A rant is coming...There was no need for this book. No need at all. I was SO done with this whole ridiculous we-can't-be-together-because-reasons trope by 60% that I put the book down, skimmed to the end and decided to call it a day. But, being 60% in I did go back and finish it. Which was good thinking because it elevated it from a one star to a two star read. Unfortunately, the author should have written this series as a dulogy, not a trilogy. There wasn't enough material for the third book, and the second book is short and ends on a cliff-hanger. It really pissed me off because I found book one and book two to be very entertaining and a good read. I'll go over there and review those separately, but the pacing was good, the characters interesting and I liked being in the world of country music stardoms, it was a good time.Here we have the main characters from the very first page PINING after one another and both of them too ridiculously mired in their own nonsense to come out and say what they actually think and feel until 60-fricking-percent! It was like torture. By the fourth time that they had met, had words, which resolved nothing, and then Kylie would walk away from him Trace. I gritted my teeth multiple times and almost threw the kindle across the room. The author uses the misunderstanding trope until I couldn't take it any more. I got that Kylie was hurt and upset about Trace breaking up with her in book two, even though his reasons were valid, she had a right to be upset. She did not have a right to misunderstand his every action and then refuse to let him explain himself 500 times. It felt like a ploy to feel pages, so that the author could write this book and sell it. I was furious. Also we completely lose the character that Ms. Quinn spent building in Kylie for the last two books. The premise of the book is that Kylie is emotionally shut down because of the break-up with Trace. Again, I understand the idea behind it, but in execution, the book lost a lot of the spark that was present in the previous two books because Kylie wasn't acting like herself. She became tedious. There was none of her hotheaded remarks, or stand-up attitude. She was all morose and moody and angst. I couldn't STAND it. The last 20% or so we get a change in Kylie and eventually arrive at our HEA, thank goodness. However the epilogue also just was soooo sickly sweet I couldn't stomach it. I say, stick with book one and skip the rest. You get the HEA, it's not exactly what you are looking for, but it's better than wading through this mess. I'm going to be honest and say this was my least favorite of the series. The ONLY reason I gave it three stars as opposed to two is because the ending was redeeming. I didn't even read the whole book. I read the first 44 chapters and then started at the end and started reading backwards. Why? Because the first 44 chapters were filled with nothing but whining and inconveniences and missed opportunities, and whining...and more complaining. I couldn't take it anymore! So, I read the end and read backwards until I started seeing increasingly more whining and then quit reading. I think I skipped 5 or 6 chapters total.
What do You think about Girl In Love (2000)?
Brilliant read, with a sweet epilogue that makesthe angst worthwhile
—Ayesha
4.5 stars. Wonderful conclusion to this angsty but endearing series.
—Darkrook
