Hey Ho Bookaholics!
I received this book in November from Allen & Unwin to read and review. It was released on the 23rd of November 2016, published by Areana|Allen & Unwin.
Novella, December’s Wish was published in 2013.
This is the re-release as a full length novel and re-titled Third Time Lucky
After a disastrous marriage, December Doyle is back in her home town of Christmas Creek, trying to pick up the pieces of her life to start again. She’s also on a mission to help breathe new life into the town, so the last thing she needs is trouble.
Bad boy Seth Hunter has also returned to Christmas Creek, and trouble is his middle name. Wrongly convicted of a serious crime in his youth, Seth is now a successful businessman, but his plans for the town are very different to December’s.
As teenagers, December and Seth were madly in love, and seeing each other again reawakens old feelings. But will Seth be able to overcome his destructive anger about the past, and can December conquer her fear of heartbreak to make it third time lucky?
By the bestselling author of Second Chance Town, this wonderful novel is about betrayal, ambition and the power of forgiveness and love.
If you want to read a sweet fluffy contemporary, then this is the book to pick up. I picked this book up because I didn’t feel in the mood to dive into a Sci-Fi fantasy novel, as Magnus Chase and The Hammer of Thor had taken a lot of energy out of me and left me in a very sad and emotional state.
What I loved about this book was the setting. Third Lime Lucky takes place in a small, fictional farming town in Victoria, Australia. Being a Melburnian, and having driven through parts of country Victoria, I felt that I could relate to the story just that little bit more.
I find that when stories are set in or around Melbourne, they make the story feel a lot more real and give it a less fantasy vibe because it is almost as if you could go to the location and see evidence of the story’s existence. Does anyone else feel like this when books are set in their hometown/ city?
During the first chapter, Lane did an excellent job of setting the scene and describing in detail how things usually are in the town and how they were.
I loved the storyline. It was engaging, gripping and heartfelt and with better writing, the book could be a romance masterpiece. I want to make this clear that in no way intend to offend the author with my review, I am just pointing out what I liked or didn’t like about the book.
I felt that the writing style of this book was very basic and a style that I would normally not chose to read. Adding to the basic writing style of the novel, some parts of the *sexy scenes* were super cringe. As a former directioner I was – and still am – a major fanfiction reader and have come across smut that gives me more feels than the smut-ish scenes in this book. “Arse” was used where buttocks would’ve been appropriate and less cringe but also this: “male nipple” ??? I’m not saying I’m a sex scene expert because I am way not qualified to write a decent sex scene (I’m too innocent for that) but what I know is that these scenes are supposed to portray the feeling of the characters to the reader and in turn make the reader become aroused when reading it. This book didn’t do this for me.
BUT the reason I was able to give this book a 3 and not 2-star review were the well-established characters and storyline. Each character had a goal that wanted to reach which was kept throughout the whole novel.
December’s character was amazing. She portrayed a normal female woman who was relatable in some aspects despite the age difference between her and me, her problems appeared real and were handled in a realistic fashion. I adore her positive attitude and immense love for Christmas, as well as her ability to see the good in people, even the ones the people hated – in this, I relate to her.
Seth is a funny one. His anger against the town and loss of December’s hand in marriage made him more motivated to become successful and in a sense, throw his success in the faces of the people who shunned him. What he did for December at the end of the book, really made me love him. It shows that he would do anything for his love, which is a beautiful thing and really gives purpose to all of his hard work throughout the years.
And lastly, my favourite quote from the whole book was from December’s Gran: “You weren’t drunk, you were relaxed.”
Despite all of my negative feedback on this book; if I was in the mood to just read a fluffy, lighthearted, easy to read book, I would definitely pick up another of Karly Lane’s books due to the amazing storyline and well-developed characters she includes.
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Thank You so much for reading and I hope to see you all back here again Saturday 🙂
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© Jasper+Spice 2016. All Rights Reserved. Please do not use without permission. This review was sponsored, all opinions (and photo) are my own and were featured on my Instagram @thebookishbree, book cover is from Goodreads (jasperandspice).
