This book shows how 4 adults come together for their younger sister even though 3 of them never knew she exist ed. It also has an interesting spin on a romance story. Overall i would highly recomend this novel. ( )

Difficult to love hero but I’m here for the drama
4 stars

Destiny is a re-release of the third book in Carly Phillips’ Serendipity series. This is my first time reading the story but I suspect there have been a few updates since it was originally published. Technically, I don’t think you need to have read the first book in the series to enjoy and understand this one since the romance definitely stands alone, but there are other strands of the story and the family dynamics that will definitely make sense if you’ve read the first book in the series, Serendipity, that focusses on Nash’s brother Ethan.

And that was my first issue with the book. In Serendipity, Nash was the unforgiving and somewhat nasty brother of the hero, Ethan. In reading and enjoying that book, I didn’t start off much caring for our hero in this book, Nash. And he didn’t do much to help me change my mind about him for the majority of the story. He was inflexible, rigid, quick to judge people and quite standoffish. He slowly got better and finally had realisations of his character flaws but it was hard for me to fully get behind him as he definitely started off on the back foot.

Kelly was a different story. From the first she was feisty, fun and strong. I loved her attitude, the way she dealt with Tess and her new family - and how she didn’t let Nash away with any shit. While I did have my issues with Nash, I genuinely wanted Kelly to be happy with him and by the end, I was happy with them as a couple.

As a couple, Kelly and Nash definitely had chemistry - especially when they got going. And since this is a Carly Phillips novel, the sex is just as smoking hot as you would expect. It really ramps things up to another level and did help me get over my hesitations about Nash as I do so like a man who takes charge and goes after what he wants.

There was a small secondary story included with this one about Annie and Joe. It was a nice diversion, and nice to see a character with MS featured as a heroine, even a secondary one. It didn’t distract from the main story so even though I didn’t feel hugely connected to these characters, it was fun to read.

Where this story shone - and pulled it from a 3 star read to a 4 - was in the relationships between Ethan and Faith (from the first book), bratty but likeable teen, Tess, Nash and Kelly and the youngest brother, Dare. There was a lot to work out in terms of issues from their pasts as well as the worry concerning the custody of Tess. Those issues and pieces of the jigsaw of this story were really what got me invested and kept me interested and reading.

It’s not my favourite book of Ms Phillips’ and it’s never going to be a classic but I’m glad that I picked it up and read it, if nothing else than so I have a fuller picture of the Barron family. And I’ll look forward to the next in the Serendipity series as well as the third brother, Dare’s story, coming in a few books time. 4 stars for this one from me. ( )

Nash Barron en Kelly Moss hebben ieder hun eigen reden om sceptisch tegenover de liefde te staan. Kelly’s moeder had ooit een affaire met de vader van Nash, wat resulteerde in de geboorte van Tess.

I won the ARC form Ms Philips herself! *happy dances*

I just LOVE the characters in these books! Even Nash, who I wanted to hate because of his attitude in Serendipity. After getting to a place where we understand him better (after wanting to smack him a few times) I have to admit he is a stand up guy. Kelly is a very strong woman who is dealing with some tough situations in life and I'm glad she was able to find a family to support her. Tess is by far still my favorite character in this series. That sassy, little smart mouth turns my heart over or makes me burst out in laughter (sometimes both) every time we see her. Great story about a great family!

My only complaint is that I have to wait until May 2012 for Karma! I'm really excited to get to know Dare. ( )

I was a little hesitant going into this book because I didn't care for the hero in the previous book. He was harsh and judgmental and I wasn't sure how he would be in this novel. Phillips did an excellent job with him, however. He showed major growth. I was frustrated with him during the first half of the book, but he really changed over the course of the second half.

The romance was well done and the secondary characters fun and interesting. Another great entry in the series.

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