Title

I believe the title Finally Found Love kind of fits the story as it does give me the vibe of a classical romance. Nevertheless, it doesn't really hook me nor give me the incentive to keep on reading. It feels cliche in a way which isn't necessarily a good thing.

Cover

The cover is not the most attractive as it merely depicts a couple in each other's arms with the title right above them. I would say that this is a rather basic cover that could be improved if you change the colour of the title. Instead of using green, I suggest you look for a colour that will better stand against the background. Alternatively, I suggest enlarging your title to make it clearer.

However, I must say that the cover does a good job of letting the audience know as to what it will contain. It is a romance. I will guess that the woman depicted in the cover is Crissy and the man is her husband. But since I am yet to read the book, it would all be in the dark for me.

Blurb

The blurb is short and vague; it gives me no indication of who the main characters are. Though I am given the vague idea that this is a book about a married couple learning to love, it gives me no incentive as to why I should care for them in the first place.

Straight away, the poor grammar and the lack of capitalisation turned me away from the book. I am the type of person who will move away from a book if the grammar is bad and if the blurb is terrible. Therefore, I stress that you need to improve your grammar and develop your blurb a little more.

First Chapters

The first chapter was short, confusing, and overall a poor read. You introduced the main character Chrissy; in the first chapter we learn that her husband has been cheating on her for a while and she finally catches him. Henceforth, she finds him disgusting to the point where she cannot stand the touch of him.

I admit that it is interesting, however, the execution and the way you showed the readers the scenes just didn't feel right. You touched on the themes of infidelity and marriage, yet the tone is humourous and informal. This rubs me in the wrong way as it feels like you didn't really demonstrate nor show the reader the true effects. With serious matters like this, it shouldn't be delivered in a comical way. Even if you did attempt that, the informal style and just the terrible form of text ruined that.

Also, the first chapter failed to capture my attention. It felt rushed and some of the things within the first chapter just didn't make sense. For example, these scenes from the first chapter:

Um pardon me?
So she cares more for her flash drive than she does for her husband cheating on her with another woman?

This is a rather huge leap in common expectation as in many real life cases, this isn't exactly how a woman or man would act upon seeing their partner or their spouse doing such a despicable thing. It is jarring.

You mentioned that some people found your book too confusing. I believe these are just a few reasons.

First of all, Chrissy's behaviour is confusing. Though certainly a twist on the old tropes of infidelity, it is both befuddling and jarring. You may dislike me for saying this, but this problem worsens as the book progresses. I would suggest that you revise and re-write this immediately, if you don't want your readers confused, then you need to find a way to mend these issues.

Moreover, I feel like you made Chrissy's behaviour contradictory. In the first chapter, she doesn't really care that her husband is cheating on her, however, in the second chapter she's breaking down and she can no longer stand him. This shows that you need to pay close attention to details and ensure that everything remains consistent. This is just one of many examples related to this.

Also, you used quite a few terms that the average reader wouldn't have understood. I suggest you add a small note in the end of your chapter to help in the explaining of the terms and thus avoid confusion. Confusion may decrease the readers' interest in the story.

I would like to note that the introduction of Xander to the story felt jarring and unprompted. There were several characters in the story who felt unprompted and unnecessary, this issue I shall discuss a little bit later.

The third chapter suffers from similar problems as well. Chrissy is certainly a strange woman and some of the things she does only serve to befuddle me. I am very sorry, but I will keep repeating this, some of the things that she does don't make sense and this is best shown in the third chapter.

In the third chapter, Chrissy goes home after one year of separation from her husband. She catches him cheating again and although, I do not like reading graphic scenes, I think you could have made the scene more explicitly as the way you portrayed it just didn't sit right with me.

You painted it as humorous and funny, when in all honesty, cheating is neither funny nor humorous. It is a terrible thing, and when experienced by someone, it makes their life hell. It generates a trauma that can never be erased. I am afraid that this chapter was rather insensitive and to some others, even offensive.

I will say no more on this topic.

Grammar

The grammar needs much improvement. Throughout the entire book, the grammar remains inconstant and poor. I must admit, the bad grammar did put me off, coupled with the informality of the text. This made it hard for me to continue reading the book.

My suggestion for you is to get an editor. An editor will help you correct the mistakes found in the book and will make sure your book is better overall. If you wish to improve, then an editor is a must because so far, the way the book has been presented and the way the text was written out just doesn't sit right. I read all the comments on the book, and several other readers will agree as well.

Also, please don't overuse the ellipsis. An ellipsis is usually written as a series of three dots so I suggest you stick to that, as it can get overwhelming to see a lot of dots at times.

Dialogue

The dialogue was less than mediocre. I admire the fact that you were able to incorporate their emotions into the text. However, you abandoned and ignored the formal standards on writing. For example, you did not state the characters who were speaking, by that I mean, you just listed their conversations without stating which character is speaking.

Instead of just writing out the dialogue, why don't you try something like this:

"Please Chrissy," he begged as he knelt in front of me.

"Naaah." I replied, shaking my head.

"Chrissy! Please!" He begged once more, the tone of his voice rising.

"Aaaaaaand the survey says..........eeeeeehhh, sorry it's a no for me." I spat out sarcastically.

Now here is another thing that I wish to note, instead of writing "aaaaaaaaand", which honestly just feels choppy and uneeded, just write "and".

It is perfectly acceptable and it is much better to stick to the formal standard.

For example:

"Chrissy! Please!"

"And the survey says...eh, sorry, it's a no for me"

Thus the writing feels more formal and more professional.

Main Characters

The main character is Chrissy, a married woman who gets cheated on by her husband. After many quarrels, the two of them divorce and she runs away with Xander, adopts a daughter, and goes on a date with another man.

Chrissy is interesting in a way, she is sarcastic and she is stubborn. However, she is confusing and may very well be bipolar. That would have been a good idea if this was a book about a bipolar woman with a cheating husband. Unfortunately, this is not the case and Chrissy just seems strange.

I really don't have much to say on this matter, except that if she really is bipolar, it is better to state it. If she isn't, I suggest you make her more consistent in order to improve the overall quality of the character.

Overview

The story is less than mediocre. I did not enjoy reading it at all and majority of the time, I was either confused or befuddled by the strange actions of the characters.

You have included some very offensive things within your book, like domination of women and explicit anti-gay themes. There would have been no problem had you provided a warning for the readers, but it came as such a shock that it was so jarring and plainly offensive.

A friend and I read this book together to understand it better and she was pissed off when you included the part concerning religion. Religion is a sensitive issue, and if you had warned the readers that you were going to tackle it—then I repeat—there would have been no problem as the readers would know what to expect.

The book has poor grammar and sadly, I will not recommend this to anyone unless the problems stated are addressed and corrected. The problem with your story is in the execution. To write a good story that readers will enjoy, you need to learn how to execute your themes. Most importantly, you need to focus on the type of audience that would most likely read your book and take their feelings into consideration when you're writing. An offended audience is certainly not ideal for any author. I highly suggest you get a skilled editor to edit your work if you want it to be enjoyable. Though you have over three hundred reads, I noticed that most of them were from a book club.

Overall, I was disappointed with the story and offended by several of the themes. Please, learn to respect your readers as we are people too and some of us get triggered by certain themes when not properly warned beforehand or when they are not executed in a respectable way.
I wish you all the best.

Reviewed by: Lyssa