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stumpfed's review against another edition
4.0
I was thrilled to get an ARC of this book. I thought the premise of an event planner/lawyer wanna be working with a lawyer was a great foundation for a love story. The erotic nature of the relationship that happens as a result of Nora being stifled by her ex and an adventurous lawyer.
There were parts of the story that were disjointed that I felt would have worked better with maybe plans for a second book (did I just suggest that!? HA!) We spent so much time leading up to Nora and Ryan that when we got there it was sort of left hanging.
Great debut novel by an excellent wordsmith. I enjoyed the book and the writing style. Sydney did a very good job capturing the business end of the book, the crossover and a great group of friends.... there is quite a potential here for a series, I'm telling you!
There were parts of the story that were disjointed that I felt would have worked better with maybe plans for a second book (did I just suggest that!? HA!) We spent so much time leading up to Nora and Ryan that when we got there it was sort of left hanging.
Great debut novel by an excellent wordsmith. I enjoyed the book and the writing style. Sydney did a very good job capturing the business end of the book, the crossover and a great group of friends.... there is quite a potential here for a series, I'm telling you!
christawatkins's review against another edition
5.0
Sydney Holmes has a new fan. Wow. I mean, really. **fans self** Wow. I wasn't expecting this. I can even... Just read it if you like things really, REALLY hot. But I have to warn you that the ending is a bit abrupt. Nora and Ryan's story will continue in a second book, which isn't out yet at the time of this review. Dammit. Normally, this would annoy me to no freakin' end, but I'm okay with it here because this book ended at a good spot. I mean, yeah, I wanna know what happens next, but it didn't feel like I was totally left hanging.
Did I mention how freakin' hot this book was? Seriously, smokin' hot. Some of the best sex scenes I've read. The characters felt real, which made it even hotter.
Did I mention how freakin' hot this book was? Seriously, smokin' hot. Some of the best sex scenes I've read. The characters felt real, which made it even hotter.
raciethereader's review against another edition
4.0
An ARC through Netgalley was offered in exchange for an honest review.
The title "Awakening" is a theme through the book. Nora is awaked sexually, her career motives are awakened, and she is awakened emotionally. The author does a superb job of building themes through the book. There are intense sex scenes though the wording is a bit redundant. The book fails a bit in building tension and angst, but overall is an enjoyable read. I was drawn in by Nora and Ryan and hope the next book comes out soon.
The title "Awakening" is a theme through the book. Nora is awaked sexually, her career motives are awakened, and she is awakened emotionally. The author does a superb job of building themes through the book. There are intense sex scenes though the wording is a bit redundant. The book fails a bit in building tension and angst, but overall is an enjoyable read. I was drawn in by Nora and Ryan and hope the next book comes out soon.
tfail24's review against another edition
4.0
I loved Ryan and Nora......
Lets start with Nora... When this story begins she is in a relationship with Darren and to me, he is smothering the life right out of her. It's always about him, he's really moody, and Nora basically gives up her dream career so that he can get his career started first. Now 3 years later:
Nora goes out with her girlfriends to celebrate Sophie's 24th birthday and they are drinking and dancing and Nora is relaxing and having fun; something that she can't do with Darren because he never let's loose. 5 girls out partying/drinking and 4 random guys show up at their table to dance, so Nora sits the dance out and lets the other 4 girls have the guys. Then, out of no where, someone walks up behind her and asks her to dance. She accepts and her dance with this mystery man opens up her eyes to many things, but the most being how she is missing out on life and not really living it, because she felt alive while dancing with him. Nora is currently working with a major law firm to plan a convention type of thing and is blind sided when the mystery man walks into her conference room OR she thinks it's him anyway.
Now, enter Ryan... Ryan is HOT, and a lawyer, and is really down to earth. He doesn't let on that he was the guy in the club dancing with Nora. Ryan has a past and it's one that he thinks Nora will run from. Of course, he has crazy ass ex's in his past and one just happens to reveal things to Nora and opens her eyes to Ryan's past. It has Nora experiencing things that she is not sure about but Ryan shows her that side of him and she takes as much as she can, until something happens that about destroys what they have.
The only problem that I had with this book is that I would have liked to see them together, as a couple, a little longer to see how their feelings for each other grew. Other than that, this book had me hooked from the very beginning and I couldn't wait to see what happened between them. I am looking forward to reading more from this author.
ARC provided by the author for an honest review.
Lets start with Nora... When this story begins she is in a relationship with Darren and to me, he is smothering the life right out of her. It's always about him, he's really moody, and Nora basically gives up her dream career so that he can get his career started first. Now 3 years later:
Nora goes out with her girlfriends to celebrate Sophie's 24th birthday and they are drinking and dancing and Nora is relaxing and having fun; something that she can't do with Darren because he never let's loose. 5 girls out partying/drinking and 4 random guys show up at their table to dance, so Nora sits the dance out and lets the other 4 girls have the guys. Then, out of no where, someone walks up behind her and asks her to dance. She accepts and her dance with this mystery man opens up her eyes to many things, but the most being how she is missing out on life and not really living it, because she felt alive while dancing with him. Nora is currently working with a major law firm to plan a convention type of thing and is blind sided when the mystery man walks into her conference room OR she thinks it's him anyway.
Now, enter Ryan... Ryan is HOT, and a lawyer, and is really down to earth. He doesn't let on that he was the guy in the club dancing with Nora. Ryan has a past and it's one that he thinks Nora will run from. Of course, he has crazy ass ex's in his past and one just happens to reveal things to Nora and opens her eyes to Ryan's past. It has Nora experiencing things that she is not sure about but Ryan shows her that side of him and she takes as much as she can, until something happens that about destroys what they have.
The only problem that I had with this book is that I would have liked to see them together, as a couple, a little longer to see how their feelings for each other grew. Other than that, this book had me hooked from the very beginning and I couldn't wait to see what happened between them. I am looking forward to reading more from this author.
ARC provided by the author for an honest review.
makeu1dor's review against another edition
4.0
I have to day that I really enjoyed this book. I really liked that there were no heavy life altering past drama's.
Nora, is a great character that a lot of people will relate too. I like that she is slowly realizing that her life can be so much more then it is. Nora was well written, in the fact that she is realizing that Darren is now what she wants and ready to explore her sexual creativity. I love how Ryan was introduced in to her life and the story. Sydney did an amazing job of taking a delicate situation like knowing that its ending with one and wanting to find something else and no break the trust of anyone. I love how through out the whole book Nora comes into her own and figures out what she wants out of herself and life.
Ryan started out as a real mystery to me. I like that he let Nora figure things out before he went full steam ahead. At first I though I wasn't going to like him much with all his mood swings. But I like how his own story evolved. I would have liked to have a little bit more on him and his time on the east coast. I love how Ryan introduced Nora into his sexual choices and that she was so open to them. It was very heartwarming to see that he wanted her weather she embraced it or not.
Over all I give this story 4.5 starts. I really wish there was a little more at the end of the story like an epilogue so see how things turned out for them. Other then that I really enjoyed the story and will recommend this book to all my fellow readers.
Nora, is a great character that a lot of people will relate too. I like that she is slowly realizing that her life can be so much more then it is. Nora was well written, in the fact that she is realizing that Darren is now what she wants and ready to explore her sexual creativity. I love how Ryan was introduced in to her life and the story. Sydney did an amazing job of taking a delicate situation like knowing that its ending with one and wanting to find something else and no break the trust of anyone. I love how through out the whole book Nora comes into her own and figures out what she wants out of herself and life.
Ryan started out as a real mystery to me. I like that he let Nora figure things out before he went full steam ahead. At first I though I wasn't going to like him much with all his mood swings. But I like how his own story evolved. I would have liked to have a little bit more on him and his time on the east coast. I love how Ryan introduced Nora into his sexual choices and that she was so open to them. It was very heartwarming to see that he wanted her weather she embraced it or not.
Over all I give this story 4.5 starts. I really wish there was a little more at the end of the story like an epilogue so see how things turned out for them. Other then that I really enjoyed the story and will recommend this book to all my fellow readers.
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