Book Review: The Exception by Adriana Locke

 SYNOPSIS:

 

There are exceptions to every rule...

Jada Stanley is starting over--freeing herself from her past and all her mistakes. Following the rules she's given herself is easy enough, until she meets HIM. He’s gorgeous, cocky, and everything she needs to avoid, but that’s easier said than done.

Cane Alexander has his own set of rules, a plan to keep his life simple and free of complications. But Jada is a temptation he can't resist.

As their lives entwine, they realize one thing about rules... There is always an exception.

MY REVIEW:

 

Each time I read a new writer’s work, I don’t expect much.  All I do is just allow myself to feel and see how the story would affect me. And this story just blew me away! 

It started out as a fun, interesting story with an asshole (Cane is my favourite kind of asshole) being an asshole and a divorced woman who swore no to assholes. Cane was a typical asshole I automatically loved. He was a mixture of sexy, dominant, and all-out maleness! I love how he was constructed and how consistently interesting his character was throughout the story. Jada, on the otherhand, was a female character who was composed of all the qualities I wanted in a heroine. I love that she represents majority of the women population and not some perfect beautiful person that we know we can never be. Her character was grounded in reality which made her more interesting to read. She was broken and perceived herself as weak but she was strong, she wasn’t vain and self-absorbed, and thank goodness, she was rational! In the number of books I have read, most heroines would go into an irrational fit of emotions and refuses to listen to the hero’s explanation. But Jada listened. Thank you, Miss Adriana for creating such a great heroine!

I love the chemistry of the main characters (and even Max and Kari’s)! The tug between the two characters was so great and I think this is very important in a story. I loved that Cane and Jada started with a mere spark that escalated as the story progressed. And damn, I loved how Jada was hard-to-get! I almost laughed out loud when she flat-out refused Cane a couple of times. Their play of thoughts and their spar of words were so good that I found it impossible to leave the book unfinished. I think that the love-hate relationship they were in had huge effect on the strength of their relationship. 

The story actually started out as a plain asshole-meets-no-to-assholes story. And I swear, I thought it was going to be predictable. But it was not! Miss Adriana actually surprised me with a lot of things. 

1.)    How the characters respond to each other.

My favourite was Jada’s continuous rejection of Cane’s charm.

2.)    Sweet and romantic scenes that didn’t turn out to be cheesy.

My favourite was when they exchanged messages and Cane doesn’t know how to do “emoji” so he puts “Heart.” instead (See! I’m still smiling even when I’m writing this!).

3.)    The response of the characters.

I love how the characters respond to clichéd questions. For example:

“Dinner, that’s it. It is one meal. I don’t usually do one meal with a female, unless they are making me breakfast.”

“No, I’m sorry, Cane. Maybe some other time.”

Note: This happened after a long discussion on dinners and egos. Most characters would just sigh and allowed themselves to succumb to Cane but Jada said no. To oh-my-fucking-hell-handsome Cane!

4.)    The twists of events were fast but not scarce. They were just right for the story and weren’t overdone.

5.)    It had a great amount of “anticipatory factors” and surprise. Just when you thought it was enough, Miss Adriana gave more. <3

If you want a light read that contains a bit of everything, this book is perfect for you. It doesn’t overkill your emotions. It’s just right and great for a perfect reading day. It’s the kind of book that will render you with a satisfied sigh (which I call sightisfied) when you close it.

Insert SIGHTISFIED here.