This is book #2, in the Hopeless Romantics series.  This book can be read as a standalone novel.  For reader enjoyment, and understanding of this amazing series, I recommend reading these in the order intended.

 

Charlotte comes back to Hope Lake after some serious disappointments.  She figures spending the summer with her Dad and Gigi, that she will have a brighter future.  Then she gets back with most of her childhood friends and finds out that all is not what she thought.

 

While hot men abound in this small but very active community, she has the hearts of two men somehow intertwined with her unknown future.  On one hand, she has Max - who is actively pursuing her.  Then there is the sweet Henry, whom she is trying hard to remember from her days of living here before.

 

This story was just bold and lovely.  I loved the characters.  I love the interaction.  I also have come to love the little community in the small town.  While this author always takes me places, she also gives me a riveting story about someone who must learn to come into their own.  Never fails to bring me to my knees with all the surprises you never see coming.  I give this read a 4/5 Kitty's Paws UP!

 

 

***This early copy was given in exchange for an honest review only.

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This is a really fun quirky read. I liked Maggie from the start, even if she is a bit dim at times. The misunderstanding about the "partner" was a low moment for her mentally. Other than that major mindslip, I found her delightful, if not a touch self absorbed.

I was laughing out loud several times and giggling more often than not. The relationships are sweet and the supporting characters interesting and engaging. I loved they whole dynamic Maggie has with all her friends. I especially love he playfulness she has with Blake. They are a delight to read when together.

The whole book is Maggie's POV, which isn't bad, just very one sided. You have to guess at what others are thinking unless they say something outright.

The narrator for this book is Anne Clamp, she is a delightful listen. I really liked her voice, great tone and pace. She made the book fly by, loads of energy added to the read. I am definitely going to look for more books read by her.

I was thoroughly enjoying my reading/listening experience and then BAM, it ended!! Out of the blue total cold ending, no real resolutions of HEA!!!! WTF!! I feel so cheated. Now I have to decide if I spend another credit to get the rest of the story!! Oh, guess what, there is a book out there that combines both parts. Wish I knew that before I bought this!!

I would have ranked this higher if it had not left me short. It was a entertaining read up until the ending cutting the book short! I am really not happy about having to spend more to get the last third of the book.

I've never really heard of Marcelo Santos III before until I saw this book with the very catchy title. It has been a long time since I read another book written in Filipino, with Para Kay B being the last one. At first, I thought this was like a humorous book, but it seemed that I was very mistaken. It wasn't just humorous... I felt a hell of a lot of emotions while reading this book.

Oh, and yeah. Because of my curiosity of this book, I bought a copy last Sunday, but my copy has some missing pages, which brought me to have a conversation with the author himself. And I returned the copy and had another one last Monday. :)

It seemed like this book had resurrected my liking of books written in Filipino, since I seldom see those quality books because of those ones that have been just translated like The Vampire Diaries, The Hunger Games and holy effing shit, Fifty Shades. I mean come on! How do you even read that one in Tagalog?

For those Hopeless romantics out there, read this one!

HAHA! Wow...this girl is even crazier than me! But, the book was funny and moved at a nice pace...

Almost got a five star...almost...

So, what lost this book a star? Well, starting out, I like to know if a book I am reading is part of a series...and at the end of this one I got the unpleasant surprise of finding out that there are multiple books to this girls story.

If you just read A Hopeless Romantic and want to read Happily Ever After, or vice versa, I'm going to spoiler it for you. Never mind— you've ruined it for yourself, because they're identical.

Both synopses are exactly this: Girl who dreams of romance has secret affair with man who is totally inappropriate for her. After everything crashes down around her she finds a man who truly cares for her, but because she holds warily on to her past behavior as an example of how not to proceed with life, she over corrects by excelling professionally, dating casually, and becoming boring and unromantic overall. The main mother figure in her life dies while she's out with the man she loves. She gets together with the man in the end. Ta da.

So okay, they aren't exactly the same. They're like an experiment in opposite ways to take one set of plot points. One is light and sweet and funny (Austen), and the other is just dark and morbid, what with all the self hate and casual cruelty coming off nearly every character (including the main one). Not to mention the alcoholism. Very Brontë. I personally prefer the upbeat modern Regency romance novel elements of A Hopeless Romantic to that horror show that was Happily Ever After.

All in all, Laura is likable, but forgettable (as is her story). Something I really want to see come out of this is a Grandmother Mary spin-off novel. That, I think, would be a great read about an unforgettable woman.