Book Review: Smoldering by Tiffany Aleman

Book Information

Genre: contemporary romance

Age: New Adult

Pages: 337

Version: eBook

Series: standalone

(Blurb): Money ~ power ~ fame 

Kelsey
Growing up in the arms of one of the wealthiest families in America, I lived a champagne lifestyle and never wanted for anything.

That life came with stipulations…
1. Marry the man I don’t love.
2. Make my parents proud.

Wrong.

I left my Manolos and fancy apartment behind and fled that life to find out who I really was.
Someone unexpected bulldozed my life.

Riley Jackson
He was the man everyone, including me, wanted, but his future was one I wasn’t sure I wanted to thrust myself back into. And when he chose a career over the family business, his family supported him instead of pushing him away. 

My past collided with my future.
I didn’t see it coming. If I had, I would’ve ran far, far away. Now I’m stuck in the same position I started in two years ago, except this time, it’s not my decision to make.

Loyalty to your family? Loyalty to your own happiness?

Which would you choose?

Review

If you're into runaway brides and hot military men coming to pick up the pieces (raises hand!)- then Smoldering is the book for you!

The book blurb very accurately portrays the book. There's really not much more that I can say about the plot that won't give too much away. What I really liked about this book is that both characters are coming from similar backgrounds (be it physical or emotional). There's a lot of damaged soul meets soul healer and rags-to-riches stories out there (especially those dealing with military characters) but author Tiffany Aleman manages to keep the H/h on fairly even playing ground and it makes the story all the more realistic and enjoyable.

I think the part I liked the most is that both MCs were very well aware of their flaws, but not overly self conscious about them. They kept a level head when trying to deal with issues that came their way and reacted in ways that were realistic. For example, if one was caught in a compromising position the other would actually ask about the situation rather than through a b*tch-fit (which is very gender neutral, by the way) and then complain for the rest of the book... (We've all read waaaayyy too many of those)

The writing is pretty good and the scenes are turned up to a 10 every time.

The part of the writing that I didn't like so much is some of the repetitiveness. It was by no means repetitive to the point of distraction, but I'm a reader who can figure out what is going through a character's mind pretty well based on their actions and mannerisms (as long as the writing is good) and so I find repeat conversations and explanations a waste. (Repeat conversations as in the character will talk to person 1 about how they feel and get half of the advice and then use the same thoughts to person 2 or 3 for the other "parts" of advice)

Overall, I'd recommend Smoldering to just about anyone who likes this genre. There's not too much drama, the reader won't have to go through an emotional recovery post-read, and it's what I'd call a pretty "realistic fantasy" life.