DUAL VIRGINS and the best part is they both know they are each others first and only! *Happy dance!*
Quote,
I reach out and lay my hand across her stomach. “My child is
probably growing in you right now. I won’t let you walk out on me.”
“I thought you used protection.” She looks confused now.
“No. Why would I? Luna, I’ve never slept with another woman
before. You’re the only one, and you will remain the only one.
end quote
Quote,
He gets it. Graham always has. He lived it
with his own family. I even believe he waited for me because
Graham doesn't do anything in halves. He's all in or out, and I was
the only girl he ever wanted to be all in with.
“And I love you, Graham, more than anything in this whole world,”
I tell him.
“I love you, too.” Graham leans down, pressing his mouth to
mine.
end quote
Safe
No cheating (even though the h is engaged to an OM at the beginning she has no intimacy with or love for the guy and neither her or the hero start anything romantic or intimate until AFTER she breaks up with the OM)
No OW
OM (h's fiance whom she did nothing more than share chaste kisses without tongue and she did not love him; the OM is the crux of the story and I did not care for it but DV makes me ok with it)
No separation (he saw her a year ago and thought about her but did nothing to claim her which I also did not care for; I wish that he claimed her when he first saw her)
No gross condom use (in the quote above she thought that he might have slipped on a condom, but she must have not noticed when in the throws of passion; he didn't use one because he never had any because she is his first! In another quote below, we discover that he saved himself for one woman and he wants children with her. Lucky Luna!)
No stupid third act break up
HEA
This is the story of Luna whom is engaged to a man she is not in love with and never shared anything but a few chaste kisses with, but is with him to "belong" in high society. Graham, a CEO billionaire, sees her and puts her arms around her asking her to rescue him from his body guards because they are a bit of a nuisance. She first sees him when he put his arms around her, but he saw her a year ago and never forgot her; he did not do a thing to claim her though which I did not like. Nothing happens between them at first, they just talk about how her ring is fake and everything the fiance bought her is fake, which makes her upset because the OM fiance said that she is worth it, therefore, worth nothing. She goes to the fiance to confront him with Graham by her side and she publicly breaks off the engagement, takes all the stuff he gave her over the years and burns it all in front of his house. The ex OM gets angry and sues her. She and Graham start to get romantic AFTER the engagement is off. I don't consider Luna and the fiancé a real relationship, BUT had she started anything with our hero before breaking it off with the fiance, I would have considered it cheating. I am glad that there was no cheating, even if the OM is himself a cheater, but that did not matter to Luna because she feels nothing for him. I don't like OM/OW drama, and this is the whole book, but it is bearable for me because there was no love, no intimacy between the heroine and the OM, but still, not a plot I like.
Safe dual virgins couples is what I want in a romance. If our couple feels lust and love with only each other, having never felt it or experienced it with another ever, then that is what matters to me the most. Everything else is secondary. I am having a bit of a rough time with this because of a few things. I did not like that the hero saw the heroine at an event a year ago, but did nothing to claim her. I did not like that when they first kiss he says "It's the best kiss of his life", even though he says that the only thing he knows of women is from his mother and sister, so maybe it is his first kiss, but I am not sure. I just don't like comments like this in general.
Quote,
“Not sure if it’s good or bad that you’re laughing when I just had
the best kiss of my life.”
Best kiss of his life? I doubt that. Not with my lack of a kissing
history. “It was a good laugh,” I admit.
end quote
This quote makes me think it is his first kiss,
Quote,
Based on my extensive
experience with women—and by extensive I mean my mother and
sister—they like true crime documentaries, kittens, babies, and
afternoon tea.
end quote
Because he has no experience with women, and the fact that either he is all in or nothing, I want to believe that when he said that this 'the best kiss of his life', that he wasn't comparing to others because there are no other women in his past. So even though reading this quote made me feel apprehensive, it could be just a sweet thing he said. I choose to believe that when he kissed Luna, it was his first real kiss like it was for her. Remember, she never really kissed a man with feeling and passion. The occasional peck on the lips she exchanged in the past with the OM felt more like an obligation (also never seen in the book).
I don't like that the heroine said yes to a man proposing to her because she no longer wanted to be the unwanted poor girl. She did not love the ex nor did she do anything but share a chaste peck on the lips but she did decide to marry him. When the ex fiance tried to tongue kiss her (not a scene in the book, just what happened a while ago), she flinched and pushed him away, so I am glad for that. Her first real kiss was with Graham. I get that Luna wanted to "belong" and to belong to a rich family means something, but that is what a gold digger would do. Still, I like Luna and I don't really believe she is a gold digger, but I do believe that material goods, even if she protests when Graham showered her with gifts, I think still matters to her in some way. It could be because she was poor and in the foster system, but she did want to marry a rich man. I know it was the crux of the story, to have her confront the 'ex' and have her discover love with Graham, but too much OM/OW drama is something I do not care for. It was bearable because there was not a hint of intimacy of any kind and no love between them, so I ended up being ok with it, because our couple being each other's one and only, matters to me above all!
Luna and Graham start a beautiful relationship and I did enjoy that they both know they are each others one and only. Aside from the few things I disliked, I loved how all in Graham is for Luna, I did like Luna's vulnerability and by the end, I understand that her whole thing with money is that she did not have any growing up, and the reason why she was upset her ring was fake was because the ex said that that is what she is worth, which made her feel worthless. It still lingers that money matters to her, but I still love her and rooted for her. Graham is your straight forward, sweet, quirky, intense hero and I do love him, so of course I rooted for them both because Graham asked if she loved the fiance to which she said "No" and he happily understood through asking her, that the ex never meant anything to her, that there was nothing physical or emotional exchanged between them, aside from money and status. He knows that Luna belongs only to him and never belonged in any way to the ex, so he was happy she belonged entirely to him. After all, she is the one and only woman who claimed him so it is fair for him to know that he gets to claim her firsts! She wanted a real relationship, a family, a real husband, love and passion, something she never felt or had until Graham. My favorite type of hero, is one who happily saves himself for one woman and he knows that when he meets her he wants everything with her, discovering lust, falling in love, marriage, children and growing old with her. That is Graham and why I love him.
All in all, I did end up liking them and rooting for them. I like Graham more though, but I warmed up to Luna pretty quickly. Dual virgin romances when they tell each other that there was no other before them in terms of intimacy and love, is what matters to me the most, and we get that! I hope that our next couple will be a good story with less preferably no OM/OW drama. It is Frankie and the football player Kaden. Kaden is sort of stalking her and Frankie seems to have her walls up, but secretly wants to be chased by Kaden. I am invested since we met them in the first book.
I recommend this book because to me, if there is not a hint of intimacy, emotional or physical acts (I can forgive a chaste kiss that seemed more done out of obligation), and nothing at all between our heroine and the 'OM', then I am ok with it ONLY because it is a dual virgins story and we get our lovebirds start their story experiencing love and intimacy together having never experienced it with another. OM/OW in any way is not my favorite plot point, but it was well handled. I love Ella Goode! I know I will get a safe DV couple in her books and that is what matters to me. It's ok that there are a few elements I did not care for. The most important parts are there and that is what matters!
Happy reading!