Sunday 23 August 2015

Reviewed: Uncovered: Colours of Love by Kathryn Taylor







Uncovered is book two in the Colours of Love trilogy. It was published by Bastei Entertainment on August 17, 2015.


Thanks to Hayley at edPR for sending me a copy of this book to review.



Uncovered is book two in the Colours of Love trilogy, following on from Unbound which I really enjoyed reading a few months ago. The ending of Unbound left me hanging and eager to read more so I couldn’t resist my copy of Uncovered for long. But I’m left feeling not entirely sure it was worth the wait. I did like Uncovered, it was a good continuation of the first book but I really think the author could have made this book so much more. It seemed to pale in comparison to the first book and at times it almost felt like it was written by a different author because the things I loved about Unbound were the things that didn’t really work for me in Uncovered. This was an entertaining enough instalment and I’m interested to see how it ends – but I did expect a little more.

The events from the previous book led up to a cliffhanger ending so I was wondering where things were going to be taken at the beginning of this book. Things are pretty tense between Grace and Jonathan and I loved the dramatic start which drew me in. I was rooting and cheering for Jonathan here as he stood up for Grace – dare I say his mean and brooding persona was showing a bit of a softer side? There were dramatic parts spread all throughout Uncovered which livened up the story and brought out a different side to the characters. Grace felt different to the naïve and awkward woman we met in book one. She seemed more confident and capable though I’m not sure I liked this side to her that much since she could become a bit condescending and whiney. I had mixed feelings on Grace but with Jonathan, I grew to like him more as we get to see a more open side to his character. He’s still cut-off and afraid to express his feelings about anyone and anything, but there are glimpses of the heart he’s keeping hidden inside.

One of my favourite parts about this series is the exploration of Jonathan’s family. Though I would have liked to have seen it developed even further, I did like seeing more of the family dynamics and Jonathan’s relationships with his sister and his father, not to mention his feelings towards his mother who died when he was a child, were interesting and intriguing. Sarah has her own little story going on in this trilogy which feels a bit rushed, but I do like her character. She’s worthy of her own spin-off novel I reckon.

Unbound had a few sex scenes, all well written, which were sexy and steamy and all of those things. What I loved more was how they were part of the story, rather than taking over the story. If I’m honest, I found that to be very different in Uncovered. Other than the family drama, this book just seemed to go nowhere. Some bits were just bland and then were filled with sex scenes which didn’t contribute anything except adding some content to a story which needed fleshing out a lot more. It wasn’t that the author had run out of ideas, she started plenty of different strands to this story which could easily have built the book up, but she didn’t develop them. They ended before they really got started. I had so many questions stemming from the first book or from what we discovered in this book. But the author seemed in a rush to answer those questions and to close off those parts of the book so then there was nothing left but to add in a sex scene or six. Which maybe wouldn’t have been that bad if the sex scenes were well written, like in Unbound, but instead I just cringed my way through them. Some of the language used felt like I was back at school sat in a sex education lesson, not reading a book.

I do have a few niggles with Uncovered as I’ve mentioned above but actually, I really did like this book. It’s tense and erotic yet heart-felt and touching. It was pretty suspenseful as we wait to see what will happen between Grace and Jonathan. Has Grace been pushed too far? Will Jonathan open his heart to her? I wasn’t expecting the ending in this book – it felt more complete than I would have expected from a second book in a trilogy. If I didn’t know it was a trilogy, I wouldn’t have assumed there’d be another book on the way. But I’m looking forward to reading it. Also, just like in Unbound, this book got better as it went on. The last 20% or so I really loved, as things between Grace and Jonathan reached the most emotional level. Both characters have come a long way since the first book, though they’ve almost gone in opposite directions, and the way the author develops them as characters is a real highlight. They’re multi-layered and complex, each with interesting stories to tell and I am rooting for things to work out well between them – however likely or unlikely that may be. Bring on the next book…


More interesting developments in the romance between Grace and Jonathan - but didn't quite hit the mark





No comments:

Post a Comment

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...