How He Really Feels/ What He Really Feels (He Feels Trilogy 1 & 2) by Lisa Suzanne-a series review

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HOW HE REALLY FEELS (He Feels Trilogy #1) by Lisa Suzanne

ABOUT THE BOOK: Release Date May 17, 2013

Julianne Becker is desperately in love with her boss, Nick Matthews. She has daydreamed about him since the day she first met him a year earlier, but she is firmly stuck in the friend-zone until New Year’s Eve, when the game completely changes and she finds out how Nick really feels about her. They embark on a sexy affair that’s everything Julianne ever dreamed of… except she can’t tell anyone about it. What will happen if anyone finds out about their secret relationship? And how will her lifelong best friend, Travis Miller, react when Julianne begins a relationship with someone who isn’t him?

How He Really Feels is a novel that explores relationships and love between coworkers and friends. It contains some adult situations and is intended for mature readers.

REVIEW: HOW HE REALLY FEELS is the first storyline in Lisa Suzanne’s new adult, contemporary romance series written in the same stylings as many others-rich alpha male in a position of authority/ younger heroine who falls instantly in love.

The premise follows Julianne Becker and the two men in her life-Nick Matthews (her boss and the object of her affection); and Travis Miller (her BFF for life and the man who is desperately in love with Julianne). As Julianne’s boss and superior, Nick knows that to get involved with a co-worker and someone under his supervisory position is a definite no-no and deal breaker with his company. And for all intents and purposes, Nick stays clear of any appearances of impropriety. Fast forward one year, Nick and Julianne meet at midnight on New Year’s eve and their relationship begins to flourish and burn.

As the storyline progresses, our leading couple must keep to the shadows and hide their relationship from co-workers. This is difficult when Julianne answers to Nick at work but weekend getaways and dinner at home help add fuel to their forbidden love and desires.

Enter Travis Miller. Travis is Julianne’s best friends, former lover and current confident. But Julianne is blind to Travis’s feelings-he is a man so in love with his best friend that when her relationship with Nick is discovered by co-workers, Travis swoops in and tries to pick up the pieces of Julianne’s broken heart. And here in lies a major storyline development as the love triangle that Nick, Julianne and Travis are now engaged in, becomes the fodder for deceit,betrayal and selfish attitudes

I have to say at this point, the story reads like an adult version of Twilight without the paranormal aspect–if it weren’t for the sex and alcohol …….. There are so many similarities between the scenarios and leading characters that my mind started to wander back to the aforementioned series. Travis is Jacob; Nick is Edward; Julianne is Bella. And Julianne is just as reluctant to admit her feelings for Travis as she is to lose her heart to Nick. Julianne is willing to do anything for the man that she loves (Nick) but uses Travis to bury her heartbreak and pain when Nick walks away.

How He Really Feels is a story of forbidden love in the work place but also a story about three people who have plenty of growing up to do. Their actions and attitudes were immature, selfish and adolescent. Julianne was oblivious to Travis’s love and yet some how tried to justify her actions as one of friendship. Travis acted like a horny teen at every opportunity and took full advantage of everything that was thrown his way and, revenge is ugly when your heart is broken. And Nick-for a well-educated, rich alpha male-he was arrogant to believe that his actions would never be caught and when all was said and done-he pushed away the woman that he loved in a devastating scene of heartbreak and pain.

The writing is simple and so is the one on one communication between the characters; there are no complicated scenarios other than a love triangle that rivaled many young adult storylines. The maturity level ( or lack there of) of the leading characters upped this reader’s anxiety level as the triangle situation took an ugly turn.

What He Really Feels (He Feels #2) is Travis’s storyline that runs parallel to How He Really Feels and told from Travis’s POV. The reader will be along for the ride as Travis endeavors to forget about the only woman he has ever loved and finds solace with a stranger and a one night stand.

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WHAT HE REALLY FEELS (He Feels #2) by Lisa Suzanne

ABOUT THE BOOK: Release Date October 3, 2013

He told her How He Really Feels and had his heart broken. Now Travis Miller is trying to move on from the greatest heartbreak of his life by getting out of town. But two nights before his big move to California, Travis meets a mystery woman who grabs hold of his broken heart and gives him hope that he can piece it back together. Will Travis ever figure out What He Really Feels, or will he be stuck on his first love forever? Will he find his happily ever after?

What He Really Feels contains some adult situations and is intended for mature readers

REVIEW: WHAT HE REALLY FEELS is the second storyline in Lisa Suzanne’s new adult, contemporary romance series and runs partially parallel to HOW HE REALLY FEELS and beyond. This is Travis Miller’s story and told from his POV.

This particular storyline now finds Travis in San Diego. When the only woman he has ever loved professed her love for another man, Travis did what he felt best and ran. His relationship with Julianne now floundered between friendship and hatred and starting over in San Diego seemed like his only option. But to his surprise, the one-night stand that continued to burn a hole in his heart was in San Diego, and his heart and his mind were lost. Julianne was becoming a distant memory as he endeavored to establish new friendships, new relationships and a new job.

Like the first storyline, What He Really Feels is a story with a major love triangle that overlaps into another triangle. Jealousy, envy, selfishness and betrayal are constant and continuous throughout the first two instalments in the series. The characters’s adolescent behavior is very indicative of their maturity levels. The angst and anxiety of the relationship triangle and screw up bled the entire novel.

Mistaken beliefs fueled the continuous jealousy and anger; revenge for an act of betrayal caused heartbreaking sorrow; and with it came another indecision.

I can’t stress enough how these storylines push my proverbial buttons. The triangles began to overlap and two people who once loved each other from the age of five continued to fuel the simmering anxiety and doubts about ‘what if’ and ‘why’. And then add new lovers, jealous exes, flagrant disregard and disrespect for one another’s new relationship-well, in the end, is anyone really happy?

For me to enjoy a series or story, there has to be mutual respect for a love relationship to be successful. So far, there is nothing but anguish, heartbreak, misdirected and ambivalent feelings; selfish lovers; jealous exes; and indecision. This is a hard series for me to rate –because I know it is a story of fiction but there is nothing redeeming about most of the characters and their actions. I can only hope, there will be a HEA for everyone-and especially for the reader.

Reviewed by Sandy