Rabbit Ears Book Blog: [BOOK REVIEW] Just Like Heaven by Julia Quinn

Thursday, February 15, 2018

[BOOK REVIEW] Just Like Heaven by Julia Quinn

Title:  Just Like Heaven

Author: Julia Quinn

Genre: Historical Romance

Year Published: 2011

Number of Pages: 436 pages

Date Read: 12/30/2011

Series: Smythe-Smith Quartet #1

Publisher: Avon Harper Collins

Source:  Library

Content Rating:  Ages 18+ (Sex Scenes)

Buy on: Amazon // Book Depository

I have been reading so many historical romance novels that I must have read almost every one, mainly works from Lisa Kleypas, Teresa Medeiros and Jennifer Ashley. But, this is the first novel I have read from Julia Quinn and it is called “Just Like Heaven.” Actually, “Just Like Heaven” is Julia Quinn’s most recent book to date, so I had the pleasure of reading one of Julia Quinn’s books.

The story starts off with Honoria Smythe-Smith meeting up with her childhood friend Marcus Holroyd, who is the Earl of Chatteris and the two of them just claim that they are only friends. However, when a terrible tragedy strikes Marcus, when his leg is affected in an accident and he is struck by a terrible fever, both Marcus and Honoria will soon discover their true feelings for each other!

I have read many historical romance novels where the hero and the heroine had an attraction for each other throughout the book. However, this is the first romance novel I have read where the hero and heroine start off as good friends and slowly start to realize their feelings for each other, which was quite unusual for me. Julia Quinn has done a great job at writing this story as the story is extremely cute and playful. I loved the way that Julia Quinn set up the conversations between the characters, especially between Honoria and her cousins as the dialogue that goes on between them is hilarious and comforting, as you can feel the close relationship that these cousins share with each other. I also loved the dialogue that Julia Quinn sets up between Marcus and Honoria as they always have friendly and spirited conversations between them that always make me smile every time I read them! It was also really cute seeing Marcus Holroyd go head over heels for Honoria Smythe-Smith as he clearly cannot understand these “lovely” feelings he keep having and yet, he cannot stay away from Honoria. The story about Marcus’s life as a child was heartwarming and sad as he had a lonely life as a child since he did not have a loving family like the Smythe-Smiths did. However, when he became like a little brother to the Smythe-Smith family, my heart just filled with joy at seeing Marcus being happy with this family! I also liked Honoria Smythe-Smith as she is so kind hearted and understanding towards Marcus’s situation and the scene where Honoria was trying to help Marcus heal from his injury was probably the most emotional and wonderful scene in the entire book since it showed how much Honoria truly cares for Marcus.

Notice that I have not mention much of a romance blossoming between Marcus and Honoria because this novel spends too much time with Marcus and Honoria trying to sort out their feelings for each other. That is not to say that this is a bad thing because I really did enjoy the friendly conversations that Marcus and Honoria had with each other, but as a fan of romance novels, it felt like there was not enough romance, fire and passion between the two of them to make me really believe that their love for each other is real. Marcus and Honoria’s love for each other does not really show up until towards the end of the book and it felt like their relationship with each other was being forced towards the end instead of letting it naturally run along throughout the book. Also, there were many slow moments throughout this book that I was finding it hard to keep up with the story because there were scenes that dragged on for too long before they got to the exciting part of the story.

Overall, “Just Like Heaven” is a really cute story for romance fans who love stories where the hero and heroine start out as friends and then become lovers. Also, this novel is great for readers who are uncomfortable with sex scenes since this novel does not contain too many sex scenes. Now that I am interested in Julia Quinn’s books, I think I will check out her “Bridgerton” series!