Promise Me

I adore this book. It was disgustingly cheesy, heartbreaking, and full of spice. The perfect mixture. I can’t wait to read more!

Overall I really enjoyed this book. The love that Darcey & Connor have is truly beautiful and I love it. Now I’m not one to be triggered by much but this book was def a hard read at times (tw will be mentioned lower). It was a whirlwind of real emotions and I loved it. It took me a long time to finish it but very glad I came back to finish it!⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️🌶🌶TW/CW - injury, ptsd, torture, flashbacks, substance use, drug abuse, stopped attempt at sexual assault. This book was very heavy & I wouldn’t recommend if not in a healthy place mentally, but it is very beautifully written & does get easier when as you move through the book!

This book had it all…bullies/enemies to lovers for a very short time, insta love, military, tortured hero, etc.To be honest, it was all too much for me. I agree with other reviews, it read like a wattpad story.*SPOILERS*The bully chapters were so anticlimactic. The MMC was just rude and for what? I would much prefer the trope of him and the brother keeping other guys from dating FMC. Because why would the brother accept his best friend bullying his sister but not them dating? Just weird.I can’t wrap my head around the part when they didn’t see each other for 4 years because he enlisted. I’m American so maybe this is normal in other countries? I could even get behind Conor coming home after training explaining that he needs to make something of himself and takes an 18 month deployment/mission.The MFC definitely got the short end of the stick with her story. She didn’t get to accomplish her dream because every single time something happened. I’m not trying to give too much away, but I just hate this trope that seems to happen to females instead of writing the female to balance a family and her dreams. I promise, it’s doable.If you’re going to write about PTSD, make sure to be accurate. Sex doesn’t help someone recover from trauma. This is dangerous thinking.The time jumps were hard to follow. We start with high school kids and end with it being 7-8 years later with hardly any character growth.Overall, it wasn’t a horrible read. I just think a different editor or beta reader is needed to help polish the story to make sense and be accurate. Or, maybe the author is going for a much younger demographic than me. Lol

I will not lie, I went into this thinking ok...how is this story going to go because in the blurb it says her eighteenth is where things will change from both of their POVs. BOY was I surprised.The whole storyline was so beautiful. From them first meeting, to Darcey’s 18th birthday, to everything else. Their love was just written in the stars for them, with how cheesy that sounds.I loved their love. Not only their love for each other, but for their family and friends. I love how different this book was from what I usually read. It dealt with war, PTSD, love, and all the hardships that comes with it. This book shed a light on PTSD and mental health which I thought was so important. Many people forget how much sacrifice people make when they enlist in the army. They sacrifice so much, especially their mental health. Both Chase and Conor came back different men; fighting their own internal battles, demons, and ghosts.I love how much Darcey and Conor love each other. Not only did they fall in love, but they conquered their love and their demons. They were a team and truly showed how much having a support system helped. They leaned on each other and made each other promises to keep each other afloat especially during the hard times.I cannot wait for Chase’s book. I know that will come for our hearts especially with his epilogue!

Ashlee Rose is a new author to me. And boy am I glad I found her!OMG this book! It. Is. Everything. You will feel all the emotions. You will swoon. You will cry. You will feel the heartbreak. You will laugh. Make sure to have tissues and chocolates handy. And I love that he calls Darcey “Baby girl”. Get ready for King F** Royce!Second standalone book is coming in 2021 of Chase’s story who is Darcey’s brother! I can not wait!!CONOR:I’m a dead man walking.I promised him I wouldn’t go near her, promised him that I would treat his sister like she was my little sister. But that was a lie. Because Darcey Sawyer was not my sister. She was my forbidden fruit. Forbidden fruit that I have waited four years to touch, four years to have one little taste.I was Conor ‘King’ Royce, and this King needed his Queen.DARCEY:Four years ago Conor Elijah Royce came into my life, and it hasn’t been the same since.He was my brother’s best friend. They met in Buck Hall Private School and have been inseparable ever since their first meeting.He was everything I shouldn’t want. Forbidden fruit, but I still wanted him.Now more than ever.The King was about to take this princess down in his kingdom.

I think the concept of the story was great. The style of writing and the types of conversations were off to me.. maybe I don’t really understand England lingo. Sex scenes were repetitive and happened way more than they should, imo. The h and h barely had any real conversations.. the connection was forced. I didn’t feel any chemistry between them. I think the love story would have been great if written differently. I give three stars because it wasn’t too bad but it’s not one I will reread nor will I read the others in the series. And the guy on the cover is smoking hot.

Short summary: Badly written- avoid.Longer review -Found this author on a Tiktok FYP and was excited to buy this book based on that snippet. Let me preface by saying I love sibling’s best friend romances - this one in theory should have ticked all the boxes but the crux of the issue is that the author doesn’t write well (at least going by this book which is my first book of hers). High level it’s poor boy makes friend with rich boy and in week 1 of said friendship he meets rich boy’s younger sister and falls in lust with her but is warned off by rich boy. Fast forward 2 years and poor boy has become the school popular boy and bullies rich girl. Oddly, the brother warns him off from dating his sis but never steps in to take care of sis and stop the bullying. The hero is pathetic in the bully scenes - it isn’t the hot type where he is protective of her but likes to tease her, it’s just typically pointless mean bullying. And she hates him - she’s desperate to get rid of him, calls him a creep, says he makes her skin crawl - basically what you would assume her feelings would be to a nasty bully. As a reader, definitely doesn’t bring any angsty, passionate or butterflies in tummy feelings to the read. The hero then goes on to say ‘he will have her’ at some point in the future even if that means breaking the oath to his best friend but until then he needs a release to keep him going for the next couple of years with his side women who he treats like trash. Wow - exactly the kind of yucky behaviour I want from my heroes *rolls eyes*! Anyways she sees him with a girl and cusses him out where the scene ends and we again fwd 2 yrs when she’s finally 18 and he can break the vow (which he never planned to keep anyways)! Gahh!Add to that tomes of boring and unnecessary details of houses, streets, exams, etc and this really makes for a terribly boring, disjointed, badly written book which I wasted my money on unfortunately

I really wish I could give this book 5 stars, but there are a few things that were either not explained properly and some parts were just completely wrong. Letting the story down in my opinion.The enemy to lovers trope in this book isn't long winded and drawn out like some which I didn't mind, and the book does a lot of time skipping...but it did feel like the lovers part happened over night, particularly for Darcey. You know from the get go that Conor wants her, and those feelings have grown over the years, he just hides them behind his hate...but Darcey went from hate to love very fast, with no indication she felt otherwise. But other than that the characters together are amazing, it isn't until much later on in the book you find out Darcey did in fact have a crush on him the whole time??And a huge section (basically 2/3rds of the book) that didn't make any sense at all, I have multiple family members in the army and not once have they had to leave home for 4yrs for training (it's 14wks with a break to come home half way) and nor do they need to sign up for deployments, that whole set up is more American than British...and I actually had to skip back to double check that I read it correctly, the story is based in Devon, UK...so, that was a massive chunk that was kinda pointless and untrueThe incident on Darcey's birthday too...she was ready to jump into bed with Conor within hours of it happening...And Conor randomly buys a motorbike, but it's never seen again after the first day he gets it...it felt like an unnecessary scene/prop for a "cliche beach moment"I've read a few of Ashlee's books, I'm sad to say I'm disappointed and unfortunately this one felt confused, at least outside of the Conor and Darcey bubble that is.But it was nice to see Carter and Freya again...

I’ve got one word for you all... OUTSTANDING.I’m a fan of Ashlee’s books, but this one brings something extra special.The sheer emotion conveyed on every single page had me gasping, screaming out loud and my heart pumping.Ashlee packs more than a punch as she tells the story of Conor and Darcey.Starting off as a bully romance and turning into so much more.The characters grew in the best way possible.From hate to love, there is no stone left unturned.Heartbreak and loss will have you sat on the edge of your seat.It takes a hell of a lot for a story to make me cry, and this one did just that.I don’t want to give anything away, so simply, READ THIS BOOK.You will devour it, and then be left nursing the biggest book hangover.And the epilogue... GAH!I need more!Get that box of tissues at the ready, you’re going to need them.Five stars for one of my top reads of 2020.

I have never, ever reviewed a book before (except those book reviews that you had to do in primary school), but this book was so bad I felt I morally had to write one. For starters, the writing was shocking. The writer obviously isn’t from England, where the book is based, and has spent maybe 5 minutes researching the setting before putting a pen to paper- very embarrassing. And don’t even get me started on the content and characters! The characters were so poorly described and developed that all you knew about them was their current outfit and what they had literally just said- and this is no stretch. The plot doesn’t help this situation at all. Between CONSTANT time jumps the already weak plot was hard to follow. Jump forward 2 years, rewind 6 months, jump forward ANOTHER year, skip 8 weeks. It’s daft! I don’t want to give away any spoilers incase anyone is really, really intrigued after this- and I sincerely hope no one is as it would be a completely waste of time and money- but just prepare yourself for constant eye rolling, cringing and confusion. I have found some really great books on TikTok in the past so I really had a lot of hope for this one only to be severely disappointed. I would consider myself an open-minded reader. I would rarely, if ever, put down a book before at least the halfway mark. But this was my limit. It got to the prom night before I couldn’t cope anymore. Sorry to be such a Debby downer, and I hope I never feel the need to write a review like this again, but I just wanted to stop anyone on the fence about buying this losing brain cells. Don’t do it, please.

I love all of Ashlee’s books, but this one just sky rocketed to the top of my list. I loved it.Oh, Connor. He is one gorgeous, brooding & sexy alpha. I don’t want to give too much away, but let’s just say he redeemed himself & then some with Darcey. His love for her made my heart melt. And those letters. Gah!This is the reason why I love reading romance so much... books like this. Ashlee, you broke my heart & then put it back together again. Connor was everything an alpha should be & Darcey his perfect baby girl. Now I need Chase’s book. I know you’ll break me with that one too & I’m so ready for it. All the stars for this one!!