Romance Review: Sugar Daddy by Lisa Kleypas

Title: Sugar Daddy

Author: Lisa Kleypas (Goodreads/Twitter/Website)

Rating:  

Number of Pages: 384 pages

Publication Date: March 6th 2007

Genre: Romance, Contemporary Romance

Publisher: St. Martin's Press

Series or Stand-Alone: Travises Series Book #1

Book Disclosure: Purchased from Powerbooks

Summary:

Liberty Jones has dreams and determination that will take her away from Welcome, Texas-if she can keep her wild heart from ruling her mind. Hardy Cates sees Liberty as completely off-limits. His own ambitions are bigger that Welcome, and Liberty is a complication he doesn’t need. But something magical and potent draws them to each other, in a dangerous attraction that is stronger than either of them.

When Hardy leaves town to pursue his plans, Liberty finds herself alone with a young sister to raise. Soon Liberty is under the spell of a billionaire tycoon- a Sugar Daddy one might say. But the relationship goes deeper than people think, and Liberty begins to discover secrets about her own family’s past.

Opening Line: 

When I was four, my father died in an oil-rigging accident. Daddy didn't even work for the drilling outfit.

Review:

To say that I love this book would be an understatement. I don’t know the right words to choose to express how much I love this book. It blew me away from the beginning until the end. I started reading it before going to bed and once I started it, I knew I had to finish it before I went to sleep. And I did! By the time I woke up in the morning, the first thing I did was grab the book from the bedside table and relived every scene and dialogue that I loved so much.

In my opinion, Sugar Daddy is Lisa Kleypas’ best work so far. Although I’m not really a fan of first person POV, in this book, it didn’t bother me at all. I felt an immediate connection with Liberty Jones. As a reader, I found myself crying with her, laughing with her, and watching her grow up, mature, and triumph in every hardship she had to go through.

I understood what she felt for Hardy because in a way, I had gone though the same thing she had when she fell in love with him (the powerful emotions she felt for him and the beauty of ‘first love’, not really wanting to let go of that wonderful past). I admired Liberty for her courage, bravery, and her deep connection with her sister Carrington.

Although I liked Hardy, I was rooting for Gage all the way. Hardy will always be a special person in Liberty’s life because he had helped her when she was younger and vulnerable. But when Hardy left, that’s when Liberty realized her own strengths. She learned to stand-up on her own, be responsible, and be selfless.

I think Gage was the perfect man for her. Since the beginning of their relationship, Gage accepted her for whom she was, and he loved her unconditionally, without limits. When Gage discovered Hardy messed up the Medina deal, he knew only Liberty could have told him about it but even then, Gage didn’t blame her because he didn’t want Hardy to create a wedge between him and Liberty. That’s when I realized that Liberty comes first, before anything else in Gage’s life and that he truly loved her.

This book made me cry more than any other book I’ve read before. It also made me laugh and think about a lot of things in my life. This book was wonderful, touching, and healing all at the same time.

Sugar Daddy is a definite keeper.

Goodreads || Amazon || Book Depository 

YA Review: Just Listen by Sarah Dessen

Title: Just Listen
Author: Sarah Dessen (Goodreads/ Twitter/ Website)
Rating:
Number of Pages: 317 pages
Publication Date: April 2006
Publisher:   Viking Juvenile
Genre: Young Adult, Romance
Series or Stand-Alone: Stand-Alone
Book Disclosure: Purchased from Powerbooks


Summary:

Last year, Annabel Greene was "the girl who has everything"--at least that's the part she played in the television commercial for Kopf 's Department Store. This year, she's the girl who has nothing: no best friend because mean-but-exciting Sophie dropped her, no peace at home since her older sister became anorexic, and no one to sit with at lunch. Until she meets Owen Armstrong. Tall, dark, and music-obsessed, Owen is a reformed bad boy with a commitment to truth-telling. With Owen's help, maybe Annabel can face what happened the night she and Sophie stopped being friends.

Opening Line: 

I taped the commercial back in April, before anything had happened, and promptly forgot about it. A few weeks ago, it had started running, and suddenly, I was everywhere.

Review:

Just Listen is the first book by YA novelist Sarah Dessen that I’ve read, and will definitely not be the last.

Just Listen tells the story of Annabel Greeene, a 17-year old girl who has everything. At least, that’s what she portrays in her modeling shoots. But Annabel’s life was far from perfect. On the summer before her senior year, Annabel’s friendship with Sophie ended bitterly and her sister Whitney’s eating disorder had started weighing down her family. Now feeling ostracized and isolated, Annabel retreats into silent acceptance. Until she meets Owen Armstrong and with his guidance, Annabel learned to listen and gains the courage to speak honestly for herself.

I never thought I would read this book, let alone find myself immersed into the story. I love reading Young Adult books but mostly YA-Fantasy like Harry Potter but after finishing Just Listen, I’ve realized it’s more than just a story of a teenage girl going through the typical high school drama. Just Listen tells the story of each and every one of us - our family, our friendship, betrayal and forgiveness, and most of all our own self.

Just Listen is a unique YA novel in such a way that Dessen had written a powerful and inspiring story with themes that can resonate to all of us. Albeit the high school setting, I found myself not only looking back at my days in school but also realizing how parallel it was to the same issues I’m going on with my life. I found the book really very inspiring and it thought me lessons that can make me become a better person.

Its uniqueness also stems from the way Sarah Dessen had written her characters. They were all well-rounded and real, like I can see a part of myself or someone I know in each and every character in the story. Although a lot of readers seem to admire Owen Armstrong, I found myself drawn to Annabel Greene’s. She’s a terrific character and I adored her self-awareness and empathized with her self-consciousness.

The story was not only inspirational but it also addressed a lot of issues like eating disorders, the not so fabulous life of being a model, high school bullying and most importantly family relationships. There were a lot of themes in this book but I give kudos to Dessen because it never felt stuffed and each was given equal attention in the story. Just Listen was told with the right amount of realism and pacing.

I feel like no amount of words can give enough justice to how powerful and inspiring the book Just Listen can be. I recommend it to anyone who wants to read a book that they can enjoy, with characters they can relate to and a story that can inspire and touch their hearts in a way they could never imagine.

Goodreads || Amazon || Book Depository