Sunday 20 July 2014

[REVIEW] Calla Lily by Vivian Winslow



Calla Lily by Vivian Winslow
Published:
 June 2014
Age: Adult - 18A
Series: Gilded Flower #2
Copy provided by the author in exchange for an honest review.  Thank you!

Calla Lily is the sequel to Gilded Lily and it's about the fallout between Lily and Gustavo as well a her finding her true love.

The first thing I was thinking about when I read this story was why it was called 'Calla Lily'? I mean for me calla's are pure and white. Now if you've read Gilded Lily I think you'd understand why I had a slight chuckle when this went through my head because if any of Lily's actions show, she's not pure. Committed and a romantic but not pure. If anyone has any idea on this question please comment below. I'd love to hear your ideas.

The story jumps around a lot. It's hard to focus all your attention onto one relationship when there are four different guys in the story.  I mean there's the scheming Gustavo, the cheating Jack, the friends-with-benefits Todd, and the mysterious but alluring Alejandro (even his name sounds the best out of all four!) With each one having their own story line I can understand how hard it is to incorporate details into each encounter. Yes the story is departing from the former two on to the relationship with the later two but I would still prefer to have some more insight into the relationships. Jack's relationship is left unexplained. I want to know more about them. How did Lily fall in love with Jack so easily if he's presumably a big player and everyone knew it (except her of course)? How did the relationship with Gustavo end? It's open and for me leaves a lot of holes in the story. Also Lily seems to be a stubborn women; one who holds a grudge. And yet she's very forgiving of her sister - almost instantaneous. And her mother has a complete 180. Wasn't she the one who told Lily that affairs were to be expected in a marriage between high social class families and that as long as no one knew it was okay? Now she tells Lily that she has never once cheated on her father and that they're in a very loving relationship. It's a very short story and there's not a lot of pages and description, or enough time for that matter, for me to wrap my head around this sudden about face. 

What I did like about this story is that Lily is finally finding someone that's right for her. The romance starts to pick up, between Todd and Alejandro. It's evident in the writing that Todd's a casual fling. For a casual fling though he sure gets a lot of pages. And with Alejandro. That first encounter seals it all. Readers should instantly know that the main male protagonist has entered the story and that the story will end (hopefully) with them together. 

Like I said before, Calla Lily, as well as it's predecessor has extreme potential in becoming an amazing book. 
MEH

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