Claiming Serenity by Eden Butler….Blog Tour Stop & Review

Claiming Serenity is book number three in author Eden Butler’s Seeking Serenity Series, a series I have loved from the very beginning. This book is Layla and Donovan’s story…a relationship that has been quite intense since we first met them. This was a wonderful friends-to-lovers story and had an ending that had me crying big fat happy tears.Layla and Donovan have had an intense relationship for years….and not necessarily intense in a good way. They were like oil and water. Never mixing well and always settling in separate parts. Constantly in a prank war and always spewing insults at each other. No two people couldn’t stand each other more. Until one night that all changed…thanks in part to some tequila and those high emotions always between them. Once they crossed the line and ended up spending the night together, there was no going back. It seemed as though the emotion they share has changed and gone from hatred to something quite the opposite. But no matter what had happened between them, no way could they let their friends know. They would never hear the end of it. So keeping things on the down-low was the best way. Keep up appearances during the day, insults flowing, and then turn that passion into so much more behind closed doors. It was going well until things chanced…drastically. Now Layla and Donovan are faced with a serious situation.. A situation that would test their relationship and what side they would come out on….the lovers version of Layla and Donovan or the enemies version of Layla and Donovan…

Talk about one hell of a ride! This book was packed with ups and downs and even a few sideways. Layla and Donovan’s relationship was intense form the very start but you could always feel a little something more lurking beneath the surface and we finally got to see them in a completely different light. And oh my, what a sexy and hot light that is! These two take the fiery passion they put towards pranking and brought it into the bedroom and the result is a delicious mix of sexy and intense!

Now, I binge read most of this book in one sitting and stopped for the night at around 75%. I picked it up the next morning while I was on the treadmill. Bad. Idea. The last few chapters of this book had me all sorts of choked up and crying. It was amazing, and packed with so many emotions and I loved it….but it didn’t mix well for trying to breathe while exercising. Man, I loved the last 25% of this book. It was honest and real and really well done.

I don’t really recommend reading this book if you haven’t read the first two, for the simple fact that you’ll miss out on all of the build up if Layla and Donovan’s relationship and probably won’t be able to appreciate how far they come in this book.

Overall I was so pleased with how things ended up for these two characters and I can’t wait to see what author Butler has in store for us next (hopefully Sayo!!). Thank you, Ms. Butler, for one hell of a read!