A year after Estelle's fiancé dies, she sells their house
and moves back in with her brother to finally try to move
on
with her life. She devotes herself to her art, coming to
terms with her grief, and her mind continues to linger on
the guy she has never forgotten, her brother's best
friend,
Oliver. Now that she is living with her brother, her and
Oliver see each other all the time, and there is no
denying
their chemistry. But when the history between them is so
dark, will they ever find a way to be happy together
again?
I have a huge weakness for brother's best friend romances,
and KALEIDOSCOPE HEARTS nails that particular
relationship's
allure and intrigue. Oliver and Estelle basically grew up
together, always flirting around each other but never
committing or finding a balance together. The sexual
tension
between the two is intense and teasing, and the flashbacks
to their past provide strong ground for understanding the
present emotional distance between them. Though a touch
cheesy in areas, their banter is witty, hilarious, and
sexy.
As much as I love their interactions, the romantic
conflict
is a bit hard to nail down. The two obviously have several
issues to work out during the story, but it gets a little
foggy as to what is actually standing in their way of
being
together, the one thing that could make the biggest
difference. It feels like the story bounces around a lot
from Estelle's brother, Victor, being the big issue to
Oliver's previous lack of commitment to both of their
jobs,
etc. When one issue would seem to be resolved, the story
would become a little slow before moving on or going back
to
another problem. This is much more present in the second
half of the story than the first half, but it did slow
down
my reading a bit.
Overall, Claire Contreras forms a wonderful story and
voice
in KALEIDOSCOPE HEARTS. Though I had a few issues in
areas,
I absolutely enjoyed reading about Estelle and Oliver. I
would definitely recommend this to other fans of brother's
best friend romances, and readers who enjoy a good,
emotional story.
He was my older brother's best friend. He was never supposed to be mine. I thought we would get it out of our system and move on. One of us did. One of us left. Now he's back, looking at me like he wants to devour me. And all those feelings I'd turned into anger are brewing into something else, something that terrifies me. He broke my heart last time. This time he'll obliterate it.
Excerpt
“What do you want, Oliver?” I whisper against his lips. “What do you want from me? You want to kiss me? You want to fuck me? You want to come into my life like the hurricane that you are and tear down everything I’ve rebuilt before you disappear again?” His lips brush lightly against mine—just a breath of a touch—yet he’s crowding me like he’s about to devour me. He won’t though. He never goes in for the kill. He just casts the lure, reels me in and then cuts the line. As expected, his hands drop, and he pulls away from me as quickly as he’d approached. I feel a pang deep inside me that I desperately wish wasn’t there. “I’m sorry,” he says quietly, shaking his head in a movement that makes his hair sway back and forth. His eyes are soft on mine now, and I can almost hear his thoughts: I should never have kissed her. I should never—
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