Alice's Review: I Only Have Eyes For You

Author: Bella Andre
Series: Yes (Sullivan Series, Book #4)
Publication Date: December 22, 2013
Publisher: Harlequin MIRA
Pages: 384
Obtained: Purchased
Genre: Romance - Contemporary
Rating: 3/5
Bottom Line: A sexy good time.
Grab, Just get it at the library, or Remove from your TBR list? Just get it at the library

Summary:  Sophie Sullivan fell head over heels for Jake McCann at the age of five. Twenty years later, the notorious bad boy still sees her as the "nice" Sullivan twin. When they both get caught up in the magic of the first Sullivan wedding, she knows it's time to make him see her for who she truly is…the woman who will love him forever.  Jake has always been a magnet for women, but the only woman he really wants is the one he can never have. Not only is Sophie his best friend's off-limits sister…he can't risk letting her get close enough to discover his deeply hidden secret.  But when Sophie appears on his doorstep, Jake's every fantasy comes to life, and he doesn't have a hope of taking his eyes, or hands, off her. Jake knows loving Sophie isn't the right thing to do, but one look at her and he knows he can't possibly resist. ~powells.com

Review:  I Only Have Eyes for You is the fourth installment in Bella Andre’s Sullivan Series.  The novel begins with the (spoiler alert) wedding of Chase and Chloe, the love-struck couple from the first book in the series.   This time we get to enjoy the love story of younger sister Sophie’s unrequited love for bad boy and family friend Jake McCann.  What ensues is an incredibly sexy journey where two polar opposites hopefully fall in love even though he thinks he is totally wrong for her because she’s way too good for him.  And of course, she’s been totally lovesick for him even since she was five years old.

I feel pretty neutral about both characters.  Sophie is the sweet girl, nicknamed Nice by her family because she’s well nice.  She’s a librarian, brainy, smart, and sexy in that girl next-door kind of way.  Jack is the tattooed bad boy who owns a chain of Irish pubs.  He’s handsome, dangerous, and thinks love is for the birds. 

Here’s the truth, this novel drove me a bit nuts in how totally unrealistic it is.  I didn’t see how these two could fit.  The more I read, the less believable it became.  A good novel should have a sense of realism to it.  I should be able to see these characters as real people.  I didn’t do that with this novel.  Not even close.  Yet what completely caught me off guard is that I cried at the end.  Yes, I cried.  I didn’t have any feelings towards Sophie and Jake, I wanted a resolution and wasn’t expecting much.  Yet there I was, frantically turning pages at the end waiting to find out what happened with tears streaming down my face.  I’d like to blame it on PMS or something like that, but the truth is I can’t.  It really got me.  And that is the beauty about books, just when you think you have it all figured out, a masterful storyteller kicks you in the gut and pulls at your heartstrings.  It wasn’t expected and I appreciated it.

There are plenty of cameos from the Sullivan clan.  I really enjoy spending time with past characters.  I love when authors remember to actively include them instead of only mentioning them in passing. 

Overall, I enjoyed it. I still think it could benefit from a good dose of realism but then again, it’s a novel. The author has a right to suspend all logic. It’s also a romance and we all know logic has no place in love either.

Alice’s The Look of Love review here.

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