Jilted (Discovered by Love #1) by Carla Laureano

Published: January 19th 2016

Read date: November 14th 2017

Pages: 90

Stars: 5/5

Bethany Hall is a personal chef on private island off the coast of Belize cooking, meals for the wedding of her rich handsome client Derek Moretti. The wall she has built around her because of her past starts shaking when Derek steps into her kitchen. She is fascinated by his look and soft nature.

When Derek’s bride, Anna (bridezilla), jilts him at alter, he strangely feels relief. On talking with Bethany, believes in her words that his life has been saved from Bridezilla and likes her similar cynical, bitter views on love. He decides to take a practical approach and stays on resort, as he doesn’t want to go back to home or work and he had already paid 30,000$ for a week.

Things gets more complicated for rule following Bethany, when Derek convinces her to be his tour guide for the remaining days in Belize. Both thinks friendly trip won’t make any difference because of their strong same preconception about love.

Will Bethany stay professional and never let any feeling waver her wall or will fall for him in few days like romance novels? Will this trip change Derek and Bethany’s view on love? What will they decide when trip ends?

This story was so nice and romantic about two person with similar view on love because of their experiences in life. It was about coming out of shell and preconception, living the world that you have shut down because bad experiences. All this set in most exotic place in world, Belize.

I loved both MCs of the book Bethany and Derek. They were well written, developed, and perfect for each other.

Bethany– smart, beautiful, talented and was very practical person. Her past made her staying hidden under her chef coat and bandana on head with less make-up, a deliberate simple less attracting life. Behind this she was fun loving, smart, creative, and strong willed person who loved to read romance novels.

Derek– was Rich, handsome, smart and sensible, finance person. He was very much affect by his father’s marriages. I liked him for his honest nature and the way he handled things at the end.

Mariska– Bethany’s best friend. She was such lively efficient sous chef. She was carefree but such a great friend and support to Bethany. I wish I could see her more in next books of the series.

First of all the setting. Narration of Belize and all the places characters visited was so beautiful. It sounded so heavenly that I instantly googled all of them and oh my, I badly want to spend a week there now. It was perfect setting for this sweet, clean romance novella.

“Jilted at the altar is not available. That’s like permanently damaged.“

Exotic island and exotic food added a very romantic element in the book. As Bethany was chef, food was also important in the book. All Belizean specialties like, Conch Fritters, Johnny Cakes, Lobster and places where best food is served were mentioned. What to do in Belize, places to visit everything was there with the story. I will take this book as tour guide with me whenever I get a chance to visit this place. 😉 It was really amazing and best part of the book. It gave feeling of being transported to Belize.

“Falling in love, all those great feelings and emotions, they’re all chemical. It’s no more a mystery than why lighting a match creates a fire and then burns out. Eventually, all chemicals wear off. What you’re left with is the real person beneath, and either you can stand to be with that person for the rest of your life or you can’t.“

Jilted was narrated from viewpoint of both protagonists- Derek and Bethany. I enjoyed Bethany’s thoughts more than Derek. She was such an interesting character. I hated it when she minimized herself because of someone else’s mistake. The way she came out when she was free on tour with Derek was such beautiful thing to read in the book.

“You can either let them have power over you by thinking it’s your fault, or you can
chalk it up to a learning experience and live your life. You can be the person you were meant to be, and someday you might just find a man who appreciates how special that is.“

Climax was unexpected but end was expected and obvious. I liked the story even more from climax to end. Deep thoughts of Mariska and slow revelation of love by Derek was so adorable. Poor guy, he understood situation and person so well but it took long to understand his feeling and what he was doing. But his words at the end were so beautiful that made me fall in love with him.

It’s bad that it was novella, I just wanted to keep reading and never stop. It was best vacation and beach read.

Overall, well written, well developed characters, perfect pace, clean romance and lovely story. I so damn strongly recommend this book.

Author: Carla Laureano

About Author:

Carla Laureano is the RITA Award-winning author of contemporary inspirational romance and Celtic fantasy (as C.E. Laureano). A graduate of Pepperdine University, she worked as a sales and marketing executive for nearly a decade before leaving corporate life behind to write fiction full-time. She currently lives in Denver with her husband and two sons, where she writes during the day and cooks things at night.

Website- www.carlalaureano.com/bio/

Book is available on author’s website  to download on signing up.

*** Note: I received a review copy of this book from the author, in exchange for an honest review. ***

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