NINETEEN and TWENTY ONE by E.S. CARTER (Two Book Review)

“…you have it all wrong. You overwhelm him because he feels things for you that he has never felt before. It’s scaring the shit out of him.”

We were first introduced to E.S. Carter’s Fox-William clan in Three, Liam’s story, and it was here we relished the camaraderie and the deep family bond between the five Fox-William brothers and their parents, not to mention the heartfelt romance between these men and the women who consume their hearts, leaving us with a big desire to know more!

“I bloody knew it. My little brother, the man whore, has finally found someone he has feelings for, well fuck me.”

We had read Three as a ‘standalone’ and whilst we enjoyed every moment of Liam’s story, we did feel as though we were ‘missing’ out on something. There were characters and storylines in Three that were interconnected from Nineteen and Twenty One, particularly the close friendship between Emma (Jules) and Liam and Emma and Jakes romantic relationship which was explored in Nineteen and Twenty One.

Knowing that H’s (a close friend of the Fox-William brothers) was due for release this month, we decided we wouldn’t proceed any further with the story until we had a chance to catch up and explore Jake and Emma’s story and we’re so glad we did.  In a strange way, to have already experienced the point at which Emma and Jake were at in Three, the man Jake had become helped us relate more to his character in the preceding books and we didn’t feel as though the story had been spoiled in any way as there was so much we didn’t know going into these books that wasn’t touched on in Three.

“I fucking know that Nate, but she keeps running and every time she does, she takes a piece of me with her, it hurts Nate…It fucking hurts.”

Jake is a very different man to the one we me in Three. He’s a tart and makes no apologies. He has an insatiable sexual appetite and has no qualm in fulfilling his needs with whatever pretty thing takes his fancy. Now, we know there are readers who don’t like the thought of their hero getting all hot and bothered with anyone other than the heroine but we appreciated the way E.S. Carter had us experiencing Jake’s roving ways first hand because it made the moment he realised his feelings for Emma, and the confliction he was feeling, all the more believable when it did eventuate.

‘I only play with women like me, women who know all I’m offering is a few hours to escape into a haze of sex and lust, nothing more.
The Emma’s of this world are not made for a man like me.’

Jake and Emma couldn’t have been more different. Jake the conceited cock who found it very hard to express his emotions and Emma the sweet girl who wore her heart on her sleeve and was riddled with self-doubt were right for each other in so many ways. On the surface, they shouldn’t have been attracted to each other, but there were certainly not only sparks, but something between them that went soul deep.

‘Love is one soul, living in two bodies, beating in two hearts, making them whole.’

For Emma and Jake the timing couldn’t have been worse. Jakes TV career was starting to take off, his star was on the rise and his bad boy persona was perfect fodder for the paparazzi. Emma was coasting along, looking for a change in her life and life was about to change in the blink of an eye for her in the most heartbreaking of ways.

‘How can you follow your heart if it’s even more confused than your head?‘

Emma and Jake had to part ways, one needing to reaffirm and restart their life and one coming to terms with feelings that couldn’t be explained, however fate has other ideas!

We did have a bit of an issue with Nineteen and Twenty One which was the retelling of the story in alternative points of view. Reading the same story by Emma and Jake did become  a little tiresome and had the effect of slowing the story down at times, however on the upside there were times hearing the scene in a different voice added to the moment and expanded on what had occurred, though we feel a sporadic alternative POV would have been something we would have enjoyed more.

The essence of the Love by Numbers series is friendship, family and love and on that account E.S. Carter has delivered a rich and beautiful series. We thoroughly enjoyed Jake and Emma’s story and whilst it didn’t allow us the level of emotional impact nor the focus on family we loved so much in Three, Jake and Emma’s story still managed to pull at our heartstrings and allowed us that perfect romantic escape we cherish, making this a series we’d recommend in a heartbeat!