Nissa | Of Pens and Pages Book Blog's Reviews > Madly

3 stars!

Madly is a standalone sequel of Ruthie Knox's two previous works. It's a story about 26-year old Allie Fredericks (May's sister in Truly) and 40-year old Winston Chamberlain (Nev's older brother in About Last Night), two unlikeable characters in their origins.

Two strangers with opposite personalities meet at a Packers bar in a serendipitous moment. Allie is spying on her mother, and Winston was sitting alone in the bar. She needed someone to make sure her mother doesn't see her, and Winston was the closest one near her. He helped her spy on her mom, and the two spent the night getting to know each other.

Allie proves to be a mediocre spy when they lose sight of her mother and the man she might possibly be having an affair with. She flew to New York without much of a plan, and so she doesn't have a place to stay. Winston offers his apartment, and the two spend the night getting to know each other, drinking tea and making their own lists.

As Allie tries to figure out how to fix her family, Winston tries to figure out how to be a good father to his almost eighteen-year-old daughter.

My love and dislike (hate is too strong a word for this situation) for the characters are perfectly balanced.I loved Winston as much as I disliked Allie. While Winston showed a lot of growth compared with how he was in About Last Night, I can't say the same about Allie. She frustrated me. I saw her as a selfish, self-centered girl who couldn't be bothered. For me, she does things for herself in the guise of doing it for others. She liked to escape when it's too hard for her, never mind that it might be hard for others, too.

She didn't care that she had to explain three times to her sister why she wasn't going to ride with them. She didn' care that the real answer was, Because I don't want to, because I give up, because this sucks and I hate it.

She's aware it's probably hurting or affecting other people, but her feelings are more important. A lot of pity party going on, too. I really didn't like her. I don't think she deserves Winston. I have a lot of feelings about this haha

So why did I still give this 3 stars?

The writing was engaging and a lot of parts entertaining. Mostly involving characters like Winston, his driver, assistant, daughter, and family. Plus when Allie's not pissing me off, she and Winston have some amusing and sweet moments that made me giggle or smile. Their sex bucket list was a favorite. Anything with involving Winston's stiffness *wink wink* is a yes. I really like that man.

Winston won me over. I loved his stiff, English properness, and his care for his daughter and Allie. After his fallout with his brother and divorce with his wife, he's had a lot of time to reflect on his past actions and what he's been doing with his life.

Madly is a standalone novel told in the third POV, but in alternating perspectives of the two leads. Despite my reservations and frustrations with the female lead, I still enjoyed the book. If you enjoy opposites attract romances with an age gap on the side, you might enjoy Madly.

*ARC received in exchange for an honest review.

Blog | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram