Linda @ (un)Conventional Bookworms

London Bound- Nana Malone
Series: Chase Brothers #1
1 April 2014
Genres: Contemporary, New Adult, Romance
Pages: 459, Format: eARC
Source: Xpresso Booktours

It wasn’t exactly like spunky, photography student, Abbie Nartey ran away from her life…except, that she left under the cover of darkness and put three thousand miles between her and her ex-boyfriend’s betrayal. She went to London searching for her dream. She never expected to find love, or herself.

Heir to his family’s tech fortune, sexy, Alexi Chase, is looking for freedom—from his family and from his past. What he’s not looking for is love. With secrets like his, he can’t afford to let anyone get too close. But a chance rescue has him wondering if the price of keeping secrets is too high.

Will Alexi risk losing love to keep his past hidden? Will Abbie trust herself enough to love again? Or will their pasts keep then from accepting true love?

*I received a free ARC of London Bound from Xpresso Book Tours in exchange of an honest review*

Welcome to my stop of the London Bound blogtour, hosted by Xpresso Book Tours. First off, you can enter my international giveaway, you can win an e-book of London Bound! So please, just enter and good luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

London Bound starts out with the readers getting to know Abbie – she’s in an abusive relationship, but she finally was able to stand up for herself when she realized her boyfriend, Evan, had hidden her acceptance letter from the one university she really wanted to go to. Things got quite violent very quickly, but Abbie managed herself very well. What a way to start off a story, right? With a girl able to get out of a bad situation, getting in touch with some friends from college, and then off to London she goes.

For a while, Abbie stayed pretty strong, she was confident in herself and in her work, and London Bound easily reeled me in. She started her photography classes, and I enjoyed her snappy interactions both with her teacher and with her fellow students. Her girlfriends in London were great, even if they were a little bit superficial, going to VIP parties every chance they got, and it was while going to meet one of her friends she first met Alexi. Intriguing, and very helpful, he saved her when she looked the wrong way before crossing the street and was almost run over by a car. Abbie was a fun character in many ways, and I always enjoy reading stories where the main character isn’t white.

London Bound continues with more parties than photography, and Abbie quickly became a little scattered. She and Alexi met in several places, and it was clear from the very beginning that he was hiding a huge secret. Abbie could feel it, too, and it made her very uneasy – she needed someone in her life with whom what she saw was what she got. She couldn’t afford to let herself fall for someone like Evan once more. Especially because both her mom – who actually knew Evan was hitting her, but thought being with someone rich and famous was more important than being safe and happy – and Evan kept calling her to make her change her mind and go back to the US.

The thing that bothered me a little bit in London Bound is how quickly Abbie fell for Alexi. I got that he was very charming, charismatic, intelligent and good looking. But she just left a guy she’d been with since she was sixteen, and he really didn’t treat her right. It felt a little rushed that she was so open to get together with Alexi and how she felt safe with him despite not knowing him very well. And Abbie was very conscious of this, but she went on with it anyway. Their story definitely kept me interested, though, and I will keep on reading the Chase Brothers series, because I need to know more about them, and Xander as well.

Some of the scenes in London Bound are very hot, and they are also very well written – however, not everything can be fixed with good sex, you know? So while I really enjoyed Abbie’s journey, I would have liked to maybe have the story be a little longer, so that she would have been on her own for a while before starting a new relationship. Alexi was a great hero, and I especially enjoyed how misanthropic he was, donating both his time and his money to various causes, while working and also having time for Abbie.

What the hell was his problem? He’d kissed lots of women. But kissing Abbie was like kissing a live wire. He wanted more of it. To grab hold and never let go.

Her good judgment meter was clearly on the fritz. Everything about this guy said emotionally unavailable, and she’d just come off a relationship with someone who didn’t know the meaning of love. She needed another guy like she needed another whole in her head.

Lex was not Evan. he was someone completely new. She didn’t have much dating experience, but even she knew she couldn’t let her past dictate her future.

She blinked up at him, eyes wide. “Alexi, I know what I want. And it’s you. It’s always been you.”

Purchase:
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AUTHOR BIO
USA Today Best Seller and iTunes Breakout Books author,Nana Malone’s love of all things romance and adventure started with a tattered romantic suspense she borrowed from her cousin.

It was a sultry summer afternoon in Ghana, and Nana was a precocious thirteen. She’s been in love with kick butt heroines ever since. With her overactive imagination, and channeling her inner Buffy, it was only a matter a time before she started creating her own characters.

While she waits for her chance at a job as a ninja assassin, in the meantime Nana works out her drama, passion and sass with fictional characters every bit as sassy and kick butt as she thinks she is.

Nana also writes sizzling erotic novellas as Q. Malone: http://www.amazon.com/author/qmalone

Author links:
Goodreads | Website | Twitter

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