Rating:
Plot: 4.2 A relatable and real theme
Characters: 4.5 each person has a unique Voice
Style: 3.8 The writing was often flat
Setting: 4.3 clear descriptions of the place.
Overall: 4.0 I saw myself in this story
Summary:
A second chance romance between the successful songwriter and the hotel manager. Reyna has dedicated all of her time to her late mother’s hotel. She goes above and beyond to run the business exactly the way her mother wanted. Ever since her passing, all she does is work. But, of course, things change when her Emmy award-winning ex-boyfriend returns. Reyna is forced to spend an entire week catering to her ex-boyfriend and his clueless friends.
DJ Bacchanal:
From the way I see it, Aiden seems to carry the band on his back. This character is very talented and dreamy throughout the story, but his most significant accomplishments plague him. He’s lost himself and Reyna to fame and fortune. His friends try to squeeze more songs out of him but don’t know anything about him. They almost seem manipulative, as well as Eliza, who is constantly filming everything. There is an emotional scene where Aiden basically kicks the band out of the house, and honestly, I don’t blame him. There are several moments where his friend just doesn’t understand him. I’m actually still mad about what Eliza does, but that’s for another day. Nevertheless, I was glad to see the change among them. Aiden’s friends learn to understand him and change the way they run the band altogether. They even bring Reyna into their friend circle.
Hotel:
I’m convinced Reyna’s late mom is the antagonist of the story. She’s Not evil or anything but, she is the main obstacle of this story. ( Apart From Aiden himself. ) Like any mother, she has expectations for Reyna. She must be a hotel manager and has no time for boys or even friends. Throughout the story, Reyna’s top priority is the hotel. In doing so, she’s too wrapped up to pursue any other hobbies or relationships. It is a very relatable situation we don’t see often. Regardless, the hotel serves as the biggest obstacle in this story. It was exciting to see her world fall apart, which does sound bad when I write it down on paper. One of this story’s best moments is seeing Reyna finally accept that she needs to change who she is. She was forced to find new paths to follow. Throughout the entire story, our main character learns a lot about herself and her new friends, finally finding closure for her mother.
Flashback:
Much of the story is revealed through Flashbacks. We practically see Reyna and Aiden grow up. There are many sweet moments the two share that I wish we got to see in the present. (I hope that made sense.) While it works for some people, I didn’t enjoy it as much. It felt like the story was bouncing from place to place. It was distracting for me, at least. We learn about Reyna’s mother, her family, and her struggles to deal with her mom.
SPOILER WARNING!!!
Thoughts:
I would love to visit Tobago or just travel in general. The writing style was very plain, which isn’t exactly bad. The style isn’t distracting but instead gets to the point. The uniqueness of the story relies in the dialogue. The island accents are so beautiful to listen to. Not only that, the way the characters talk to each other feels real. However, The story is sometimes frustrating when most problems are caused by people not speaking up.
(Aiden mostly.) There is a lot of confusion around him and his relationship with Reyna that could be cleared up if he just talked to his friends. I also felt like the group of friends were doing too much for Aiden and Reyna. There is so much to these characters; flaws and charming traits. I found it entertaining when the characters interact with each other.
You’re going to hate me when I say this, but I don’t think Reyna and Aiden should not have ended up together. I like both of these characters and their development in the story. I wasn’t mad that they ended up together but more confused. The romantic moments we get of them tend to end in disaster. While reading, it seemed like Eliza and Aiden were much closer and would honestly work as a better couple. Then the growing interest with Fish and Reyna seemed like it was going somewhere. Unfortunately, most of the story consisted of Reyna and Aiden being at each other’s throats. I can’t help wondering what would have happened if they moved on from each other rather than get together. Anyways, what do you think of the story?
