Reviewed by Nikyta
Title: Sweet Clematis
Author: R. Cooper
Series: Being(s) in Love #9
Heroes: Clematis & Flor
Genre: M/M Paranormal
Length: 327 pages
Publisher: Dreamspinner Press
Release Date: November 27, 2018
Available at: Dreamspinner Press & Amazon
Add it to your shelf: Goodreads
Blurb: Can a curse be a blessing?
Clematis works hard to embody every fairy stereotype. He can be a sulky prince or a submissive flirt, slutty and arrogant or silly and soft. He makes himself into whatever causes someone to want him. Combine that with beauty that’s incredible even for a fairy, and everyone wants him sooner or later… just not for long.
Well, everyone except the fairy Clematis secretly adores. But then, he’s never expected happily ever after, not when he’s spent years burying his emotions and making himself unlovable to push people away and protect his heart.
But his curse changes all that, and Clematis can no longer prevent his feelings from rising to the surface. He’s terrified that when his few friends see him for who he really is, they’ll abandon him, just like his parents did.
It’s hard to imagine friends who see past his act to the sweet person within, but maybe happiness has been in front of him the entire time, waiting for the real Clematis to break free and blossom.
Review:
When I started this story, I realized that I had skipped a book, A Dandelion for Tulip, and I’m so upset with myself for that because Clematis makes his appearance in that book. Buuuuut I’m kind of glad I didn’t see Clematis being super selfish because I might not have loved him as much as I did when I finished this one. But holy cow, how much I loved this one! I couldn’t get enough of Clematis. He literally pulled all of my heartstrings and just kept on pulling. He was just so damaged and had such low self esteem and being cursed by Tulip made it so that he couldn’t stop all the feels from coming forth.
It’s really hard for me to convey how much I adored Clematis as a character without just gushing over him. I just loved that he seems like this selfish, uncaring guy but, in reality, he’s actually a very sweet guy who’s a bit lonely and just wants to know that he’s doing something good. He didn’t exactly have the most educational childhood so he doesn’t realize how naive he is sometimes. He has a bit of low self esteem, which I never would have expected from someone who got laid so often and was so beautiful but that’s why I adored him because he had so many layers to himself.
Honestly, I cried so much in this book… I haven’t cried this much with a book in years. The closer he gets to Flor, the more he opens up about who he really is. Flor, as a character, was a bit of a jerk sometimes but he really sets his heart on Clematis and he did everything he could to show Clematis that he deserves some happiness too and that he is a good person. I loved that Flor wouldn’t give up on Clematis and did everything he could to show that they could have something great together too. I also loved that Flor made it his mission to show Clematis that he has people who care about him because Clematis doesn’t believe he can be loved.
I understood why Clematis was so hesitant to believe Flor really wanted him because faeries don’t have mates, so to speak, they have that person who is their happiness and they know immediately who that person is when they meet them. Flor didn’t have that feeling towards Clematis when they met so it was hard for Clematis to put himself out there and believe that they would be together forever when there’s that possibility that Flor could find his happiness down the road. My only issue with this one is that they didn’t really explore more of Clematis and Flor working through that possibility. I mean, they had an argument about it but I felt like the author could have explored that angle a little more. As it was, the ending zipped on by once that little tidbit was dropped.
All in all, this might just be my favorite book of the year. I adored Clematis as a character, he made my heart hurt so bad and had me crying for more than a majority of the book. Add Flor to the mix and I loved them as a couple. I honestly, could not get enough of these two and really hope it’s not the last we see of them. This will definitely be a book I can reread over and over again! Oh and I adored the fact we got to see some of the couples from the first books in this series, it really warmed my heart to know that they’re still doing good!
Overall Impression: I loved it!
*I received a copy of this book from the publisher in return for a fair and honest review.*
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