REALLY wanted to like this book, I did, The concept was interesting and the setting was relatable,
But I just couldn't get my head around it, Evangeline spendsyears in prison pretty much getting the crap kicked out of her then the cop who helped put her away shows up.
She makes a point of saying she's afraid of him and the power he has over her life, then BAM she can't get enough of him, can't stop thinking about him, and gives him MORE power over her life with her parole deal.
On top of that, is the behavior of Evangeline's family, who treats her like absolute crap.
Their behavior only softens a little when she "proves she's worthy" by saving be her nephew, Then all is instantly forgiven once they realize she was innocent and protecting her dad,
Her mother wouldn't talk to her and accused her of being the cause of her dad's death.
But all the verbal abuse is forgiven and forgotten in moments once her mother realizes she wasn't responsible, thus "worthy" of being treated like a human being again.
Not a fun book to read overall, Captivating Enjoyable Satisfying
tldr: Postconviction daugther returns to family farm to fix things,
This book is like a Romance writer scripted the afterlife for the character from Orange is the New Black.
The story has so many expected tropes: jealous siblings, instatropes, heartofgold lawman, Yet, Ryan seems to turn the expected into something surprising, This fast read is incredibly satisfying, The main characters are appealing, certainly, but Ryan's strength might be her pacing, The mystery at the center of the main characters convinction unfolds in an enjoyable pace, I didn't expect to enjoy this one as much as I did, Great summer read.
Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review,
Seema Rao Write : sitelinkInstagram sitelinkBlog sitelinkTwitter Very, very angsty read with a heroine who would have been better off raised by wolves than this family.
Falsely imprisoned she's released when her dad dies and the officer the arrested her says she has to help catch the bad guys.
Her mom's first words were to her were more or less, "I wish you had died instead.
" Ouch. She was found guilty of a nonviolent crime, but her prison term ended up killing her dad according to her mother.
I was pretty riveted with her rotten family and the reemergence of the bad guys, but very ragey because they dismissyears of being a family like she's nothing.
Her family not the bad guys. About halfway into the book she goes from a tightly wound Mary Sue Martyr to the Mary Suest of Mary Sues by solving her brothers money woes, fighting bad guys and balancing the national debt.
After four years in prison, Evangeline is up for parole, Imagine her surprise when her arresting officer enters the hearing room! A whispered conference with the parole board and she is immediately released on compassionate grounds.
Immediately. Right now. Hit the road. Do not pass Go, do not collect, and do not go through official channels for release, And don't let the door hit you on the way out,
That is just the first of a slew of improbable happenings in this book, Before it begins, Evangeline was arrested for a crime she did not commit, tried and sentenced in a period of aboutweeks.
Right.
She went in as a pampered coed at the age of, survived six violent episodes while imprisoned, four of which culminated in a hospital stay, at least one of which incidents was lifethreatening, while at the same time getting a fouryear degree with honors in web design.
She also set up her own business which was against the rules, This last accomplishment was proudly announced later by said arresting officer,
Once out, she takes over the failing family business, making some savvy decisions that make her brothers and mother financially secure, suggests a business venture for her mother to keep her busy, helps solve the crime that sent her to prison and catches the guy responsible, sets up several amazing websites that AT ONCE send the profits for each business through the roof, and falls in love with the aforementioned arresting officer.
She also mends the broken relationships with her family, who without exception thought she was guilty, and who treated her like dirt.
All this in the space of about a month,
I'm not sure in what universe all this takes place, but the people there must surely die young.
Of exhaustion.
I received this book in a Goodreads giveaway in exchange for an unbiased review, Thank goodness I didn't buy it, If I had, I would be quite put out, I don't typically read fluffy romance, most of my romance involves demons, dragons, aliens, vampires, or werewolves.
But I received a copy of this book from a Goodreads contest and was more than happy to try it out.
The book was cute and told a very simple and straightforward story, I think I disliked two major thingsfirst, the author overexplained tremendously, She would take paragraphs talking about how a character felt, but I think that by the action and conversation in a book we should be able to tell.
She consistently went back over facts again and again, restating what had happened in a previous chapter or what someone was thinking.
It was torture. The other problem is the spoiler hereeverything is greatshe falls in love, her brother gets his house, the ranch is saved, the bad guy is caught, everyone forgives everyone, and every single possible plot line in the story is resolved.
It was rather absurd. It was fun to read about people falling in love albeit quickly and I was rooting for the "good guys", but overall the story was simplistic and formulaic.
I did appreciate trying a new genre and the goodreads win to be able to review, But, this is a generous three star book, .stars
Evangeline Austen spentyears in prison for a crime she didn't commit, She's now out on parole thanks to Chris Chambers, the very cop who had arrested her, Chris believes Evangeline is innocent, So he requests her help to catch the real criminals in exchange for clearing her name and record.
The premise of this book was too good to resist, An excon romancing the cop who arrested her!! Such an interesting and unique set up, I had to read it,
Overall, I really enjoyed this book, But unfortunately, the romance is secondary to Evangeline's personal journey and her family drama, After leaving prison, Evangeline wants to begin her career, but she is now also responsible for her family's ranch.
And on top of all that, she's helping Chris track down the criminals who framed her, I liked Evangeline's personal journey, but the family drama was way too much, Her family is just plain awful and they pissed me off until the very end of the book.
I almost DNF the book because of Evangeline's shitty family, But I pushed through for the romance,
I liked the romance between Chris and Evangeline, but I wish the author had spent more time on them.
The romance only became the focus of the story in the final act, I needed more chapters from Chris's POV, especially at the start, to accentuate the romantic tension and the pining between him and Evangeline.
Chris doesn't even get a POV chapter untilinto the story, which was waaaayyy too late, At that point, we had already gotten multiple chapters from Evangeline's mom's POV as well as Evangeline's brother's POV.
Why Because the author prioritized the family drama over the romance for majority of the story,
A couple of odd things:
, Evangeline got attacked by women of colour in prison because she's white, . . that whole part of the story is summed up in two lines only, And I really didn't get it Was Evangeline the only white woman in prison What does this say about the author's view of prison and race I wish the author had expanded on that more.
. Evangeline gets hired at a winery so quickly without a background check and it was just so damn unrealistic.
They trusted her immediately and Evangeline got so many clients so quickly despite being an excon,
Audiobook:
I listened to this one on audio, but I also had the ebook copy borrowed from the library.
I noticed a few changes here and there in the final ebook copy, but only in terms of minor sentences being rephrased.
The audio is narrated by one of my faves, Brittany Presley,
To summarize:
The family drama irritated me, Evangeline's journey is interesting if unrealistic, The romance is great, but it should have been the focus of the story, I wanted and needed more romance, and thus, more POV chapters from the hero, Originally posted on sitelinkUndeniably Book Nerdy book blog
Rating:,/stars
I was very eager to pick up this book because I don't remember ever reading about an exconvict heroineit's usually the heroes who serve a stint in prison.
I was very curious how it will play out in the story and I have to say, it did not disappoint! Actually, The Me I Used to Be has a very interesting premise altogether.
. .
We have a young woman, Evangeline Austen, who had served four years in prison for a crime she didn't commit, but she's not talking.
She's clearly protecting someone, but who Then, we have the arresting officer, Chris Chambers, who had every complicated feelings for Evangeline.
But, when the chance to clear her record comes up, Chris and Evangeline must work together to expose the truth.
On the flip side, we also have some intense
family drama because while Evangeline was in prison the only person who had tried to visit her was her father, who she had refused to see.
When she got out, her entire family especially her mother blames her for putting her father in an early grave and wants nothing to do with her.
BUT, in her father's will states that Evangeline gets the final decision on the future of her family's failing ranch, which got her whole family in an uproar.
I was seriously hooked during the first half of the bookI was dying to know who was Evangeline covering for and why.
It was frustrating how tightlipped Evangeline was, especially with her mom verbally attacking and condemning her at every opportunity.
I was screaming JUST TELL THE TRUTH ALREADY!!!! while throwing my book across the room well, pantomiming because I didn't want to damage my book.
Oh man, did my roiling feelings made me turn the pages faster though, When the truth finally came out, I became much more calm but still highly invested in the story as Evangeline kind of had to work undercover to get the evidence Chris needed to put the actual baddies in prison.
I did not always agree with the decisions Evangeline made, but I rooted for her to finally get her welldeserved happily ever after.
I love that she just didn't jump into dangerous situations willynilly, but instead carefully thought about covering herself and getting backup.
Hooray for smart heroines! And also hooray for awesome female friendships, because I love Evangeline and her best friend Jill's relationship.
I did want to throatpunch her family though, but I get it, Still, Evangeline was a saint because I personally would've just given them a big FU and let them rot in their crummy ranch.
As for Chris, he was okay, I didn't dislike him, but I have lukewarm feelings toward him in terms of the romance, It kind of bordered on instalove in my opinion, Fortunately, the romance took a backseat in this one, which I appreciated since I was way more interested in the family drama and getting the bad guys.
Overall, The Me I Used to Be was an entertaining read with a heroine to root for, interesting secondary characters, engrossing family drama, just enough mystery and thrill to keep the tension up, and enough romance to satisfy.
I highly recommend this book!,