at all. It just feels meant to be. I couldn't stop my heart from getting invested in them and as their story unfolded in the past I feel even deeper for them and my heart hurt for how much they had to go through.
These two were not dealt an easy hand in life in the least, but together they found their home with each other and they built a life of love and so much happiness. I was in tears by the epilogue.
My only wish is that Darby and her grandmother would've had the chance to reconnect, but that's a cruel part of life; oftentimes fate intervenes before we'd like it to but I'm so glad that Darby was still able to find some closure.
I can't wait for the rest of this series even though I know it'll be no less heartbreaking than this one. Bring on the heartache 😭❤️🩹
Content Warnings
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Sexual content
Minor: Body shaming, Miscarriage, Sexual assault, Car accident, Death of parent
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
emotional
funny
hopeful
sad
medium-paced
adventurous
hopeful
lighthearted
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
N/A
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
adventurous
challenging
emotional
inspiring
reflective
Heathen & Honeysuckle by Sarah A. Bailey is book 1 in the Pacific shores series. This is a dual POV and dual timeline (current day and 10 years ago) second chance romance. Darby is spending the summer with her grandma in California, a sheltered 17 year old who has been controlled by her parents her entire life. Leo is an extremely talented surfer who has been trying to live a full life while hiding from his ghosts. Wow. Seriously, I was blown away by this book! The connection and emotional depth the author was able to convey between characters was breathtaking and I found myself wrapped up in their love and world. There are certainly very difficult obstacles that each character has gone through in their lives and the author was able to beautifully articulate their feelings and motivations. I cannot wait to read more by Sarah Bailey!!
Thank you to NetGalley, Victory Editing, and the author for this eARC in exchange for an honest review.