London Falling by Chanel Cleeton

London Falling

by Chanel Cleeton

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Published by: Harlequin HQN on July 7, 2014
Genres: Romance, New Adult
Source: ARC from Publisher
Rating: 5 Stars

NOTICE: I received this book for free in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

I LOVED LOVED LOVED I See London (read my review), Chanel Cleeton's first novel in the London series, and I can honestly say that London Falling exceeded my expectations!

Maggie and Samir. Le sigh. Never before have I fell in love with another set of characters in this way. Anna & St. Clair have NOTHING on Maggie & Samir.

We weren't a relationship, we were a ticking time bomb…

The first time we meet Maggie, in I See London, she's entering her freshman year at International University in London. She's young, wide-eyed and inexperienced in the ways of love. Her first day, she meets worldly, rich, half Lebanese-half French Samir, a junior that has a way with women. Despite Maggie's naivete and Samir's revolving door of women, the two are drawn to each other, the final night of the school year culminating in the hottest night of Maggie's life. With an morning-after text, Maggie returns to North Carolina for the summer months, counting down each day until school begins again and she can see Samir.

London Falling picks up where the first book ends. It's the first day of Maggie's sophomore year, and she wants nothing more than to see Samir. Did he think about her this past summer? Does he want her as much as she still wants him?

All of those questions and more are answered in the sequel.

While the first book is full of hot, juicy scenes between Maggie and Samir (and written in third person), the second book is more grown-up, with first-person scenes alternating between the main two characters. The attraction between them is still intense, the same push and pull between them is still there, but with Samir's final year at university at hand, he knows he'll be expected to return to Lebanon, get married and go into the family politics as soon as graduation is over. The intensity and fun of the first book changes into a more mature, intense, long-term focus. It's no longer a matter of whether Samir will curb his woman-eating ways and solely be with Maggie - it's a question of the future. Will Samir have room in his future for Maggie and ultimately, will Samir sacrifice the future that's expected for him for Maggie?

I loved the second book in the series just as much as the first book. Things are still hot and intense between Maggie and Samir, but there is more substance in this book. While most new adult books (in my opinion) tend to stay in the hot-hot-hot category and not move into realistic areas of a relationship, London Falling was not afraid to do that. You truly see Samir and Maggie in a real life relationship having real life issues. That makes them seem even more real than the 3-D characters shaped in the first book. I liked the way the author chose to write alternating scenes from each character's point of view. In the first book, you mostly only get to see what Maggie is thinking, only guessing at Samir's thoughts. In this book, you know exactly what Samir is thinking, even if Maggie doesn't. This brings new life to their connection.

Fleur is also back in this book with a hint of love in her future. I don't know if the author is planning on writing another book featuring these set of characters, although I hope she writes a third installment with focus on Fleur. Although she spends the majority of this book dating nice guy, George, there's someone else in the background that I think is a better match for her. There's just the right tension between them to make a good book, in my opinion. I hope the author writes it!

Ultimately, I can't gush about this book enough. Pre-purchase it right now at Amazon for it's July 7th release, and while you're at it, buy the first book, I See London, below while it's on sale for 99 cents! It's a HUGE bargain! Get it before the sale ends!

You can also check out my book blitz post on the release here!