Lex and Lu by J. Santiago | Rating: ★★★☆☆

The story of Lex and Lu was just the romance novel I was looking for. It was by no means groundbreaking, but it was certainly a story worth the read and I could definitely see myself reading it once more before the summer’s over. Grab a drink, sit by the water and enjoy it — you know?

I will say that you should only read this novel if you’re looking for a strictly romantic vibe. While we see glimpses of a backstory for each of the characters through brief moments throughout the story; it doesn’t always offer us much in terms of details. We get the basics and typically I’d complain, however, I think it rather suited the story well.

(Spoilers to be ahead, mind you.)

Sometimes all we need to know are the basics of the past to move into the future. I do admit that I’d have enjoyed to hear more about their relationship in the past — more details, more of their childhood and the relationships between Lu and her daughter as well as the romance that sparked between Pete and Willa. I’d love to have seen more glimpses of Lex’s father, as well.

I also didn’t really find it to be believable that everyone was so interested or concerned in what would happen with Lex and Lu once they were to be reunited. During. Lex’s. Father’s. Funeral.


Don’t get me wrong, I totally understand that some people, while grieving, latch their attention on something else — but I found it rather odd that Lex’s mother seemed to be more concerned in other things. And although there is an explanation for that later on during the story, I still felt that it didn’t quite fit.

That being said, I still think it was a genuinely fun and steamy read. Lex and Lu have that sort of chemistry that starts when you’re younger and never truly fades. Although a tragedy brings them back into each others lives, their chemistry goes off the charts and the two seem to pick up right where they’d left off in spite of their messy breakup and the distance between the two in recent years.

Just as quickly as the two are pulled back together; they are pulled back apart. We find quickly that, in their backstory, Lu had found herself to be pregnant and with the pressure of both kids’ families Lu found herself faced with a difficult choice. In the end, the story was she’d have the child but not tell Lex so he could have his future.

Managing to keep this under wraps from him for nearly a decade, it comes to light and things become explosive. We’re introduced to an entirely different Lex — out with the light and carefree attitude, in with the bitter and angry man pain. Which is understandable given the circumstances but on more than one occassion I wanted to reach through the book and punch him.

He, of course, wants to know his daughter and no longer wishes to have anything to do with Lu. In such a betrayal, he feels the need to retaliate and things are not pretty when he does so. Lu finds herself having to speak to him through his attorney and has to uproot her life to move to a different country just so he can see his daughter and have joint custody. Lu, feeling a terrible guilt in having kept Lex from his daughter for so long, agrees to do so.

Although the story has its moments of cringe worthy plots (see: the sex scene in which Lex is a bit too aggressive) and has its ups and downs, I genuinely was rooting for the two to work things out. Months and months go by and it seems almost hopeless — but is it, really?

You’ll have to find out by grabbing yourself a copy. Believe me, if you’re a romance fan you will eat this novel up. It’s light, it’s quick, it’s steam and it reads like a soap opera.