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3.67 AVERAGE
3.67 AVERAGE
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Wowza was that an ending. I did not see THAT coming. I thought we were just dealing with a jealousy thing! Now I am counting down the days till book 2, The Surrender.
I love a billionaire book where the guy sees what he wants and goes after it. Jude 100% fits this bill even if there might be a couple red flags along with it. I also love when the girl in the story is on (somewhat) even footing with the guy. Amelia is a woman who knows what she wants and is focusing on her career and herself for a time when she meets Jude at Arlington Hall (which sounds like a glorious place to visit.
It’s clear from the start that there is tension, heat and finally passion between Amelia and Jude from the moment they meet. The possessiveness they both feel almost immediately is like catnip to me and I loved seeing Amelia’s inner monologue trying to reason with herself. I knew we were moving towards a high point at the end, but I actually didn’t realize this is the first in a series, so the cliffy caught me a little off guard! Very much looking forward to seeing the level of grovel that will need to take place for the one in the wrong to set it right.
Want to give a big thank you to the author, Jodi Ellen Malpas and the team at Valentine PR for the opportunity to read this as an eARC! It is most appreciated.
challenging
dark
emotional
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
OMG!!!! I am a wreck. An absolute mess. This book has turned me inside out and I am floored with the ending. I need more. It can't end like this.
Amelia is a financial guru who is struggling to prove herself in a mans world. She is smart, beautiful and ahead of the game with her clients and on track to become partner at her firm. But the constant badgering from her father and boyfriend weighs on her heavily. It on worsens when she breaks up with her boyfriend. Her dad undermines her at every turn and her ex harasses her constantly. Everything in her life changings the day she meets a pair of green bluish grey eyes across a bar.
This was the most intense book I have read lately. Jude is a twisted man. He is dominating, stalkerish and insanely hot. He doesn't take no for an answer. Amelia is turned inside out by this man. Over and over again. It is a battle of the wills and can be devastating to her world. The twist at the end will throw readers over the edge. It was not what I thought was going on, even though there are hints here and there that something isn't quite right and adding up.
The emotion is this book is explosive. I felt the angst and devastation. I felt the love and the heat. I felt the anger and sadness. It was a lot of emotion to handle. I am not sure that Amelia is going to survive. Jude has this hold on her and her trying to push him away doesn't work.
I love her best friends Anna and Charley. They are the best. ying and yang friends, whom have her back no matter what. They are the comedy club of friends who will fight for you one minute and have you laughing and forgetting your worries the next. I don't know how they pick up Amelia's pieces over and over as she navigates the people who constantly tear her down.
I am looking forward to another book in this series. Because it cannot end like this. It just can't. Also I need to throat punch that bitch Katherine. Can I pleaseeeeee????
Amelia is a financial guru who is struggling to prove herself in a mans world. She is smart, beautiful and ahead of the game with her clients and on track to become partner at her firm. But the constant badgering from her father and boyfriend weighs on her heavily. It on worsens when she breaks up with her boyfriend. Her dad undermines her at every turn and her ex harasses her constantly. Everything in her life changings the day she meets a pair of green bluish grey eyes across a bar.
This was the most intense book I have read lately. Jude is a twisted man. He is dominating, stalkerish and insanely hot. He doesn't take no for an answer. Amelia is turned inside out by this man. Over and over again. It is a battle of the wills and can be devastating to her world. The twist at the end will throw readers over the edge. It was not what I thought was going on, even though there are hints here and there that something isn't quite right and adding up.
The emotion is this book is explosive. I felt the angst and devastation. I felt the love and the heat. I felt the anger and sadness. It was a lot of emotion to handle. I am not sure that Amelia is going to survive. Jude has this hold on her and her trying to push him away doesn't work.
I love her best friends Anna and Charley. They are the best. ying and yang friends, whom have her back no matter what. They are the comedy club of friends who will fight for you one minute and have you laughing and forgetting your worries the next. I don't know how they pick up Amelia's pieces over and over as she navigates the people who constantly tear her down.
I am looking forward to another book in this series. Because it cannot end like this. It just can't. Also I need to throat punch that bitch Katherine. Can I pleaseeeeee????
Content Warnings
Graphic: Infidelity, Misogyny, Toxic relationship, Stalking, Alcohol
Minor: Death of parent
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
I really wanted to give this 4 stars because I was lowkey invested in the story but I just couldn’t 😕
Jude? He was too much and too soon. His possessiveness and aggression were borderline toxic. I LOVE boy obsessed but this didn’t feel like love or romance...it felt like control.
The attraction made sense but the jump to intense feelings was rushed and didn’t feel believable. Plus there wasn’t much plot or character growth.
That cliffhanger though? I’m hooked 😅 I’m in for book 2!
🌹 Billionaire
🌹 Boy Obsessed
🌹 British Playboy
🌹 Cliffhanger
Jude? He was too much and too soon. His possessiveness and aggression were borderline toxic. I LOVE boy obsessed but this didn’t feel like love or romance...it felt like control.
The attraction made sense but the jump to intense feelings was rushed and didn’t feel believable. Plus there wasn’t much plot or character growth.
That cliffhanger though? I’m hooked 😅 I’m in for book 2!
🌹 Billionaire
🌹 Boy Obsessed
🌹 British Playboy
🌹 Cliffhanger
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Took a chance on this as my Amazon “first read” for the month based on reviews, but I couldn’t get into it. Spoilers throughout—The male lead is obsessed with his lust for the female lead at first sight. You find out that he is meant to be this extremely successful, humble, hard working, family-oriented, wealthy young business owner. But all of his actions that the reader gets once he’s introduced contradict that: he repetitively demands she go on a date with him, he looks up her name and number by reading her medical history, and then he assaults two men who literally just talk to her (one being her brother). I think it was trying to give a “something about you just makes me crazy!” vibe, but there wasn’t enough interaction between them for it to be endearing, nor make sense WHY he was so obsessed. And while the female lead is equally obsessed with her lust for him, she turns down his demands to have “dinner” (she notes that he’s probably a fuckboy) like ten times, for truly no reason other than she just broke up with someone who wanted to settle down, and she’s not ready for something serious. As she pointed out, he seems like a fuckboy, and she just keeps repeating how she wants to fuck him, so what is her holdup?—I don’t know. The reasons she kept turning him down were flimsy. I made it to the part where she finally accepts his dinner invitation and she travels out to the hotel/spa he owns. He has booked her a suite for the night, complete with gift wrapped lingerie waiting for her. No shame in a fancy one night stand, but I didn’t “know” him well enough to find it sexy and he gave me the ick. I hardly ever DNF but I truly had no “what if’s” to keep me curious after they had dinner and headed up to the room.
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
So. Much. Humming. And I’m not talking about a sex act. I’m talking about an annoying overuse of “hum” to describe little throat noises of pleasure. It was so overused as to be distracting. Could she have thrown in a sigh or something?
Book was ok. Thin plot. So little conversation between the MCs it’s hard to believe the connection. Some fun side characters. Very spicy and open door which I’m fine with, and honestly some of the better written scenes I’ve read in that regard. Very alpha male MMC which I don’t seek out but don’t mind. FMC’s internal monologue on both her job and her relationship with the MMC is repetitive and eye-rolling. Fast enough that I’ll read the sequel to resolve the cliffhanger.
Book was ok. Thin plot. So little conversation between the MCs it’s hard to believe the connection. Some fun side characters. Very spicy and open door which I’m fine with, and honestly some of the better written scenes I’ve read in that regard. Very alpha male MMC which I don’t seek out but don’t mind. FMC’s internal monologue on both her job and her relationship with the MMC is repetitive and eye-rolling. Fast enough that I’ll read the sequel to resolve the cliffhanger.
This book is very fun for what it is. Jude is full of red flags but it worked for me. I need Amelia to forgive him simply because I need them together. He's absolutely crazy but that's working for me and it's clearly what she needs.
I received an arc from valentine pr.
I received an arc from valentine pr.
The Invitation is the first book in the Arlington Hall series.
If you loved Jesse and Ava in the This Man series, you are going to love Jude and Amelia.
Just from the blurb, I knew going into this book to expect similarities between the couples in this book and This Man, and this is exactly what we get, from the immediate attraction, the push and pull at the start of the relationship, the argumentative FMC and it looks like we will have another Sarah in the form of Katherine. Even the settings are similar.
However, despite the similarities, I still devoured this book in less than 12 hours (8 of which I was working) and I know Arlington Hall is going to become another go to series that I will read again and again and again.
No one can take Jesse’s place as #1 book boyfriend in Jodi’s books, but Jude has easily put himself in 2nd place.
After the plot twist cliffhanger at the end, I can’t wait for The Surrender.
If you loved Jesse and Ava in the This Man series, you are going to love Jude and Amelia.
Just from the blurb, I knew going into this book to expect similarities between the couples in this book and This Man, and this is exactly what we get, from the immediate attraction, the push and pull at the start of the relationship, the argumentative FMC and it looks like we will have another Sarah in the form of Katherine. Even the settings are similar.
However, despite the similarities, I still devoured this book in less than 12 hours (8 of which I was working) and I know Arlington Hall is going to become another go to series that I will read again and again and again.
No one can take Jesse’s place as #1 book boyfriend in Jodi’s books, but Jude has easily put himself in 2nd place.
After the plot twist cliffhanger at the end, I can’t wait for The Surrender.
dark
emotional
funny
medium-paced