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A steamy, full-length, standalone romance with a guaranteed HEA from Amazon best-selling author Alison Ryan... REVEL, a second chance summer romance.
Declan DeGraff is old money, turned no money, turned new money.
He's fresh off the deal of the decade; he's just sold his tech firm for over two billion dollars and he should be on top of the world.
But he's still missing what he lost, long ago. And every time success comes his way, he's reminded of how he would trade it all to have her back again.
Charlotte Sanders is running from the past. Again.
Years ago she fell deeply in love with the last man she should have allowed into her heart and near her body. After a summer of passion, he ended it abruptly, tearing Charlotte apart and making her swear off ever letting anyone in again.
But now she's come back to the city where it all happened, Charleston, South Carolina, determined to find answers to the questions he never wanted her to ask.
A chance encounter takes them right back to where they started. But can they get past the secrets they’re keeping? Or are they destined to repeat the mistakes of a past they’re both desperate to forget?
Previously published under the serial episodes WILD, REVEL, and TAMED. This edition includes an epilogue not previously published.
For a limited time only: Two bonus books! NEED and CRAVE, parts 1 and 2 of For the Love of the Billionaire.
Declan DeGraff is old money, turned no money, turned new money.
He's fresh off the deal of the decade; he's just sold his tech firm for over two billion dollars and he should be on top of the world.
But he's still missing what he lost, long ago. And every time success comes his way, he's reminded of how he would trade it all to have her back again.
Charlotte Sanders is running from the past. Again.
Years ago she fell deeply in love with the last man she should have allowed into her heart and near her body. After a summer of passion, he ended it abruptly, tearing Charlotte apart and making her swear off ever letting anyone in again.
But now she's come back to the city where it all happened, Charleston, South Carolina, determined to find answers to the questions he never wanted her to ask.
A chance encounter takes them right back to where they started. But can they get past the secrets they’re keeping? Or are they destined to repeat the mistakes of a past they’re both desperate to forget?
Previously published under the serial episodes WILD, REVEL, and TAMED. This edition includes an epilogue not previously published.
For a limited time only: Two bonus books! NEED and CRAVE, parts 1 and 2 of For the Love of the Billionaire.
212 pages, Kindle Edition
Published May 7, 2016
300 people are currently reading
802 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 69 reviews
February 17, 2017
DNF @65%
I don't know. The story was very unrealistic. Many things that happened in this book didn't make sense to me. There were far-fetched characters, forced chemistry, and unnatural and cheesy conversations. Both Declan and Charlotte made stupid decisions which somehow rubbed me the wrong way. I must say, when all the truths were revealed, I wasn’t happy with the direction the plot would take. That drama certainly ruined the book.
Sorry to report this, but Revel was a total miss for me. Not my cuppa at all.
I don't know. The story was very unrealistic. Many things that happened in this book didn't make sense to me. There were far-fetched characters, forced chemistry, and unnatural and cheesy conversations. Both Declan and Charlotte made stupid decisions which somehow rubbed me the wrong way. I must say, when all the truths were revealed, I wasn’t happy with the direction the plot would take. That drama certainly ruined the book.
Sorry to report this, but Revel was a total miss for me. Not my cuppa at all.
August 14, 2016
Revel is the story of a couple that fell in love, had a whirlwind romance, and then he broke her heart, and his, he sent her away, but they found each other again. It was totally crazy, it was like reading about a couple of hormonal teenagers deep in lust, and not a couple of very successful people. It was so unreal, and so stupid, I just couldn't get it, I'm not even sure how I read the whole book, I think I was expecting it to get better, for it to make sense, I tried, I really tried, but it just didn't work for me.
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August 18, 2016
Charlotte is an obstetrician. She’s recently experienced a stressful event, and is taking a month off in Charleston. She and her family holidayed in Charleston for many years until Charlotte’s mother was killed in a tragic hit and run. In addition to losing her mother, Charlotte carries a burden of guilt – she thinks if she’d gone to the store with her mother, this would have changed her fate. Charleston is also where Charlotte began her pre-med studies, and where she met and fell in love with Declan.
Declan’s old family money. He’s recently sold his vague tech company for almost 2 billion dollars, returned to Charleston to be with his father, who is dying from cancer, and has bought himself a waterfront mansion. Coincidentally, this is next door to the little cottage Charlotte’s rented, and they are neighbours.
Charlotte and Declan’s romance is told in alternating flashback chapters to ten years ago, when they met, fell in love, and had thrusting sex. There is a lot of thrusting. The hot buttons in this romance are newly adult characters with troubled family relationships, and a huge class/wealth gap. Charlotte waitresses, and has encounters with snobs.
The structure didn’t really work for me. While there’s a certain amount of dramatic tension built up around why Charlotte and Declan’s relationship ended so abruptly ten years before, leaving the revelation so close to the end means there isn’t any real exploration of what their relationship will be like now, ten years on, as two different people.
It also really bugged me that Declan’s first thought, when he discovers he’s now Charlotte’s neighbour, is that she’s there with her lawyer or doctor husband. He knew she was pre-med. There’s enough said about how much they talk about their dreams and futures for him to know that she was planning a medical career, and where she was planning to specialise. I get that the women in his tax bracket were at college looking for wealthy husbands, but it was disappointing that, knowing her as he did, it didn’t occur to him that she would have a career in her own right. I mean, sure, he should torture himself by imagining her in a loving relationship with a wealthy professional man, but it was a bit on the nose that he just assumed she didn’t have her own deal going on.
Ryan’s world building of Charleston is thorough. I’m not fact checking or anything, and I usually don’t specifically notice place, but the detail was enough to make me feel this was a really competently presented world.
As characters, Charlotte and Declan are a bit colourless. The poor smart girl / rich boy dynamic isn’t played out with any particular innovation, and since the whole tension around what broke them up is obvious far earlier than its revelation it didn’t do much for me.
This is readable, but not memorable.
Declan’s old family money. He’s recently sold his vague tech company for almost 2 billion dollars, returned to Charleston to be with his father, who is dying from cancer, and has bought himself a waterfront mansion. Coincidentally, this is next door to the little cottage Charlotte’s rented, and they are neighbours.
Charlotte and Declan’s romance is told in alternating flashback chapters to ten years ago, when they met, fell in love, and had thrusting sex. There is a lot of thrusting. The hot buttons in this romance are newly adult characters with troubled family relationships, and a huge class/wealth gap. Charlotte waitresses, and has encounters with snobs.
The structure didn’t really work for me. While there’s a certain amount of dramatic tension built up around why Charlotte and Declan’s relationship ended so abruptly ten years before, leaving the revelation so close to the end means there isn’t any real exploration of what their relationship will be like now, ten years on, as two different people.
It also really bugged me that Declan’s first thought, when he discovers he’s now Charlotte’s neighbour, is that she’s there with her lawyer or doctor husband. He knew she was pre-med. There’s enough said about how much they talk about their dreams and futures for him to know that she was planning a medical career, and where she was planning to specialise. I get that the women in his tax bracket were at college looking for wealthy husbands, but it was disappointing that, knowing her as he did, it didn’t occur to him that she would have a career in her own right. I mean, sure, he should torture himself by imagining her in a loving relationship with a wealthy professional man, but it was a bit on the nose that he just assumed she didn’t have her own deal going on.
Ryan’s world building of Charleston is thorough. I’m not fact checking or anything, and I usually don’t specifically notice place, but the detail was enough to make me feel this was a really competently presented world.
As characters, Charlotte and Declan are a bit colourless. The poor smart girl / rich boy dynamic isn’t played out with any particular innovation, and since the whole tension around what broke them up is obvious far earlier than its revelation it didn’t do much for me.
This is readable, but not memorable.
March 5, 2016
Alison Ryan does it again! She has the ability to grab hold of you from the very first page and keeps you on a roller coaster of emotions until the very end and even then you are gasping for more. Revel has every possible thing you want in a romance book... angst, hurt, heartache, lies, secrets, regret, guilt, hurt, anger, love, and some twists and turns that you don't expect. This book will completely captivate your heart.
I received an ARC of this book for an honest review.
I received an ARC of this book for an honest review.
May 10, 2016
Best Second Chance Love Story
Oh. My. Alison Ryan what have you done to me! I absolutely LOVED this book!! I also wanted to scream and cry when Declan revealed why he broke off his relationship with Charlotte! This couple exuded so much love right off the pages!! Everything about their relationship being about coincidence and timing. I really loved nurse Marie's saying “My momma used to say that coincidence is just how God stays anonymous.” Declan and Charlotte just seemed to click and he never threw his wealth around to appear better than her. Charlotte has that pure girl next door about her and just wants to fit in but won't change anything about her just to make it so. This book is one of the best second chance love stories I've read!!
Oh. My. Alison Ryan what have you done to me! I absolutely LOVED this book!! I also wanted to scream and cry when Declan revealed why he broke off his relationship with Charlotte! This couple exuded so much love right off the pages!! Everything about their relationship being about coincidence and timing. I really loved nurse Marie's saying “My momma used to say that coincidence is just how God stays anonymous.” Declan and Charlotte just seemed to click and he never threw his wealth around to appear better than her. Charlotte has that pure girl next door about her and just wants to fit in but won't change anything about her just to make it so. This book is one of the best second chance love stories I've read!!
May 20, 2017
Alison Ryan does it again! She has the ability to grab hold of you from the very first page and keeps you on a roller coaster of emotions until the very end and even then you are gasping for more. Revel has every possible thing you want in a romance book... angst, hurt, heartache, lies, secrets, regret, guilt, hurt, anger, love, and some twists and turns that you don't expect. This book will completely captivate your heart.
I received an ARC of this book for an honest review.
I received an ARC of this book for an honest review.
May 17, 2017
This was an okay read. It started off strong, but my attention did lessen as the book moved on until I skimmed the end.
Revel is a second chance romance about Declan and Charlotte who run into each other after ten years apart. Things between them started off interesting, and I wanted to know what had split them up and why there were such strong emotions. However, while the book started off well, I found the plot to be too similar all of the way through. Things moved at a fast pace, which didn't really allow for much of a connection with the characters to be formed. The same thing just seemed to happen over and over ... it all felt very two dimensional without much depth.
Overall it was an okay read. It was quick and easy, but I struggled to connect with it emotionally.
Revel is a second chance romance about Declan and Charlotte who run into each other after ten years apart. Things between them started off interesting, and I wanted to know what had split them up and why there were such strong emotions. However, while the book started off well, I found the plot to be too similar all of the way through. Things moved at a fast pace, which didn't really allow for much of a connection with the characters to be formed. The same thing just seemed to happen over and over ... it all felt very two dimensional without much depth.
Overall it was an okay read. It was quick and easy, but I struggled to connect with it emotionally.
May 25, 2017
Great!
I chose this rating because this was a pretty good book. I loved the characters, they were great. I especially loved Antonia. I didn't like the reason Declan had dumped Charlotte when they were young in college. Even she didn't know at first. The sins of the mother. Anyway things worked out for them in the end. Great read. I recommend this book to all romance readers.
I chose this rating because this was a pretty good book. I loved the characters, they were great. I especially loved Antonia. I didn't like the reason Declan had dumped Charlotte when they were young in college. Even she didn't know at first. The sins of the mother. Anyway things worked out for them in the end. Great read. I recommend this book to all romance readers.
June 18, 2018
A reunion of lost lovers
Charlotte and Declan fell in love in college. He broke up with her and they are coincidentally thrown together 10 years later, when many answers come out to questions they had. Writing needed help, and a decent editing job would have made this better. Sounded too immature. Lots of little things did not make sense.
Charlotte and Declan fell in love in college. He broke up with her and they are coincidentally thrown together 10 years later, when many answers come out to questions they had. Writing needed help, and a decent editing job would have made this better. Sounded too immature. Lots of little things did not make sense.
February 10, 2019
Second chance
A beautiful love story set in Charles town. A wealthy young man encountersl a pretty coed and they are taken with one another. She is poor and doesn't care. Circumstances. pull them apart,but a chance meeting,ten years later shows them they still love each other,
A beautiful love story set in Charles town. A wealthy young man encountersl a pretty coed and they are taken with one another. She is poor and doesn't care. Circumstances. pull them apart,but a chance meeting,ten years later shows them they still love each other,
May 4, 2017
I finished this in a day. It was well paced and at times fast.
This book was good, but I thought there was just too much sex in it. There's nothing wrong with it but the only chemistry they had was in sex and not outside of it. It made me rethink a lot good points.
This book was good, but I thought there was just too much sex in it. There's nothing wrong with it but the only chemistry they had was in sex and not outside of it. It made me rethink a lot good points.
May 28, 2017
'Coincidences are Gods way of staying anonymous.'
And feeling guilty for something a family member did to someone else for so long seems ridiculous. But unfortunately life happens like that.
Maybe it doesn't have to stay that way forever.
And feeling guilty for something a family member did to someone else for so long seems ridiculous. But unfortunately life happens like that.
Maybe it doesn't have to stay that way forever.
June 5, 2017
Loved the book. Alison is a talented author who has the ability to make the reader feel as if they are in the story with the characters, and to believe that love overcomes all obstacles. Loved it from beginning to end
June 28, 2017
DNF.
This book was so forced it was difficult to take it serious. I cringed at the ridiculous dialog and even adapted a phony high pitched voice for both the characters just to make it less awkward for myself.
This book was so forced it was difficult to take it serious. I cringed at the ridiculous dialog and even adapted a phony high pitched voice for both the characters just to make it less awkward for myself.
September 17, 2017
Great story.
Charlotte and Declan are a wonderful couple. They have to overcome grief and adversity to reach their happily ever after. The only reason I didn't give this book a higher rating is because I am not a fan of going back and forth between the present and past.
Charlotte and Declan are a wonderful couple. They have to overcome grief and adversity to reach their happily ever after. The only reason I didn't give this book a higher rating is because I am not a fan of going back and forth between the present and past.
June 17, 2018
There was some redundancy that I found a bit annoying toward the last half of the story. However, the author made up for it in the ending, which so beautiful, it actually had me tearing up. Enjoyed the honesty of the characters. Really good book!
January 27, 2019
DNF. This was a cheesy, unrealistic romance. I didn't feel anything for these characters and it was just sappy all around. The drama was forced and the couple lacked chemistry imo. I also knew what was going on before anything was actually revealed and I hate predictability.
June 28, 2020
This was an awesome story !
Declan and Charlotte found a special love but fate threw them a stumbling block. Only Fate can give them a second chance,Can they let the past go enough to have a future?
Declan and Charlotte found a special love but fate threw them a stumbling block. Only Fate can give them a second chance,Can they let the past go enough to have a future?
March 29, 2021
Good
This is a modern day southern charm unrequited love story. I didn't call it a romance because it mostly deals with sadness, family tragedy, and lost love. There is romance scattered throughout and it does have a happy ending.
This is a modern day southern charm unrequited love story. I didn't call it a romance because it mostly deals with sadness, family tragedy, and lost love. There is romance scattered throughout and it does have a happy ending.
February 23, 2017
3.5 stars.
Was a pleasant read, Charlotte got annoying at times.
However i enjoyed Declan.
Was a pleasant read, Charlotte got annoying at times.
However i enjoyed Declan.
February 23, 2017
Page turner
Could not stop reading it. The love in this story draws you end and holds you to the very last page.
Could not stop reading it. The love in this story draws you end and holds you to the very last page.
February 24, 2017
fun read making you don't wanna stop easy
May 25, 2017
Good story, good plot. But some of the sentences didn't make sense. Needs a good edit.
June 26, 2017
Perfect
Great story perfect ending. after realising when it went back in time this book was amazing loved every part of it
Great story perfect ending. after realising when it went back in time this book was amazing loved every part of it
April 24, 2018
I shouldn't have to wipe my eyes so much and the snot from my nose from all the sadness in the words of this novel. What a beautiful second chance book!
June 20, 2018
Great
I couldn’t put this book down it brought tears made me lol. But most of it was a great book
I couldn’t put this book down it brought tears made me lol. But most of it was a great book
June 15, 2020
I didn't really change my mind about the book and almost shelved it as a "can make me finish" but finish I did...
September 26, 2020
I’m sorry, but this was very boring.
July 16, 2021
Revel (love me again book 1)
Definitely not for younger readers... A steamy at times read. Loved the last bit... Children come back as the love you lost
Definitely not for younger readers... A steamy at times read. Loved the last bit... Children come back as the love you lost
Displaying 1 - 30 of 69 reviews