Coveting Love

Jessica Crawford #1

by Victoria Schwimley

One brother possesses her heart, but the other intrigues her. Despite numerous warnings from Brandon, Jessica Crawford won't stay away from his brother, Jeffrey. Jeffrey wants anything Brandon has and will stop at nothing to get his way. Each brother tells a different tale of his long troubled relationship with the other, and one of the brothers is hiding a dark secret. Her head reels with doubt, and her heart is broken after her father abandoned her, Jessica isn't sure which brother she should trust and lets down her guard, leaving her vulnerable to a wealthy fashion distributor.

340 pages, Paperback

First published July 14, 2008

About the author

I am a reader and an author. I love entertaining people with stories that are rich with characters. When I'm not writing or reading, you can find me sewing. I love to visit the ocean or the forest and would prefer to camp out in a cabin over a hotel room. I highly value my readers, and I very much a family person.

Reviews

[Carrie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Jessica Crawford is a photographer who finds herself drawn to two very powerful, very wealthy - and very estranged - brothers. Torn between her feelings for both of them, Jessica has to find a way to make the right choice. But that's not all she's dealing with. There's also the really strange client who seems to have become fixated on her. There's a little mystery involved with this guy, which I found very intriguing. I don't normally read novels in this genre, but I enjoyed the mysterious elements. There were times I wanted to yell at Jessica for making some of the decisions she made, but that was part of her character's naiveté and she had to learn from those mistakes. There's also a great supporting cast - and I love the fact that even Jessica's mother is able to find her romantic happy ending!

[Fox Emerson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Victoria Schwimley writes well and her characters are relatable and strong.

I first became a fan of Victoria's work when I read Lacy's End - Another great book!
Coveting Love is a stunning read with some excellent dialogue that draws you in from the beginning.

Jessica Crawford is a professional photographer with a close relationship with her mother. When she meets Brandon, she realises that she is ready for him. Until a complicated encounter with his brother muddies the waters, leaving her confused.
Enter Philip, a fearsome entrepreneur who will stop at nothing to woo Jessica. He complicates matters beyond belief and Jessica suddenly finds herself with far too many choices to make.

What happens next, is a clever series of twists by the writer and an even better ending.

A definite recommended read.

[Marco Marek · Rating 4 out of 5]

Coveting Love is the story of Jessica, a photographer that live in New York and have a successful job, strong relationship with her mother and good girlfriend Amy.
Since she meets Brandon, she were quite successful with men, because also Jeffrey, Brandon's brother and Phillip falls for her.
Story is written well and good for who like romance, love affair.
I enjoyed it .

[Heather · Rating 3 out of 5]

Jessica and Brandon meet by chance during an outing where Jessica's mom tried to set her up on a blind date. The blind date turned into a instant match for her best friend Amy. Jessica is a photographer for a fashion magazine and is a rising star in the industry. Brandon is running the family ranch and has done well for himself. Their relationship with each other lacks depth but the challenges are real enough. Honestly, the lack of depth of their relationship causes me to feel as if the engagement was rushed but they would be far from the first couple that jumped head first with a lack of disclosure in their relationship to be married.

The story and concept were good and I enjoyed the characters of the book but I was left feeling a bit like I had whiplash from multiple story lines that were happening. I mean really how many courses for disaster can be happening at one time. My other issue was I had to think about what era the book was supposed to be based in. The biggest, most obvious example of this was the characters means of communications. Jessica and Brandon seemed to have huge problems getting in touch with each other. For example, Jessica is going to be leaving the country on a photo shot but doesn't have time to tell Brandon, her fiance, in over a week. Yet they have cell phones and email and act like they need to communicate through mail and telegrams.

In the end, regardless of my like and intrigue of the characters I don't think I will try read the sequel.

[M.F. Moonzajer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Coveting Love is a romantic novel set from a realistic perspective that could happen to every young girl who occupies a little kindness and care for people. The book is centered on Jessica, a photographer who is too in love with her works and never has the chance or the time to feel the real world, outside her work until she meets Brandon. Her surprising life starts from there. She has an innocent soul, never hasn’t seen the dark side of people and the harshness of life.
The book is printed by CreateSpace in 2011 within 35 chapters in 316 pages. Victoria (author) has separated the book into too many chapters, which makes is easy for readers to read each chapter between a lunch break. The author has a great skill in playing with words and phrases. She creates the image of every aspect of the story and the environment by skillfully choosing words.
Although, I rarely read romantic and drama novels, because I am into thriller and espionage, but I enjoyed reading Coveting Love for that reason, that it was set from a realistic perspective and interesting storyline and plot. I recommend this book to those who love romanticism mixed with realism.

[Aimee McNeil · Rating 4 out of 5]

This novel embarks on a career driven woman who turns her focus toward the possibility of finding someone to share her life with. I felt it took a realism approach to the romance instead of glorifying that aspect of the story. Jessica questioned her feelings throughout most of the story and didn't really seem to be "swept of her feet" so to speak. Jessica did come across a few questionable characters along the way and had her share of traumatic situations which kept the plot interesting.
I enjoyed the story, the author's style of writing, and the very like-able supporting characters that played a big part of Jessica's life, though it did feel a bit long for the content overall. I was satisfied with how the book wrapped up, though there were things left unresolved which I am assuming will be address in next book. I am curious what is in store next for Jessica.