Enamor (Heart of Stone #03) - Veronica Larsen

Title: Enamor (Heart of Stone #03)
Author: Veronica Larsen
Rating: 4 - 4.5/5

Thanks to NetGalley, Veronica Larsen and Patchwork Press for letting me receive a digital copy of this book.

The first step in solving a problem is recognizing there’s one to begin with. Here’s mine. My new roommate is a conceited, womanizing jerk. He pushes my buttons and drives me so crazy I want to strangle him daily.

There’s a million reasons why I should stay far away from him, the most obvious of which being that I hate him with the fire of a thousand suns.

Except that I don’t hate him.

I sometimes wonder if this back-and-forth between us is all just pretend. All part of a diversion, a line of defense against the heat we generate whenever we are near each other.

It's a reckless game we're playing, treading the edge of an attraction so intense it might as well be a grenade.

There isn't much for me to say. I absolutely adored this book, right from the very first page. Although at first I thought it'd be a pretty dark read, it wasn't. Sure, it had some dark sparks in it and isn't much of a light read, either, but it's not totally depressing.

Julia and Giles both had a rough year (or two years) for different reasons. I won't spoil you and tell you what these problems are, but Giles' have to do with his family, and Julia's as well, but only because of something her ex-boyfriend did. Ever since these incidents, both of their lives have changed. Giles tries to deal with things by hooking up with random women (bad boy alert) and Julia escapes it by fleeing to another town. And that's how they meet - Julia signs a room contract with Ava, who happens to be Giles' cousin. And surprise, Giles lives along with the two as well. Alright, my writing is total rubbish, but I hope you understand what I am saying.

Julia and Giles start pranking each other, which is so funny to read. They come up with the most hilarious pranks. Their attractions grows and then Giles' last prank changes everything... When you get to that scene, I hope it'll become one of your favourites, too. Because I feel that way.

Is this review bad or is it just me?! Okay, so this might contain a little spoiler, but I have to mention it... I loved the way the author handled the scene in which Julia visits her family. It was such an important moment. And when Julia saw her ex-boyfriend... We all secretly know we needed a scene like that.

Read Enamor, I even highlighted a conversation between Julia and Giles. I usually never do that while reading a book, but I loved this one so much, I tweeted it, too, haha.

I close my eyes, too, but I hear myself say, "What did you do before? Before I came to sleep with you?"
His voice is strained with sleep when he responds.
"I can't remember. I can't remember anything before you."

That conversation reminds me of how much I loved reading about Julia and Giles' talks in bed, especially when Giles would pull up the sheets and they'd talk under the blankets.

Also, the timings in Enamor were really great. It never felt like any of the scenes were forced. Julia and Giles didn't trust each other too soon, now developed feelings for one another too soon. The timing was always right and I can't help but envy Veronica Larsen for managing that.

The only thing I can't fully understand is the end. I'm glad it ended the way it did, but it was over the top. For me, at least. Here the author's professional work shines through again, because we finally get to read about Giles' talent.

I know I say this a lot, but Veronica Larsen's writing style is one of my favourites. I haven't read any other work by her before and I was so impressed by how well she captured emotions, wrote conversations and so on. For now, I think I found a new writing idol. She's so good. And even if the story had been total crap (which wasn't the case. So definitely not!) her writing would have been enough for me to have a reason to read the book anyway. Which is why, though I am not that interested in reading Lex's story, I'll give it a try.