Suddenly Forbidden

Another addictive read by Ella! Could not put it down!! I was reading another book prior to starting this late on my kindle one night and that other book has been put to the side for this steamy forbidden romance.

I secretly love a forbidden romance. I think all us romance readers have a guilty pleasure for them. And this story did not disappoint. It was executed flawlessly.

This story follows Daisy and Quinn. They have been friends since they were young children, both growing up in a country town on farms. And as they grow into teenhood, of course their hormones take over and they find themselves fallen in love at 15. Then unexpectedly, Daisys father is offered a job opportunity 9 hours away and their family leaves the country town behind, including Quinn and Daisys relationship.

Fast forward to college two years later, and Daisy returns to the college her and Quinn promised they would reunite at. Only to find Quinn dating her ex-best friend, Alexis.

Drama with a love triangle of course than erupts.

I personally didn’t like Alexis. And even though it is never nice when someone is cheated on **yes this story features cheating like most forbidden romances do** I think it was warranted. Alexis always knew Quinn wasn’t hers, and no one deserves that half sorta love.

All in all, 4 Stars.
The only reason I am not giving this story 5 stars isn’t I didn’t enjoy how mental health was talked/written about. I am now going to start the sequel that features the character with depression and I hope it is executed differently then it was in this story.

CHILDHOOD FRIENDS + FIRST LOVE! HEARTBREAK & PAIN!

LOVED this tale of a childhood love turned forbidden.
I needed an angsty book so I came straight to the Queen of Angst for a dose and she fulfilled it with the story of Quinn and Daisy!
My heart is infatuated with stories of first loves, whether they are childhood friends first or meet later on in life. The journey of Quinn & Daisy’s love is filled with an entire childhood of sweet and endearing moments. The kind that settle deep into your soul and never leave. Daisy being this imaginative, goofy and somewhat nerdy girl never once expected her hot best friend Quinn would want more with her. Then after they finally get their chance, they are ripped apart for years. When Daisy starts college she finds out just how deep the betrayal can run when she finds that Quinn moved on without her. Broken hearted and struggling, she tries to put things behind her but there’s just something about that first love that can’t be forgotten or pushed aside.

Whew! This one was a tough read during a couple times because Ella sure knows how to pile on that angst and tension at just the right moments. I love it though! Because these characters almost always come back stronger than they were before.

**WARNING: Ella mentions this in her blurb but somehow people still miss seeing things like this so I’m going to post it here for those who have triggers. There is cheating in this story, not that it will make a big difference but it isn’t between the two main characters.

OH THE QUEEN OF YOUNG ANGST! Ella Fields can write new adult drama like no other. And this book is just so angsty- the pinnacle of messy, super dramatic love that reminds of being young- when I was old enough to have romantic feelings with depth and substance but not quite emotionally mature enough to always process or handle those feelings in constructive ways. That’s why I love the new adult genre, and Ella is truly a master at creating those feelings- the butterflies, the heartache, the consuming nature of a fragile emotional connection. The kind of emotional pain in first love that feels forever, infinite, because you don’t have the experience or wisdom yet to know any better.

Daisy is such a sweet soul-I felt for her big beautiful heart, adored her naivety and optimism, but I also wanted to shake her sometimes. I hated what she put up with, but it also creates for some magical character growth as we watch her find her strength and resilience. And boy does she have to endure some heartache. I loved her from the first moment we met her, but I loved her even more at the end. She’s kind and so sincere, and you root for her despite all the bad decisions abounding, because she’s so enchanting.

Quinn- oh, Quinn is such a hard character he’s so flawed. We love and hate him. He loves Daisy, but gives up on it- he has this swoon worthiness yet he hurts Daisy with the HORRID Alexis ( I don’t even want to give her space in this review, I loathe her). He’s so polarizing- which speaks to how I felt about most teenage boys back when I was a young girl. The whiplash they give you because they don’t have the emotional capacity to act on their feelings- and Quinn, oh Quinn makes some crappy decisions. But as crappy as the result is, we also know Quinn is trying to do right- he’s just too young and immature to find the right way to do it. I wasn’t sure I could forget, but Ella finds a way to redeem him, to make us fall in love with him like Daisy.

Ella is such a skilled writer- character development, pacing, but most important emotional resonance just SING from her words. She creates an emotional experience through this story- the narrative approach with the flashbacks in particular really helped create this deep and believable connection for these characters- which only ups our heartache when things go wrong and only ups her frustration when these characters make bad decisions- because we FEEL in our bones that they belong together. That give us so many feelings- and a lot of heartbreak, because these characters are just so well realized. And, fortunately, we have a healthy dollop of humor in the side characters, especially Daisy’s bestie Pippa.

What has always set Ella’s angsty apart for me and has given her stories such depth and so much complexity is how she’s not scared to torment us with her characters. And she does- I hated Quinn a lot of the book. But this is what makes her such an interesting writer. I’ve always loved how Ella isn’t scared to let us dislike our characters- they make big and hurtful mistakes, like real life, and it is not easy to clean up or move on from those mistakes- which is so much more interesting and emotionally complex of a story. Ella doesn’t let love be easy. Because, guess what, most of the time it is not easy. It is messy, and painful, and radically imperfect, anything but pure most of the time. She writes about the ugly side of love just as much as the beautiful, because she realizes something that so many authors don’t. Love is not a destination, it is not an “end”- it’s not like a before after. Really, love is a process, a constant spectrum of decisions and choices, and Ella’s live that truth.

I simply loved this story- it put me through the wringer and definitely hurt my heart as much as it made me swoon- but I loved it. And, I should note, I pretty much in general HATE cheating as a trope. In fact, that’s why I’m just now reading this book, but I love Ella, and I trusted her, and I was right to. I’m still not someone who is going to pick up cheating books frequently- I quickly close out when I see it in the blurb, but I have a short list of authors who handle it with authenticity and care- who make it complex and gray enough to challenge me, and Ella, well Ella is now permanently on that list. Cheating is just part of it- but it doesn’t consume this story- the characters do. And they are just young and emotionally inexperienced kids trying to figure some stuff out- they’re good people, who make bad decisions. Even if this isn’t your trope, like me, I think this story will work for you. I’m glad I finally took a risk on it.

Another amazing, emotional story by Ella Fields.

One of my favorite YA, romances. Even with the cheating. So sweet and amazing, you won’t need sugar in your tea.

I’ve been trying to savor Ella’s backlist since I’ve read most of what she has written. She is one of those authors that doesn’t seem to ever disappoint me. Her work of art is always littered with inspirational quotes and/or thoughts. The pain of the character is felt in the pain of my heart. The chemistry is simmering on the pages. The angst is felt in my chest at all times. This book was no different. It held all the elements that I love and more.

I started my journey of Ella on Pretty Venom which is the 3rd of this series. It was neat to start at the beginning and see another side of Callum as well. You don’t need to read these in order. It has been a year or so since I read Pretty Venom and I had no issue with Suddenly Forbidden.

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Suddenly Forbidden is a gut-wrenching tale of loss, love, heartache, and new beginnings. The story line alternates between past and present painting a picture of how these two wounded souls found love, lost it, and eventually rediscovered it, but not without lots of ups and downs to conquer first. I absolutely loved every word of this one, it squeezed my heart, brought smiles and swoons, and left me anxious for more… a perfect read in my book! Highly recommend this one, it’s perfectly penned words and endearing characters are destined to touch your heart!

4.5 Stars – A beautiful and very well written story with emotional ups and downs.

I absolutely adored this story which was so unlike me because I don’t seek out books about cheating and usually steer clear of those. But in this case I knew beforehand what I was getting myself into and didn’t mind it as much to be honest. Although I do prefer my fairytale romances, I still like when the characters have to work for their HEA.

The story was told in dual POV and switched between the past, when they were kids, and the present at college. The storyline was predictable but I was positively surprised how well written it was and how it really got to me. I was emotionally invested in this story like I never expected I would be because I felt the emotional ups and downs from the characters so deep in my heart that I wanted to scratch a certain someone’s eyes out and hug another character close. Because there was one person that I disliked from the very beginning. (I just can’t stand traitorous people.)

I didn’t expect to love this book so much since I also wasn’t sure how much I’d like the characters going into this story because college romances could go very wrong for me if the characters acted childish. In this case though, I loved how mature they were considering their ages of 18 and 19. We all know how jealousy, a broken heart or love can blind us and put us in a blind rage, but despite the emotional outbreaks I felt that the characters were rather mature and more grown-up than I thought they would be. I wasn’t prepared for their thinking of forever and how their emotions weren’t only physical but reached deep.

The Story:
Daisy and Quinn just knew from their childhood on that they were each other’s forever. But when they were broken apart, things started to change in a way they never saw coming.
Two years passed and Daisy still remembered their promises to each other. When she finally stumbled upon Quinn again, she felt as if her heart was torn in two. The betrayal was too great to deal with and college life wasn’t as she expected it would be.
Seeing Daisy again triggered something in Quinn and feelings he thought were buried deep underneath came rushing back to the surface.

Thoughts:
Although I loved the story, there were still some things I couldn’t get over. First, I found it weird how the characters lost all contact in a time like this with so many possibilities to communicate, and then for Daisy to expect him to hold on to her when she totally cut him loose. It was a bit drastic.

Then, while I did like Quinn, I just couldn’t forgive him for what he did. If he had any other woman, it would have been different because he thought he wouldn’t see Daisy again, but this certain girl he chose was just wrong for many different reasons. And I don’t even want to mention her faults, broken girl code and horrible behavior.
I couldn’t stand Alexis from the very start because I just knew she was a jealous bitch. She made me so furious that I wanted to punch her in the face a lot. She willfully tore them apart because of her bitterness and selfishness. I wish she would have gotten lost.

But then there were moments when young Quinn took care of Daisy and protected her against bullies. I loved the palpable magic between them when they got lost staring at each other. He’d always wanted Daisy, the sweet and innocent girl. It was fate for them to be together forever and it broke both their hearts when she had to move away and they got estranged.
Quinn was cute but it took me a while to forgive some of his actions, because although I understood the hard times he went through, it just wasn’t really fair to all the involved parties.

I loved the secondary characters, Pippa, Toby and Callum and I can’t wait to read the next books in this series of standalones.

Ella Fields is a fairly new author to me. In fact, this is just the second book I’ve read from her. But with the way things are going, I wouldn’t even be surprised when she joins the list of my favorite authors.

Suddenly Forbidden had me bawling my eyes out at just 30% in. Me being a cry baby doesn’t really take that much to make me cry. But this one is different. The pain I was feeling was bone deep. Like I was feeling every bit of the pain the characters are going thru. The betrayal, the longing, the regrets. It was coming in full force, my heart doesn’t even know how to acknowledge everything. It was even a bad decision (okay, no not really) to read the book before bedtime that I end up getting almost no sleep. But, let’s be honest who doesn’t want a bool that’ll keep you up all night, right? The plot was definitely a nice road to take in. It was bumpy and painful. And although the last few chapters and the way things ended was a little too fast and too easy for me, the angst, heartbreak and tears for the better part of the book definitely made up for it.

The characters were very much relateable and easy to feel. It was as though they were real people with real emotions. It wasn’t a struggle to be in their shoes. I liked how Daisy was both loving and fierce, forgiving and a fighter. Quinn on the other hand, may not be on top of mind book boyfriend and doesn’t really make good decisions, but is definitely still someone to swoon over. He just knows the right things to say.

All in all, I would say that this is 4 stars for. Definitely worth reading and recommending.

Oh, the torture this book put me through! Quinn and Daisy’s story was so good. Best friends since childhood that grew in to love before they were separated as teens. They meet again in college and everything is wrong. Quinn is with someone else, breaking Daisy’s heart. This is the story of them navigating their new life. I felt every emotion possible reading this book; pain and heartbreak, but also hope and love. Ella Fields took me on an amazing journey full of true love that never dies. I loved all the characters in this book, except one. You’ll know who when you read it. And I just couldn’t like her for the trouble she caused. But, that was the point. The storyline was so good. It flowed quick and was so clear I could have been watching a movie. I can’t believe it took me so long to read this amazing book!