ARC REVIEW: The Sun and The Moon by Leslie McAdams
'She follows all the rules. He’s going to teach her how to break them. After a heartbreaking tragedy, successful attorney Amelia Crowley has numbed herself to the pleasures of life, clinging to a specific set of rules, finding strength in order and organization. When she meets easy going surfer Ryan Fielding, that organized life is turned upside down by a sea of washboard abs and sun-kissed hair. Sexy and charismatic, Ryan looks for pleasure however he can find it in an effort to silence his own inner demons. Until Amelia crashed into his life the only thing he chased was the next wave. Refusing to break their connection and determined to break through her carefully crafted walls, Ryan sets out to throw out every rule in her book and show Amelia that pleasure can't be planned. Can Amelia let Ryan take the lead or will she cling to her rules and wipe out their chance at love?'
MY REVIEW:
The Sun and The Moon is a good bit of smut that also deals with the complex subject matter of depression. I must admit, this book took a while to grab me. At the start there is a lot of internal monologue, I did find I was just waiting for the part where she meets the hottie. Amelia sounds like a hot shot, sexy lawyer, who comes across as a massive prude, but inside she is battling everyday against depression and trying to escape the boundaries she was raised in.
When she meets Ryan, she finds the light at the end of the tunnel and he helps her to stop feeling so numb and ditch her many, many (mostly prudish) rules. I did like Ryan but I know if he said the things he said to Amelia to me, then I’d probably think he was a bit of a douche. I kind of cringed by how he kept saying ‘I’m a sensualist’, it just sounds like such a line and it was just a bit arrogant. Not everything he said was that bad but that line just irked me a bit.
The book progresses on throughout their relationship with Ryan trying to open her up sexually and conquer her trust issues. There were a lot of hot, sexy bits but the story line wasn’t very gripping to me, I admired the way the subject was handled but I prefer a few more twists in my books and this was a bit predictable. There’s a bit that happens towards the end and I immediately put the book down because, to me, it was so obvious it was silly. So I was about to skim past until she gets over the mistake/misunderstanding, which happens pretty quick and the author actually referenced that it was like some ‘two-bit romance novel’ plot. I personally don’t like when authors directly reference romance novels in their romance novels but this was obviously supposed to be some kind of irony but I’d rather it just had an original misunderstanding rather than an easy one (trying to explain that without giving away any spoilers!).
The bits I did love were all the Harry Potter references, they were fun. The sex scenes were also pretty good but I think I would have been more gripped by it if the story was a bit more faster paced and there were less monologue sections. I had just read the most awesome book before so that may be why I wasn’t quite so blown away with this one. Definitely a nice read, I think people will enjoy it, especially if you can relate to the numbness of depression.
I’m giving it 3.5 stars, because I do think I may have been more into it if I wasn’t looking for a more action packed read but it didn’t hold my attention as much as I’d have liked.
About the Author
Leslie McAdam is a California girl who loves romance, Little Dude, and well-defined abs. She lives in a drafty old farmhouse on a small orange tree farm in Southern California with her husband and two small children. Leslie always encourages her kids to be themselves - even if it means letting her daughter wear leopard print from head to toe. An avid reader from a young age, she will always trade watching TV for reading a book, unless it's Top Gear. Or football. Leslie is employed by day but spends her nights writing about the men you fantasize about. She's unapologetically sarcastic and notoriously terrible at comma placement. Always up for a laugh, Leslie tries to see humor in all things. When she's not in the writing cave you'll find her fangirling over Beck, camping with her family, or mixing up oil paints to depict her love of outdoors on canvas.
