Neve Wilder

4,8 stars

This book was not at all what I expected from the description. (I mean, the description isn't false, the book is just so much more than it seems.)

What an exceptional romance. It was one of the more slow burn stories I've read, and everything felt very realistic and organic between the main characters. No insta love or electrifying first kisses, just two people feeling drawn together and building a relationship gradually.

One thing that was clear from the beginning was that the author show more was obviously writing from personal experience. Specifically about grief. I kept tearing up throughout the book and on more than one occasion I was full on crying. While the eventual romance was sweet, what forced me to read this book practically in one sitting was the storyline about Alex's dad. One hell of a ride.

Aside from the excellent writing and a very believable plot (particularly considering the genre) this book also had a great cast of characters. I loved Alex's family and Rob's sister, and I'm really looking forward to reading Tom's story when it comes out.

I don't think my review of this book is doing it justice, but I highly recommend it to anyone who likes well rounded stories with fleshed out characters and a whole lot of emotional impact. Maybe not the book for someone looking for a light and fluffy read. show less

Slow burn romance, great characters, and a lot of chemistry

I have yet to not love a full length Neve Wilder romance, and I have a hard time envisioning a book of hers that I don't enjoy.

Resonance is a slow burn romance between an employer and an employee with an age-gap, but despite having two tropes that I don't really care for, usually, it managed to be so sweet and organic that it didn't bother me. The power imbalance was addressed and resolved, and the age difference wasn't overly show more underlined or made creepy.

The character were already familiar from Dedicated, and they really grew on me in this story. Both Owen and Dan were fully fleshed out characters that felt like real people. Often romance authors fall into the trap of writing caricatures of people for the sake of having the tools for hot sex scenes, but here the hot sex was just an added bonus.

While the romance is slow burn, the physical attraction isn't. And that's another thing I appreciate - authors not mixing up physical attraction for love. Also the fact that not all sex has to be penetrative. Seems obvious, but anyone who reads romance can attest to the fact that to some authors it isn't.

The pacing of this book was also on the slower side, and the conflicts were on the real life scale. When reading romance, you get the feeling that a character needs to have some huge trauma to be interesting or relatable, but to me the most interesting are the ones I could actually imagine knowing in real life.

This wasn't my favorite of Neve's, but it still one of my favorite romances of the year. show less

I just wanted to sample it but then one-clicked. :) Started really good. I like the writing. It's not that different, just a word here, a phrase there, but it makes it sound new or not like something I read a thousand times in other books. And I was enjoying it for the most part. Sexy, and the humor was a bonus for me. Jesse is a cute twink and Sam a hunk of a football player. There is some kink too and... well there is porn, kinda.
The second part, or more like the last few chapters was more show more generic with the usual drama. Which I really didn't need and I felt exasperated.
3.5 stars show less

4.5 stars!

I see some reviewers didn't know what they were getting into. This is a dark romance with broken, damaged people in a bad, bad world. That the author manages a reasonable HEA is delightful.

This novel is plotted very well for increasing tension, and it worked very well on me. I loved Cas, and liked Jonah better the more I understood him, which adds to the aforementioned tension. There's a lot of sex, which was fine but a bit boring to me, so I can't give this five stars. But I show more will be reading the next book, so it certainly did its job for the author. show less