R&R Review Wednesday: Lessons on St. Barts by Emme Cross

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St. Barts #2 (see the review for the first book in the series, Love on St. Barts, HERE)

Goodreads Blurb:

"Sunny’s happiness with Sven is threatened by a murderous stalker
Sunny O’Hara thought everything was going smoothly with her sexy movie-star boyfriend Sven. He initiates in her all the ways of love and seems to have stopped sleeping around. But everything is threatened by a vicious stalker who wants her out the picture.

Will Sunny survive, and if she does, can her relationship with Sven last?

This is the second book in the St. Barts Romance series by Emme Cross. Set on the island of St. Barts, eight square miles of gourmet restaurants, designer shops, yachts . . . and sultry secrets."

Review:

Thank you to the author, Emme Cross, for gifting me with a copy of Lessons on St. Barts in exchange for an honest review!

I felt pretty much the same way about this book as I did reading the first book but I'll reiterate my feelings for the sake of clarity.  There are some differences, however, and I'll be sure to highlight those.  Let's get to it!

1.  The romance.  I liked the romance just as well in this book as in the first one.  Sven and Sunny are so cute together and their relationship is adorable.  I did chafe a bit at Sven's assumption that Sunny would just follow him wherever he went.  He has a unique lifestyle, being an actor, but it's still a large assumption to make of someone.  Otherwise, I loved how they support each other and help each other grow in their respective fields and passions.  Another thing I should mention, this book is solidly in NA territory because of the explicitness of the sex scenes.

2.  The plot.  This book has a slightly different plot structure because it's focused more around finding Sunny's attacker and exploring Sunny's relationship with herself as she struggles to heal after the attack.  I really liked that journey and finding out who the attacker was.  The pace of this book was also a lot better than the first book and I had no trouble with wanting to keep reading.  One thing I'm not sure I agree with is the use of hypnosis to help Sunny.  There's a reason evidence obtained by hypnosis is inadmissible in court.  People are highly susceptible to suggestions when in a state of hypnosis.

3.  The characters.  The characters are once again the jewel of the book.  Sunny especially is such a wonderful character and I love reading her reactions and seeing her dreams come true through her villas.  Sven, Judith, Mimi, Phillipe, and all the rest are wonderful as well and like in the first book, they are all wonderfully developed.

4.  The setting.  I didn't mention this in my last review of the first book in the series but I love the effort the author puts into the description of the island.  Obviously, there was more of it in the first book (setting the scene is infinitely more important when introducing readers rather than bringing them back into a world) but there was still a good amount in Lessons and it was much appreciated.  St. Barts sounds like such a beautiful place (it's a real place, btw!) and I'd love to travel there someday.

The Final Verdict:

A wonderful sequel with stunning characters and setting.  While the plot and romance had a few iffy moments, on the whole, I truly enjoyed this book.

4 stars