The Weekend: London Affair Part 1 by Rhyannon Byrd was a good entertaining romance,I read it quickly,it was fun and steamy but it lacks a litlle bit of originality,nonetheless I can't wait for part II;

This is the first book in this series by this author. This is a quick read but what an amazing start to this series. The characters were amazing. you will just fall in love with them from the start. This is the first book by this author that I've read and I can't wait for more. I can't wait to read more from this author in the future.
Highly recommended
I voluntarily reviewed an advance reader copy of this book

"An adult romance? Andrew, you don't like romance. Why did you read this?"

Well, dear reader, I fancied a change. Like I have said in the past on here and most of my social media outlets, I want to push myself as a reader and read things that are a little outside of my comfort zone. Plus, this sounded like fun. And I want to read more fun.

Emmy Reed, an American art history graduate, can't stop staring at a hot guy on the London Underground. And when he saves her from a dangerous situation at her stop, she's grateful. Until she discovers he's a millionaire playboy - the type of boy who breaks hearts without a moment's second thought. So when he asks her to be his plus one at an upcoming wedding that weekend, she's determined to turn it down... until he offers her a deal. If she comes, he will try and arrange a meeting with a sought-after artist - who happens to be his grandfather.

As the weekend goes on, Emmy starts to see the man who's her "boyfriend" - Jase - isn't the man she thought he was and with the chemistry between them, they won't want the weekend to end. But the weekend will end... but what does that mean for them?

This is the first of a three novella series - London Affair. Both the second - The Chase - and the third - The Confession - follow in weekly instalments (at the time most of you are reading this, all three should be out).

This was fun. I read this on holiday and it was a light, fun, easy read. I read in short, quick moments and was finished before the holiday was over (though I know if I had more time, would have read it sooner).

But, this isn't anything new, though. At times, it felt very troupe - with hints of Twilight and 50 Shades of Grey. Plus, there were times I was reading going "You have got to be kidding me". There were events that happened that I wanted to read but we changed character POV so we heard it secondhand plus the main male leads family - I find it impossible to believe that everyone he is related to is THAT unlikeable.

Now, it was fun, light, sexy read, and if I was offered to read the rest of the series, I would happily do so, as curious to see where this story ends. But am not sure if romance/erotica are the genres for me...

This is a good start of a three-part serial. I enjoyed this very much and I cannot wait to read Part 2. This is a story of two strangers meeting in London;. They’ve discovered they have more than their physical attraction in common and the hero, Jase, used this in order to entice the heroine, Emmy, to be his date at his cousin’s wedding. Emmy would later on discover how awful Jase’s family can be and despite the environment he grew up in, Jase turns out to be a good person, the best of them lot. There seems to be a simmering secret waiting to be unleashed between these characters that I cannot wait to discover in later instalments.

Warning, spoilers ahead.  If you haven't read The Weekend yet and don't want major plot points spoiled please come back later.



While sitting down to write this book, I had to ask myself what makes a the plot of a book realistic.  It was interesting to think about because it wasn't as black and white as I thought it would be.  I'm a big fan of both the PNR and UF genres, so I can't determine whether or not a book is realistic based on whether or not the events portrayed in the book would ever take place in the real world.  So what then makes the story we are presented with relatable to us the reader.  What I decided was that as the reader I needed to be able to understand the decisions that the main characters were making.  That evaluation has nothing to do with whether or not I would make the same decisions, rather that given who the character is and the situations they have found themselves in, do I believe that they would make the decisions that they are making in the book.

Many books have a moment where the character makes a decision that seems out of character or unlikely in my opinion, but it rarely affects my enjoyment of the overall story.  It's only when it is decision after decision that seems unlikely or downright dangerous that it affects my ability to suspend belief and enjoy the story.  The Weekend ended up falling into the latter category for me.  I just couldn't see a woman making the decisions that Emmy did throughout this first installment.

My struggle with this story started from the very beginning.  When Emmy wakes up in a stranger's home after sustaining a concussion sustained during a mugging, you would imagine that she would be suspicious and likely in a hurry to leave.   I mean when you don't know where you are, or how you got there most women would be in a hurry to get the heck out of dodge, so when Jase offers Emmy a deal for an interview with his grandfather if she'll be his date at a weekend family wedding I raised an eyebrow at her decision making.  Little did I know that this would be one of the most believable scenes in the entire story.

Once at the wedding, we find out that Jase's family is a hot mess of epic proportions.  His dad is an alcoholic who is still actively drinking, his step mother could give the Wick Witch of the West a run for his money and his cousins are egotistical abusive assholes.  Does Emmy ever seem to second guess the situation she has found herself in... nope.  Below are just a few examples of the types of situations I am talking about.

Jase's step mother is shown screaming at him on multiple occasions and quite frankly seems to have a creepy attraction to Jase although that's never shown on page.  Emmy rescues Jase twice from these events, yet never calls him out for bringing her to this weekend without giving her a clear picture of what the situation is.
Jase's step mother and cousin conspire to split Jase and Emmy up by making Jase believe she is cheating on him.  That in itself isn't an uncommon premise, but in this case his cousin corners her, physical restrains her and forcibly kisses her.  Not only does our heroine not decide that she may be in over her head with this family, but she is immediately intimate with Jase for the first time after this happens.
Jase's other cousin is cheating on his fiance throughout the entire book, and at one point a teenager that he has gotten pregnant shows up and he physically threatens her.
I just couldn't wrap my head around a man that would knowingly continue to subject herself to all of this when she isn't even in a relationship with man.  I personally would be hard pressed to stay in that situation with a man I loved, let alone a man I had a temporary arrangement with.

The Weekend ends on a bit of a cliffhanger and I will admit even with all of the issues in the story, I am a tad curious about what happens with both characters in the next installment.  It's my hope that the over the top insanity gets dialed back a few notches.

This book surprised me I enjoyed it way more than I expected to.
Why would I be reading a book I didn't expect to like?
It's not exactly that I didn't expect to like it I just figured it would be a typical 3* read. Absolutely nothing wrong with that most of the books I read fall into this category but this was more or at least it was for me.

Emmy Reed is an American art-history graduate in London and she's trying for the impossible an interview with the reclusive artist J.J. Harrison.
Emmy has some hang ups about alpha males and rich entitled playboys so when she catches sight of the gorgeous and obviously incredibly rich Jase Beckett on the underground she looks because she can but knows it's not going anywhere.
But circumstances put them together and Jase suggests a deal. Emmy accompanies Jase to a family wedding and Emmy gets her meeting with J.J. Harrison who happens to be Jase's grandfather.

Emmy is natural and refreshing and nothing like the women Jase is used to and the more time he spends with her the more intrigued and attracted he becomes.
Jase is so much more than Emmy expected and she realises she was way off base with her assumptions.
As the weekend progresses the attraction and sexual chemistry intensifies leaving us to wonder what will happen when the weekend is over?

Emmy and Jase are both fabulous characters, I really enjoyed this and I can't wait for the next part.

Now there's nothing new here, it's like so many books before it (reminded me of Bared to You in places) but I liked it, held my attention from the first page to the last and that's what I want from a book

I'm not a fan of cliffhangers and I don't like it when what is essentially one book is broken down and released in parts. Yet I couldn't stay away from this something about the blurb appealed to me enough for me to want to read it and I'm so glad I did plus there's only a week between books which isn't too bad.

The Weekend - 17th October
The Chase - 24th October
The Confession - 31st October

I voluntarily read a review copy kindly provided by NetGalley and Headline Eternal.

The Weekend: London Affair Part 1, Rhyannon Byrd

Review from Jeannie Zelos book reviews

Genre:  Romance

A three part book, its not really a trilogy to me as it could have been one book, but has been divided into three short sections. I can't find page info but its just over 1600 kindle locations including book info, I'd guess that makes it around 100-120 pages. 
I hate waiting for sections/next in series so its Great to see this is being released through October with the final part out October 31st. A huge thanks Rhyannon for that, it means it will still be fresh when I get to the next part.
Another thing I'm happy about is each section is only 99p, so its not an expensive read overall. Too often books are divided and each section priced as if a full story, leaving the poor readers to pay double/triple what they should. 

So, the story. Great read, loved it, totally loved it.
Emmy is a terrific character, no wimping wallflower but outspoken and honest, not brash and overconfident. Its a fine line between standing up for oneself and being aggressive, and she needs all that talent when she meets Jase' family. 
I love Jase too, kind of out of his depth with Em, but going with the flow....so far..His assistant Martin was a real gem, clearly very understanding of Jase and the two have a relationship that more like freinds than employee. I like that. 

Its a simple exchange at first, he needs a date to keep his exes at bay at a family wedding, and he thinks gorgeous Em will be perfect, and she needs an interview with a reclusive artist that just happens to be his grandfather - not that they're on great terms but he can get her to see the artworks, and maybe meet the man himself.
The heat between the two snaps off the page. I've moaned a bit recently about romances where I really don't feel the magic connection between the two characters, but here it snaps off the page right from the start.
One gripe though, at the beginning when she meets him on train/tube(?) and later when he's looking after her. Does anyone really get so deep into fantasies when they see a gorgeous guy - or girl? Em's mentally rambling on for ages about how he does it for her. Pages and pages, and it felt a little too much. I might think a guy is hot, might mull over what he'd be like but not to that extent, when its someone I don't know, haven't spoken to, in fact have only seen for a short while on a journey....

The wedding and Jase' family. Wow - what an awful occasion, what horrible people and how much did I love it ;-) I adore some really nasty b itchy characters in a story, and this book has them in droves, not just the ladies but the men too.
They're not all awful though, there are some I'd be proud to have as friend or family. 

I liked the idea it was set in UK, as someone that lives here, though TBH there wasn't really anything to make the UK/London setting clear, it could have been anywhere. 
 
Stars: five, roll on books two and three, its lining up to be a real gem of a story!  

ARC supplied for review purposes by Netgalley and Publishers

I've read so many of these soap opera like romances lately but this one was probably one of the better ones. I genuinely liked these characters and I really need to read the rest of these books