Blog Tour {Review & Giveaway}—Love's Forbidden Flower by Diane Rinella

Stopping by The LUV'NV today is the Love's Forbidden Flower blog tour, organized by Xpresso Book Tours!
We got the pleasure to read and review this fabulous New Adult Romance, and you can enter to win a paper back or eBook copy!

Love's Forbidden Flower

by Diane Rinella

Book #1 of Forbidden Flower series

Publication: November 28th 2012 by Midnight to Six
Genre: Edgy New Adult Romance

Book Depository Amazon B & N Goodreads

The heart cares not what society forbids.

Lily nurtures a secret love for a flawless man—the one who is her soul mate. Donovan is gorgeous, charismatic, and delights in all of Lily’s talents and quirks. Their innate knowledge of each other is almost telepathic. Together they interlock like fine threads creating luxurious silk.

But society dictates this picture-perfect adoration is the ghastliest of all possibilities.

As Lily embarks on a quest for the romance the heavens intended, her suitor turns reluctant. Desperate to uncover why Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hiding decayed from a tender-hearted gentleman into a ferociously self-serving, cocky bastard, Lily is prepared for battle when it comes to the salvation of her soul mate. However, Donovan traps Lily in a mental game of chess, leaving her to question his sanity. When Lily’s revelations about Donovan’s destructive alter ego lead to an unconceivable truth, can she help Donovan survive fate’s cruel joke?

Impassioned, witty, and deeply moving, Love’s Forbidden Flower is filled with stunning controversies that will forever haunt your heart.

Love's Forbidden Flower  is one of those powerful stories that make you think, that push past comfort zones and make you question your own tolerance as well as society's. It's about love, self-actualization, healing. It revolves around the forbidden, the taboo. It contains sibling love, incest.

I know—you certainly wouldn't have guessed the sensitive subject matter from the summary. I didn't, not when I signed for the tour, but while my personal views haven't changed, my vehemence on the subject has after reading this book. Diane Rinella moved me with her beautiful writing and characters. Her approach, well thought out, never once felt as if she was justifying or preaching anything. The characters' love for one another always came off as fact, like they were unchangeable, immoveable, like gravity, a necessity.

There were moments I rooted for Lily and Donovan. Sometimes, I forgot they were siblings. I could feel the attraction and devotion from the pages, even understand it. Actually, gravity is exactly how I would describe them and their relationship, as well as Lily's with Christopher; the song Gravity by Sara Bareilles comes to mind. They were so drawn to one another. They grounded each other. They could also hold each other down or back, and Lily's journey to move on is both beautiful and heartbreaking. Donovan's side of the story, when finally revealed, is even more so. My heart aches and my eyes still water when I think about it. And Christopher ... that adorkable man still intrigues me.

To be honest, the minor issues I had with this book had nothing to do with the forbidden love story. One was Lily's prose. Though lovely, it was a little unrealistic. At times, she sounded much older than seventeen (or early twenties near the end of the book). Two, I'm kind of sad that there's a second book. Weird, I know. That's the first time I've ever said that, and I'm probably one of the few people who feel this way. Although I'm curious what happens next, I liked how this one ended—with hope. Part of it could just be because my favorite flavor is bittersweet, too.

Love's Forbidden Flower  certainly isn't for everybody, but it deserves more readers if you're willing. It's the ultimate forbidden love story—tortuous, honest, raw and rare. This book will stay with me for a while.

eARC provided by Diane Rinella via Xpresso Books Tours.
Thank you!

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Favorites line (out of many):

It might be hard to accept because it's different, but that doesn't mean it's not special.

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“God, I accept it, but it’s unfair ... we would have to give up things no one should. I ask that you help us through this so that we can be together in a way that makes us both happy and fulfilled. But please, Lord, in the next lifetime, spare us this issue. Either bring us together properly or give us time apart. But please, never let us repeat this hell.”

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As we revel in my tremors, he enwraps me as if to protect my fragile heart from my body's violence. The loss of my innocence is veiled in beauty, without fear of dark consequences.

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Read the first chapter of Love's Forbidden Flower

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Diane Rinella

Her Website | Twitter| Facebook | Goodreads

Enjoying San Francisco as a backdrop, the ghosts in Diane’s 150-year old Victorian home augment the chorus in her head. With insomnia as their catalyst, these voices have become multifarious characters that haunt her well into the sun’s crowning hours, refusing to let go until they have manipulated her into succumbing to their whims. Her experiences as an actress, business owner, artisan cake designer, software project manager, Internet radio disc jockey, vintage rock n’ roll journalist/fan girl, and lover of dark and quirky personalities influence her idiosyncratic writing.

She is currently completing the sequel to Love’s Forbidden Flower.

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Bookmark and one signed copy of Love's Forbidden Flower (US only)
Five eBook copies of Love's Forbidden Flower (INT)

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Love's Forbidden Flower  Tour Schedule