Title: Love Uncovered
Author: Laura Barnard
Published: 2017
Publisher: Laura Barnard
Rating: ***.5
Genre: Romance
Setting: Brighton
Difficulty: Easy Pages: 288
Series: Yes. Second in the ‘Babes of Brighton’ series, but each novel is standalone.
Ebook - mybook.to/LoveUncov / Audio - https://bit.ly/3kPJXDE
Always spoiler free.
Disclaimer: I was given a free copy of this book by the author in return for an honest review.
Love Uncovered is the second book in the Babes of Brighton series; each book featuring a different love story based on the group of friends first introduced to us on Luna Island in Excess Baggage. There is a nice bit of continuity in following a group as they fall in love! As referred to in my first review of the series, this book could also be referred to as ‘click lit’, although I personally dislike this label for various reasons.
In Love Uncovered we are introduced to Brooke and Nick. We’ve already had a reasonable introduction to Brooke, but descriptions of Nick were nominal in Excess Baggage. The book works as standalone novel, so you won’t have any problem picking up the plot or feel like you are missing any intros to the characters. However, having read Excess Baggage, the pairing of Brooke and Nick felt a bit odd to me; the interest Nick shows was felt slightly out of the blue and not properly explained (why does he like her?) and Brooke was originally linked to Tom.
I think it’s refreshing that Barnard introduces a female character that owns her sexuality, although I felt the inclusion of several scenes unfortunately emphasised the tired cliché of how women who do this are ‘sluts’. Brooke is a little brash and outspoken, as well as prone to making poor decisions, which could make her an unsympathetic character, but I never really had a problem connecting with her. There is a little bit of toxicity in the relationship due to underlying emotional issues for Brooke and Nick, but not enough to put me off the story.
In this book, Bernard adds more background and depth to the characters, but I felt that Nick’s storyline could have had a bit more expansion and time to breath. Even with a romance novel, everything doesn’t have to tie up in neat bow for our characters. I’m also finding slight repetition issues with the plots of the Babes of Brighton series. Bernard choses to repeat similar scenarios in Love Uncovered (just switching genders), which makes the plot a bit samey and annoyed me at the character’s poor choices and communication.
Like the first book, Love Uncovered is a great holiday read. I would much have preferred sitting on a beach or by a pool with this book in hand, then stuck in my flat! This book was a fun continuation of the series and if you enjoyed the first, I would definitely recommend ‘Love Uncovered’.
Well Red Reviews
Would I recommend this book? A great holiday read. If you love romance novels, then a great read any time of the year!
Yorumlar