Seeing Night Reviews is the next stop for Love's Forbidden Flower tour. Check out a guest post by none other than the very unique Donovan. Plus my review below.
Why Diane is Crazy By Donovan BeckettSeriously, there are so many places to begin on this that it’s difficult to choose one. Let’s start with the fact that she played life’s cruelest joke on me.
Lily: Donovan, what are you doing?
Donovan: Writing a blog post as to why Diane is nuttier than almond bark without the chocolate.
Lily: Our Diane? The one who created us? Why?
Donovan: Diane drives me insane! She is constantly dragging me off to the gym or sneaking up on me in the library for long talks.
Lily: How come she knows you hide in the library?
Donovan: Seriously, Lil?
Lily: Ugh! I swear my brain malfunctions around you.
Donovan: Besides, have you seen this? (Holds up copy of Love’s Forbidden Flower.)
Lily: Umm… it’s kind of our biography.
Donovan: Exactly! Have you seen what she does to me in this? (Flings the book onto the desk like a broken pencil.) That woman has to be stopped. I am going to expose her evils ways to the world.
Lily: You don’t want to do that.
Donovan: Give me one good reason why not.
Lily: She’s writing a sequel, and she can do anything she wants to you. The other day she called you her pawn of misery.
Donovan: *groans* Not again!
Lily: Look at it this way. We are not alone in this world. Our creator may have given us undesirable birth circumstances, but she also gave us each other from the very beginning. So many people never find the person that completes them. Instead I got to be with you from the start. You are my soul mate—the one who brings me true joy on the deepest of all levels. Can you think of anything more beautiful than we are?
Donovan: Not a thing in the world. You help me complete myself and will always be the most beautiful part of me. Maybe Diane’s not so bad after all.
Lily: Donovan, what are you doing?
Donovan: Writing a blog post as to why Diane is nuttier than almond bark without the chocolate.
Lily: Our Diane? The one who created us? Why?
Donovan: Diane drives me insane! She is constantly dragging me off to the gym or sneaking up on me in the library for long talks.
Lily: How come she knows you hide in the library?
Donovan: Seriously, Lil?
Lily: Ugh! I swear my brain malfunctions around you.
Donovan: Besides, have you seen this? (Holds up copy of Love’s Forbidden Flower.)
Lily: Umm… it’s kind of our biography.
Donovan: Exactly! Have you seen what she does to me in this? (Flings the book onto the desk like a broken pencil.) That woman has to be stopped. I am going to expose her evils ways to the world.
Lily: You don’t want to do that.
Donovan: Give me one good reason why not.
Lily: She’s writing a sequel, and she can do anything she wants to you. The other day she called you her pawn of misery.
Donovan: *groans* Not again!
Lily: Look at it this way. We are not alone in this world. Our creator may have given us undesirable birth circumstances, but she also gave us each other from the very beginning. So many people never find the person that completes them. Instead I got to be with you from the start. You are my soul mate—the one who brings me true joy on the deepest of all levels. Can you think of anything more beautiful than we are?
Donovan: Not a thing in the world. You help me complete myself and will always be the most beautiful part of me. Maybe Diane’s not so bad after all.
Love's Forbidden Flower by Diane RinellaMy rating: 3 of 5 stars
GENRE: New Adult
THEME: Romance, Contemporary
RECEIVED: Blog Tour
BLURB:
The heart cares not what society forbids.
Lily nurtures a secret love for a flawless man—the one who is her soul mate. Donovan is gorgeous, charismatic, and delights in all of Lily’s talents and quirks. Their innate knowledge of each other is almost telepathic. Together they interlock like fine threads creating luxurious silk.
But society dictates this picture-perfect adoration is the ghastliest of all possibilities.
As Lily embarks on a quest for the romance the heavens intended, her suitor turns reluctant. Desperate to uncover why Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hiding decayed from a tender-hearted gentleman into a ferociously self-serving, cocky bastard, Lily is prepared for battle when it comes to the salvation of her soul mate. However, Donovan traps Lily in a mental game of chess, leaving her to question his sanity. When Lily’s revelations about Donovan’s destructive alter ego lead to an inconceivable truth, can she help Donovan survive fate’s cruel joke?
Impassioned, witty, and deeply moving, Love’s Forbidden Flower is filled with stunning controversies that will forever haunt your heart.
Lily nurtures a secret love for a flawless man—the one who is her soul mate. Donovan is gorgeous, charismatic, and delights in all of Lily’s talents and quirks. Their innate knowledge of each other is almost telepathic. Together they interlock like fine threads creating luxurious silk.
But society dictates this picture-perfect adoration is the ghastliest of all possibilities.
As Lily embarks on a quest for the romance the heavens intended, her suitor turns reluctant. Desperate to uncover why Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hiding decayed from a tender-hearted gentleman into a ferociously self-serving, cocky bastard, Lily is prepared for battle when it comes to the salvation of her soul mate. However, Donovan traps Lily in a mental game of chess, leaving her to question his sanity. When Lily’s revelations about Donovan’s destructive alter ego lead to an inconceivable truth, can she help Donovan survive fate’s cruel joke?
Impassioned, witty, and deeply moving, Love’s Forbidden Flower is filled with stunning controversies that will forever haunt your heart.
REVIEW:
Love’s Forbidden Flower was a bit of a shocker; I didn’t expect the plot and had a hard time with the idea of the forbidden love of a brother and sister. Though I give major props Rinella for the emotional aspects that this type of love creates through out the story. The characters emotions are the focus and how they deal with something that is seen as negative.
Love’s Forbidden Flower follows Lily and her brother Donovan. Since they can remember they have been close, very protective and that deep down only they can truly understand each other. As time goes by they are challenged with the fact that they love more than they should. With obstacles of family, romances and Donovan’s ever changing personality, it’s truly a forbidden love and they both must decide what will make them happy.
Lily is a strongly devoted and determined young girl, the readers follow her through the love of her brother and the heartache that follows. Lily is the one who has a strong mind and even though she doesn’t want to let Donovan go she wants to find someone or something that makes her happy. But she is also determined to find out why Donovan changed so drastically and what effect it’s had on his life.
Donovan is a tough character to connect to, unlike the sweet and caring Lily, his character does a total 180 and changes into an arrogant jerk. The readers follow his spiraling path to unhappiness and desperate pleas to stay away from Lily but also to be with her.
The whole story is beautifully written, the readers are introduced to characters that have a great impact on both character both positive and negative. But in the end it was too hard for me to connect with the fact of a brother and sister being in a relationship together. I loved their love and devotion to be by each other’s side, but for me personally this wasn’t my kind of romance, it just didn’t feel right.
However it does make you question as the reader, about soul mates, about what others would think of this type of relationship. The story makes you think and even though it wasn’t my kind of book it has a great emotional impact about love.
RECOMMENDATION:
This is a New Adult novel with a mature themes and some sexual content for a mature audience.
Enjoying San Francisco as a backdrop, the ghosts in Diane’s 150-year old Victorian home augment the chorus in her head. With insomnia as their catalyst, these voices have become multifarious characters that haunt her well into the sun’s crowning hours, refusing to let go until they have manipulated her into succumbing to their whims. Her experiences as an actress, business owner, artisan cake designer, software project manager, Internet radio disc jockey, vintage rock n’ roll journalist/fan girl, and lover of dark and quirky personalities influence her idiosyncratic writing.
She is currently completing the sequel to Love’s Forbidden Flower.
Author Links: Site | Goodreads | Facebook | Twitter
Excellent review! Thanks for sharing it :)
ReplyDeleteToni @ My Book Addiction
Thank you, Kristen. I enjoyed the review, and appreciate your time and energy in reviewing. Also, thank you for your willingness to step out of your comfort zone. I know that can be tough.
ReplyDeleteAll the best to you.