Divine (House of Oak)

Where to begin. We'll start with the positive. I liked the male lead, Sebastian. He was sweet and charming. A good person all around. Really cared for Georgiana. I also liked the mystery. There was some twists that I didn't expect. However, that's about all I liked.
On to the bad. One word. Georgiana. I really didn't like her. I don't understand why Sebastian was pining for her all those years. She's annoying. She said he's not serious, yet spent almost half of the book day dreaming. She's impulsive and when it's brought to her attention, she got upset about it. Sebastian could have done way better in my opinion. Other than her hair and a great smile (which was mentioned WAY too often), what was likable about her? There were no instances where her internal qualities were shown. All I saw was a busybody.
Georgiana also seemed shallow. She mentions Sebastian's physical appearance and clothes every chapter. Multiple times. Sometimes from one paragraph to the next. Ok, he's attractive. We get it. Then the only time she finds him interesting is when he's being "intense". Mind you, that happened when she was doing something dangerous and he became frustrated with her. She said it was "thrilling". I don't know how to explain it, but that rubbed me the wrong way. I found myself rolling my eyes. Sebastian isn't a mystery. He's a freakin' person. Georgiana was more interesting when she was sick.
There weren't any situations that would develop their relationship into something more. In Intertwine, book 1 of the series, James and Emry talked to each other every day to learn about one another. That didn't happen in this book. Well, it didn't, but not in the right order. I know the main couple knew each other since childhood, but it had been 5 years since they last saw one another. So when Georgiana finally confesses her feelings, it doesn't seem like it's from anything other than the fact that Sebastian has become physically attractive. It didn't seem genuine to me. The relationship didn't grow until after the confession. That doesn't make sense to me. In contrast, in Intertwine, before the confession of feelings, you could feel the tension oozing from James and Emry because they liked each other so much.
Overall, this book was a dud for me. The only reason I kept reading is because I didn't want to miss anything that might be important to the story since it's a series.

I don't like love stories, (more like despise, detest, loath, love stories) but I LOVE this series! The characters are so well written & the dialogs between them are very witty. This series are feel-good books. The books are not predictable (so that I must read the end to make certain the characters are alright) and hard to put down (even with knowing how the story ends). I truly love these 'love stories'. Who knew?!?

I love, love, love this series! So much fun and so romantic without getting all racy. I love all the characters, especially the heroines...I would want to be friends with all of them!

A very enjoyable read! It is creative and fun.

Having now read the four books of the HOUSE OF OAK series at least THREE TIMES EACH, and having already shared a review on INTERTWINE, I decided it was about tme I went ahead and shared reviews on the other 3 books. I wasn't sure how much I would like this second book DIVINE. From the preview info and other reviews, my first thought was OH, NO!! Not other romance where one person has loved the other from childhood, while the other person still considers the first person to be a just a friend or like a brother or sister. But this book is much more than that. I already liked the character Georgina Knight from INTERTWINE and I enjoyed getting to know more about her personality. I quickly learned to like Sebastian and was soon rooting for him to be successful in his attempt to romance Georgiana. I liked the mystery love letter and enjoyed the various complications caused by the back and forth time travel. Thank You, Nichole Van, for giving me two characters I could care about and cheer for when they finally were able to be together. I enjoyed you keeping James and Emme in the mix, as well as Jasmine. Now that I have read all four books, I'm able to notice how skillfully you kept your readers from guessing ahead of time just how you would get Jasmine and Timothy together. Thanks for a wonderful four-book read!!!

I loved this book! It's got time travel, romance and a mystery, what more could a reader want?