Book Review: ‘Origin’ Book 1 of Alexandra’s Order by Emilia I. Rutigliano.

Purchase Links: Amazon | Amazon UK

***I was gifted a copy of this book by the author in exchange for an honest review***

Contemporary/ Women’s Fiction are not any of the genres high on my reading but I do occasionally read from either genre if the book blurb/title catches my attention. When I was offered the chance to review ‘Origin’, I figured why not. It’s been a while since I’ve read from these genres.

I’ve sat here for a few hours now stewing over what I want to say in this review without it sounding completely negative, because it wasn’t all that bad. I just didn’t get into the story. At first I thought it was because I do prefer Paranormal, Paranormal Romance and Historical Romance, but to be honest, if it’s a good story, I’ll enjoy a book regardless of what genre it’s from.

I liked Alexandra’s character for the most part. She and her family have built their businesses from the ground up with a lot of family support and hard work. She is strong, likes order and has a good work ethic plus she wears jeans with everything 😀 She also has a side to her that no one but her husband David knows about.

The book description says: “Alexandra Kamin is every woman. At 42, she has a loving family, terrific children, a great career with a superlative income, a gorgeous face with a terrific figure, and a loving boyfriend. Most impressive is that she is in complete control of every ambit of her life.”
I don’t agree with the every woman part as not every woman is as successful or as orderly as Alexandra, but maybe I’ve read into that line wrong.

There was also one part of the story I found where I found a bit of a double standards issue and it annoyed me a little – Alexandra smokes pot yet a chapter or two later “Alexandra did not condone drugs, and she didn’t like or respect drug addicts”. I’m sorry, but how can you not condone drugs when you get high yourself??

The story was a little too all over the place for my liking. Yes I knew that ‘Origin’ would be bouncing back and forth as Alexandra’s story is told, however I found it bounced too much around for my liking and it just disrupted the flow of the story for me. So much so that I had to put the book down for a couple of days at a time, which meant it took a little over a week to finish. Now, before you think “Screw that” and don’t give the book a chance, remember, this is just MY opinion, YOU might start reading and find it easier reading than I did, so do keep that in mind 😀

Emilia I. Rutigliano’s writing style for the Contemporary / Women’s Fiction genres is probably actually really good, it’s just not for me. Again, I didn’t totally dislike the story coz there was some parts that were really good and I did like, but overall it just isn’t for me.
Would I read the rest of the series or more from the author? Honestly, I wouldn’t say no, but neither will I be impatiently awaiting the next installment.

All in all, 3 Shamrocks is what I’m awarding ‘Origin’ because alhough I wasn’t totally enamoured with it, it really doesn’t deserve any less than that in my opinion.

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