Review: In Bloom by Katie Delahanty

Title: In Bloom (The Brightside #1)
Author: Katie Delahanty
Publisher: Entangled Publishing (Embrace)
Publication date: February 10th 2014
Buy the book: Amazon / Barnes and Noble



My name is Olivia Bloom and I. Am. Free.

I left for LA with everything I owned piled into my old Volkswagen and dreams of becoming a costume designer. Little did I know I’d wind up designing for a lingerie company—yeah, not sure how I landed this gig—and taken under the wing of two young Hollywood insiders. The fashion shows and parties were great, but life really got exciting when the seriously hottest lead singer of my favorite band started to fall for me.　

How does someone like me, an ordinary girl from Pittsburgh, wind up in the arms of the world’s sexiest rock star—surrounded by celebrities, fashion, and music—and not be eaten alive? Berkeley is everything I've ever dreamed of in a boyfriend, but the paparazzi, the tabloids, the rumors, it's all getting a bit too crazy. My life has become every girl’s dream come true, if only I don’t blink and lose it all…

(Cover photo and summary taken form Goodreads.)

Review:

I am trying to think of a proper way to form my thoughts because I am literally this ball of mush and feelings right now. Even though In Bloom managed to get me out of my blogging funk, I am having a really hard time putting my thoughts together because of all the adore I have for this book.

Olivia "Liv" Bloom was a great and fun character to see through, her thoughts and reactions to things never failed to make me smile. I love how genuine she was as a character and I could tell that Katie Delahanty had fun writing from Liv's perspective because the flow of her thoughts and her mini-internal monologues were very smooth and well constructed (and her wit definitely had me laughing). Liv is the kind of person who prefers to blend in and just watch from a distance but when her friends decided to give her a makeover and push her into the spotlight, she gets a different kind of attention albeit short-lived; but I did feel like it wasn't because of that transformation that helped her become more confident, I think it was because of the attention Berkeley gave her. Like a flower just waiting for someone's attention for it to finally bloom, and that's what Olivia did, she bloomed.

Um... can I please have my own Berkeley? Because I need seven of him, one for every day of the week, seriously. Berkeley is one of the most refreshing male protagonists I have ever read about. In a sea of alpha-male rock stars, he is one of the only compassionate and genuinely nice guys out there. Even though he exudes rock star vibes, he didn't have the normal characteristics of the average rock star you normally see in other books, which is why I loved him so much. I am not going to elaborate but oh my word, that thing he did? Swooniest thing ever.

In Bloom isn't without its faults, there were times when the story would start to lean towards the cliche love story but Katie Delahanty was still able to make it her own. And I definitely appreciated the conflict in this story, it added drama and I found myself getting teary-eyed and heart-achey when I was reading Liv's feelings on the issue. Arrgh, so many feels. Oh and an added bonus for anyone who isn't into explicit love scenes. I really commend Katie Delahanty for being able to give a steamy and sexy story without going too far. (You won't be embarrassed to read this book in front of your parents or grandparents, lol.)

Even though the story focused on Liv and her journey through life and also her relationship with Berkeley, I still noted the minor characters of the book. They gave In Bloom an extra umph that made it more exciting and entertaining. The occupants of the Vicente had me smiling every time they had scenes in the book; Liv's friends, Parker and Blair, made me wish that I had friends like them. They were supportive but also knew when to push Liv to be more courageous, they were amazing. And Willis with his Betty! Omg, just lol-ing right now. Liv's psychic mom had me smiling as well, her predictions and bits of advice were crazy but insanely entertaining. I also really liked the tweets at the beginning of every chapter, they were fun and added something new and unique to the story.

In Bloom isn't about the perfect Hollywood dream nor is it a love story about getting everything you could have ever wanted, it's about real people who go through problems and managing to overcome those obstacles together. It's about trust, love and everything in between. This book makes me want to throw flower petals everywhere and look for my own Berkeley. #foreveralone I honestly cannot recommend this book enough. You need this book. Need.

 Rating:

.5