Love's Forbidden Flower by Diane Rinella
Publication: November 28th 2012
by Midnight to Six
Genre: Edgy/New Adult Romance
Synopsis:
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 unconceivable 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.
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AUTHOR BIO
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:
Website: http://dianerinellaauthor.com/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/DianeRinella
My Review:
This book was a tough read for me. I loved certain elements of it, but others left me confused and wanting more of a reason for the characters’ actions. Lily and Donovan were intriguing characters and this was the main motivation for me to keep reading.
When I received the book for review, I was told that this novel would deal with one of the biggest taboos for me in literature: incest. However, I read Flowers in the Attic by VC Andrews and liked it, so I figured it was no big deal. I was very wrong.
The book immediately starts with Lily lusting over her older brother Donovan. I was certainly taken aback by how quickly the author dived into the forbidden attraction and I had expected more of a build-up. This was the main cause of my discomfort; there was never really ample reason for me to buy into their romance. They weren’t thrust into an extreme situation (like the characters in Forbidden by Tabitha Suzuma and Flowers in the Attic) that forced them to turn to each other.
The characters were definitely interesting in a crazy sort of way. Lily was so manipulative! She would get so angry with Donovan for denying his feelings for her. It seemed like he was trying to do the right thing, but she kept throwing herself at him. Donovan was tortured and distant and we are only told of how great he used to be. He kept hinting at a secret that was the cause for his behavior. Once it was revealed, it seemed like he was trying to turn everyone else into villains without taking any responsibility for his actions.
Christopher was great. He was funny and sweet and I definitely thought he deserved better than Lily. Since Lily loved him deeply, I didn’t sympathize with her need to still pursue a relationship with Donovan. Also, the parents of Lily and Donovan needed a little more characterization I think to make their actions more believable.
The prose reads well in the book although some of the character dialogue sounded too formal and old-fashioned. I’m not sure if this was done on purpose to show Lily’s pretentiousness, but it seemed a little awkward to me. Christopher’s accent was cute and although I don’t know much about Manchester dialects, it seemed authentic to me.
An interesting read for sure! I would recommend this book for adults who don’t mind reading about taboo subjects and that believe love should never be judged as being wrong.
Rating: 3/5 Stars
I received this book as part of The Love’s Forbidden Flower book tour through Xpresso Book Tours.
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Buying into the romance sounds like it would be hard for me too. With the brother/sister thing it is so taboo I need a big build up to understand and empthaze like in Forbidden by Suzuma.
ReplyDeleteBrandi @ Blkosiner’s Book Blog
Hi Heather,
ReplyDeleteThanks for the well thought out review. You hit the nail on the head. There are no extreme circumstances pushing them together. That is by design because in my research into these kinds of relationships, there usually are no outside factors. If that does not appeal to people, the book is not for them, plain and simple. I'm very glad that you pointed that out to your readers.
Thanks again, I appreciate the review.
All the best to you,
Diane
Great honest review! And great response from the author! I appreciate real honesty and not reviews that try to meet some other purpose.
ReplyDeleteA very well written review, Heather! Thanks so much for sharing. Not sure about pursuing this book; but, stranger things have happened. :) WRITE ON!
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