The Wrong Bride: Ares and Raven's Story (The Windsors)

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I'm so conflicted by this. Because I loved it 😫😍😍 but I also hated it. I feel bittersweet when I think about the unrequited love trope. Especially when the OW is the sister, that really irks me , I can't stand it. 😭 But having said that, I really did love Ares, the H. Even if I hated how dumb he was throughout the book and how he even 🙄 😒 was once with the OW. Which makes me stubborn because I can't get over the past, however I was genuinely convinced that he loved Raven the h. So that's one thing. So for that this was a 3.7 🌟 for me. 😫😫 Like authors please if you can't write the "it's always been you " trope correctly don't freaking write it at all you are ruining it , especially this author because she did it in Bittersweet Memories as well and ruined it there too At this point I have to say when Sebastian York is paired up with other female narrators other than my personal favourite, I tend to skip through the chapters. Lucy Rivers however, did a good job with her characters and I enjoyed listening to her voice overall.

Lastly, there was basically no plot. Like, Ares and Raven didn’t actually do anything. Ares is a billionaire so I thought they’d do new couple activities together or go on extravagant trips. Or even just have some nice, everyday couple moments. Nope. Not the case. They just had the same argument and internal battle every other chapter until the end of the book.Ultimately, this book is not perfect, and if I think too long about it, it had its issues and I keep finding more... but this was the second billionaire romance that I have read recently and I absolutely enjoyed the shit out of it! I had a great time reading it as it was a perfect escape to relax and get out of your head. The title peeked my curiosity and although I was a little hesitant not knowing anything about writer Catharina Maura and her books, it was narrator extraordinaire Sebastian York that really drew me all the way in, But don’t worry, he supposedly had feelings for the h the whole time 🤡 he just didn’t quite know it 🙄… he’s just so so romantic 🥴 besides, the ow kept cheating on him and he just laid around with her because “He DoEsNt LoVe HeR” 🫢🫢🫢 I also enjoyed that even though she had a fam0us sister 🎭 and a Billionaire husband 💰 who was also famous due to his family, Raven was successful all on her own👏🏼 She took pride in everything she did.

I wish Raven would've been more confident in herself. She's stunning, incredibly talented and smart. She loves Ares so very deeply it actually hurts. Knowing her family and the way she was treated I feel she deserves so much better. I just wanted to be there by her side and yell "cut them out of your life right this second!" because none of them were able to treat her well. My heart broke for her on so many occasions and I just wished she gave herself more value and appreciation. 🥺 There were so many annoying people in this book though and I really felt sorry for the h because of the treatment she faced. And let's be honest, as much as Ares loved Raven, she truly did deserve better then him. He is not worthy of her. 😬 Even though I did love them both together. ❤️❤️ Other than that… I’m sure many have & will appreciate this story presented. Well, that’s it from me, enjoy &… The Wrong Bride: A Novel” is a beautiful novel with unique and classy story. Catharina Maura is the author of this beautiful novel. This author has written many glorious novels which are equally beautiful and inspiring. Her most famous novels are Forever After All, Bittersweet Memories, Luca and Valentina’s Story, Until You, Professor Astor and many fantastic novels.Also immediately after they got married, Things were a mess. They would say one thing but do another and think another. Both of them got confused and then they started confusing ME! I’m also not convinced that ‘he loved her all along’ line. That was too unbelievable with all the ‘Hannah Hannah’ chanting. Overall Pace of Story: Not the best. I skimmed a good bit for the last 1/4ish because it dragged and I no longer cared all that much. So this is a dual POV that follows Ares and Raven. Ares is the eldest son of this very wealthy family and the CEO of a media production company. Raven is a gorgeous supermodel and fashion designer. Raven also happens to be in love with Ares, even though he happens to be her best friend's brother and her sister's fiance. Ares's family has a tradition that all the members of the Winston Family have an arranged marriage, and when Raven's sister gets cold feet, the wedding has to happen one way or another and Raven ends up walking down the aisle... Then that scene when they are at her parents house and her sister is in the next room and she tells him that she’s heartbroken from all years of listening to him have sex with his sister next door so he proceeds to have loud, rough sex to one-up that past history? JUST NO. Listen, I love a well-done kinky scene (LOVE THEM) but this was not it. It felt cheap and degrading.

What bothered me is that Ares stayed with Hannah for 5 years. Not one, but five. That’s a lot of time and the only reason why I’m not giving this book 5 stars. Even if in the end he realised he didn’t truly love her, it didn’t sit well with me. Duo narration is the thing going forward … however (Lucy Rivers) the narrator of the female protagonist took something to get use too… (jury still out on her) 🤔 however, nothing Sebastian’s sexy voice can’t fix mmmm.I loved ❣️ that Ares tried in some ways and failed in others. We all can't be perfect. Once Raven really decided to open up to him and he started to notice what his actions were doing to her, he took steps to change himself and slowly become the husband she needed 💘 I loved Ares family too. They were super supportive and loyal to Raven. Can’t wait to read their stories. The H…so beta he makes doodlebugs look like bugs of steel. His grandmother tells him to marry so marry he does. OW slithers out so in comes the heroine. Vows celibacy and devotion to the h only to have OW show up with tears in her eyes so he takes her to dinner….THE NIGHT AFTER THE WEDDING! He is faithful, but the evil OW has his number. He's a nice guy in general, and thinks he loves the heroine. Bizarre turnaround at the end and after all the sister's machinations come out he declares he never ever loved her so what's the deal?

this read had so much potential. i liked the characters at first, the conflicts, the idea of the plot. but by the time i reached the 60% mark, i was skimming lines: the repetitiveness was killing me. because instead of building a strong relationship between the protagonists, the author chose to make their love story frustratingly shallow.Although the storyline was a little repetitive in my opinion, I could see where the writer was coming from in regards to Raven and her insecurities. Ares putting up with Hannah's antics and indiscretions, yet he still wanted to marry her was very frustrating. Throughout, he's true feelings for Raven were evident and couldn't be denied. The last few chapters were gripping and the reason why my headphones were glued onto my head until the early hours of the morning. Sleep...who needs it, right? I was very set on giving this a full five stars because of how much I was enjoying the drama and the angst until about the 70% mark of the book when I started getting frustrated as it was almost too over the top. These situations do not happen in real life and I was taken out of the magic and blatantly reminded that I'm reading a book. The conflict, the plot twists and the reactions of everything felt so scripted. The Bad: The drama was so OTT it was ridiculous. The h being a doormat and the H being so dang confusing.