Maddie (Bookaholic_Dreamer)'s Reviews > Sizzle

3/3.5 ⭐️

Sizzle a Student/Teacher, Surprise Pregnancy, Small Town Romance brings us the story of Gabrielle and Liam through the telling of their dual perspectives.
This book by new to me author Carrie Aarons is the third Standalone in Ashton Family series.

Following Gabrielle and Liam on their journey made for an interesting read.
From being unexpected in some ways, which even though had me surprised, it still kept me reading on.

The relationship path travelled for Gabrielle and Liam was not an easy one.
Then again given the circumstances that bought them into each other’s lives it was to be expected with causing problems. Mostly which came from Gabrielle’s side, ultimately leading to navigating upon a rocky terrain.
This helped to give the plot intrigue, seeing just how the two would figure it out and make it work.
Especially for Liam who had his work cut out for him in convincing Gabrielle that not only were they made for each other, but to give him a chance in order to prove it.

The storyline did have you in different feels upon seeing Liam and Gabrielle’s interaction, as well as when they slowly started to take steps into building a relationship together.
One that consisted a lot of back and forth from the pushing and pulling, again mostly from Gabrielle’s side, all courtesy of her hold ups given the way she grew up to be. Something that Carrie had us learning about through Gabrielle's POV chapters.

Whilst Sizzle was a decent read, there were some issues to be had IMO.
My biggest one was from the story feeling a little too long winded, particularly when it came to the subplot. Due to all the thorough detail and explanation, it had my attention straying away from the book at times.
The other issue came from the ending being very abrupt IMO, ultimately catching me off guard with not realising that the end was the end.
It just seemed very rushed with how quickly the loose ends were tied up, some of which just seemed to be tied for the sake of having it being completed given the results that were delivered IMO.
There was also the case of there not being much character development, since the subplot seemed to overshadow Liam and Gabrielle’s part of the narrative at times. And so it meant you couldn’t really connect to the characters as well.

Overall, for being my first read by new to me author Carrie Aarons, Sizzle was still a decent read having liked bits and pieces of Liam and Gabrielle’s story in the end. Even despite my issues stated.



*I received an ARC in exchange for an honest review.