Romance Review and GIVEAWAY "Running Towards Love" by Marisa Adams

Title:  Running Towards Love (Novella)
Author: Marisa Adams
Publisher:  CreateSpace
Publication Date: February 28, 2013
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Format:  Paperback 142 pages  |  Kindle 255 KB

Buy this book on Amazon:  Paperback  |  Kindle Edition
Author's Website:  http://marisaadams.com/
Author's Goodreads Profile:  Marisa Adams 

Synopsis from Goodreads: 

A novella based on the characters from IS LOVE ENOUGH.

For ten years, Danny and Nikki Camarelli have shared everything until Nikki overhears a conversation leading her to believe his honesty has been nothing but a lie. When Nikki disappears for a few days, Danny is frantic with worry before he finds out she has traveled to visit their best friends in Texas. 

Shortly after she arrives, Nikki confides the horrible truth to Jason and Rebekah Taylor, completely unsure as to what her future holds. But Danny won't give her up without a fight. Can Nikki remember all the reasons she should be RUNNING TOWARDS LOVE before it's too late?

My Thoughts...

This is a novella that that takes place after the events of Is Love Enough. I quite enjoyed that book and you can read my review of that one here.  So, this little story is about Nikki and Danny while it does take place after Jason and Rebekah's book a lot of it is done in flash back. 

Overall, this is just a snippet of Nikki and Danny's life, but it's a pretty significant one.  It's the type of event that makes you think about why and how you got together in the first place.  Nikki relays some of those things to Rebekah in conversation and then Danny has some "thinking back" moments.  It's nice to find out how they ended up together, but I did have some issues with the current situation.  Like the synopsis states, Nikki overhears a conversation and jumps to conclusions, etc...  This is something that happens all the time in books that I read and it's something that absolutely drives me insane!  You can't just assume  things when you overhear something.  I can understand when it happens early in a relationship and you are still getting to know the other person, but Nikki and Danny have been together for way to long for this type of juvenile behavior.  That's really the only issue I had with the story, I expected there to be a much bigger issue forcing them apart. 

I highly recommend reading Is Love Enough first.  I really think that you need to know these characters before you will be compelled to feel for them and the situation they are in.  Even though they are minor characters in the first book, they are in the story enough that you get to know them quite well.  It's not enough to just come in on this book and feel for them right away since the bulk of their character building was done in the first book.  In my opinion this isn't a good standalone for this reason alone.

If you read and enjoyed Is Love Enough then I highly recommend picking this one up!  I really loved getting to read more about Jason and Rebekah, it was lovely to see where they were at this point in time.  I have to say that I still love Jason just as much as I did in the first book!

If you would like to give these books a try Marissa Adams has graciously offered to let me do a giveaway for signed copies of both books!  Just enter the Rafflecopter and I will draw the winner next Wednesday.

Here are my only rules:

• Must be at least 18 to Enter
• You must live in the US for hard copy books.
• You will have 24 hours to contact me once it's confirmed that you are the winner and I have emailed you.
• Failure to contact me in 24 hours will result in my drawing another name as winner. 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Romance Review "Is Love Enough" by Marisa Adams

Title:  Is Love Enough
Author: Marisa Adams
Publisher:  CreateSpace
Publication Date: October 1, 2012
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Format:  Paperback 278 pages  |  Kindle 453 KB

Buy this book on Amazon:  Paperback  |  Kindle Edition
Author's Website:  http://marisaadams.com/
Author's Goodreads Profile:  Marisa Adams 

Synopsis from Goodreads: 

Love is a powerful thing; but, sometimes, love isn't enough. At least, that's what Rebekah Thomas believes. In her younger, more naive days, Rebekah thought love could conquer all; that was before the death of her husband, and high school sweetheart. Now she believes life is easier without it. 

Ever the romantic at heart, a failed marriage and cinema glitter is not enough to stop famous actor Jason Taylor from believing the right woman for him is out there somewhere. Tired of his undeserved playboy reputation, he unexpectedly finds the forever kind of love miles away, with a small town teacher. 

Rebekah and Jason could bridge their different worlds together, but this sweet and compassionate teacher has trouble letting him in. Just as she is convinced they could have a chance, one moment threatens to destroy everything they have built. Can Rebekah finally see the truth - that sometimes, love is all you need?

My Thoughts...
I really enjoyed this book.  It was a really quick and easy read for me, I think I read it in about 3 hours.  It was one of those that once I got started I didn't want to put it down...so I didn't!  It did remind me a lot of Tina Reber's Love Unscripted though.  

Rebekah is a middle school teacher who lost her husband after just a few short years of marriage.  He was her high school sweetheart and the only man she ever loved.  She is in New York City for a teaching conference when she meets Jason Taylor, a high profile soap opera star.  Jason has literally just signed his divorce papers after being separated from his cheating wife for over 6 months.  It's a chance encounter on the street that leads them both to the conclusion that love at first sight really does exist.  After a whirlwind weekend together Bekah returns home to Texas with the promise that they will get to know each other through phone calls and that she will return in a months time for Jason's sisters wedding.

It's not all champagne and roses once Jason's ex-wife decides that she wants him back.  She makes Bekah's life a bit of a nightmare for a while and she's definitely a character that you will love to hate.  You will love all the other characters in the story though.  They have wonderful back stories and they are very well written.  

If you are looking for a clean romantic story then you will probably like this book.  If you ever had a crush on a soap opera star (mine was Ingo Rademacher, Jax on General Hospital), then you will love it even more as  you live vicariously through Rebekah as she falls in love with Jason! 

The only thing about the book that bothered me was that Jason and Bekah had a lot of inner dialogue that would have read much better if it had been italicized.  It got a little confusing when it was mixed with other dialogue since it was notated with single quotes.  That was my only little nit-pick about the book, though.  It's very well written and I think that we will be seeing more from Marisa Adams in the future.

*Disclaimer:  I was provided with a copy of this book courtesy of the author in exchange for an honest review.*