by Mia Sheridan
Genre: New Adult contemporary
Publisher: Mia Sheridan
Published: April 17th 2013
Source: review copy from author
Author's website | GoodReads
Evie and Leo met in foster care as children and formed a bond of friendship. As they grew, their bond turned to love and they vowed to make a life together when they turned 18 and were no longer a part of the system.
When Leo unexpectedly gets adopted as a teen and he moves to another city, he promises Evie that he will contact her as soon as he gets there and come back for her in a few short years. She never hears from him again.
Now eight years later, in spite of the odds, Evie has made a life for herself. She has a job, she has friends, she's content. Then a man shows up out of the blue, claiming that her long lost love, Leo, sent him to check up on her. The attraction between them is undeniable. But, should she trust this sexy stranger? Or is he keeping a secret about what his connection to Leo is really all about and why Leo disappeared all those years ago?
I really enjoyed Leo at first. I giggled like a little girl and gushed and gasped over everything that happened whenever I turned a page. However, when I looked back and pored over everything that transcribed over the course of the book's 193 pages, I can't help but notice problems about the book and it's overly convenient plot.
Evie's life turned out really well considering everything she has been through. Passed on from one foster home to another, Evie spent her childhood surrounded by drugs and alcohol all the while managing to stay away from them. She currently works as a maid for a hotel and gets along really well with her co-workers, stays at a livable apartment and pays her monthly rent, and visits her old neighbor, who lives three hours away from her I might add, just so she can give him muffins.
Evie sounds great and all and I would love to be her friend, but it would've been nice if her, well... niceness, wasn't mentioned EVERY SINGLE CHAPTER. Yes, I understand and agree that she's practically a saint, and I don't need to be reminded of that fact. She was this well-written but single faceted character that I really wanted to get to know but couldn't. She did show a bit of attitude, but even that was sugarcoated. Almost half of the dialogue between her and Leo was about her sincerity, ingenuity, simplicity, sheer beauty, angelic-ness, etc. etc. and I really would have liked Evie to be more than just the sensitive good girl type.
And then there's Jake, Evie's stalker-turned-confidante. Jake was a real charmer, and I think he charmed me so much that I failed to see his flaws at first. I think it's safe to say that he's like a Christian Grey who takes a more subtle approach. I usually forgive things like these, but I was really bothered by the fact that Jake and Evie's relationship turned into too much of a something too fast. He's Adonis-like and rich, he treats her like a princess, and he has this 'connection' to Leo- but let's not forget about the fact that he used to stalk her. It also annoyed me when Evie forgave and believed his excuses too easily. Jake's back-story was all too convenient and unrealistic, but i'm still a little curious about the whole thing so I just might read his upcoming companion story.
Leo's plot was too convenient, predictable, and unrealistic for my liking. I think that a perfect balance between fiction and reality is needed to tell a steamy contemporary romance like this, and Leo swayed towards the fiction side way too much. The book finds a bit of redemption in the flashback scenes though; they felt more sincere and realistic, and the characters had way more depth. All in all, Leo wasn't a bad read but it wasn't great either.
Evie's life turned out really well considering everything she has been through. Passed on from one foster home to another, Evie spent her childhood surrounded by drugs and alcohol all the while managing to stay away from them. She currently works as a maid for a hotel and gets along really well with her co-workers, stays at a livable apartment and pays her monthly rent, and visits her old neighbor, who lives three hours away from her I might add, just so she can give him muffins.
Evie sounds great and all and I would love to be her friend, but it would've been nice if her, well... niceness, wasn't mentioned EVERY SINGLE CHAPTER. Yes, I understand and agree that she's practically a saint, and I don't need to be reminded of that fact. She was this well-written but single faceted character that I really wanted to get to know but couldn't. She did show a bit of attitude, but even that was sugarcoated. Almost half of the dialogue between her and Leo was about her sincerity, ingenuity, simplicity, sheer beauty, angelic-ness, etc. etc. and I really would have liked Evie to be more than just the sensitive good girl type.
And then there's Jake, Evie's stalker-turned-confidante. Jake was a real charmer, and I think he charmed me so much that I failed to see his flaws at first. I think it's safe to say that he's like a Christian Grey who takes a more subtle approach. I usually forgive things like these, but I was really bothered by the fact that Jake and Evie's relationship turned into too much of a something too fast. He's Adonis-like and rich, he treats her like a princess, and he has this 'connection' to Leo- but let's not forget about the fact that he used to stalk her. It also annoyed me when Evie forgave and believed his excuses too easily. Jake's back-story was all too convenient and unrealistic, but i'm still a little curious about the whole thing so I just might read his upcoming companion story.
Leo's plot was too convenient, predictable, and unrealistic for my liking. I think that a perfect balance between fiction and reality is needed to tell a steamy contemporary romance like this, and Leo swayed towards the fiction side way too much. The book finds a bit of redemption in the flashback scenes though; they felt more sincere and realistic, and the characters had way more depth. All in all, Leo wasn't a bad read but it wasn't great either.
THE NUB AND GIST: 1.5 STARS
This book wasn't for me, but other readers enjoyed it a lot.
