[Review] Alexia Praks - Falling For Sakura

Title: Falling for Sakura (Goodreads)
Series: Falling for Sakura Trilogy #1
Author: Alexia Praks
Publisher: Prachan Press
Published: May 2014
ISBN13: 9781310679179
Pages: 338
Rating: 2.5/5 stars
Format: ebook
Start: 5 March 2015
Finish: 6 March 2015

Synopsis:

Orphan Sakura, with no last name, is accustomed to being rejected, hated, bullied, and unloved. When she is adopted by the wealthy Princeton family, her seven brothers refuse to accept her, and her two sisters constantly bully her. Instead of admitting defeat, she gladly takes on her new life with a brave face, working hard to earn her new siblings' trust and love. Her endeavor, however, ultimately leads to a series of unfortunate incidents.

Now years later, the twenty-three-years-old beauty dreads the moment she once again has to meet the drop-dead gorgeous brothers, due to arrive for their cousin's wedding. Dodging their very presence is next to impossible since the brothers, who have forgotten who she is entirely, are attracted to her like moths to a flame and thwart her escapes at every turn. This, of course, leads to ungodly, tempting situations, awakens forbidden feelings, and ignites old flames that have been suppressed and laid dormant for many years. 

Genre: Romance

Review:

This is the first book that I read from this author, and maybe not the last. Here's why...

First of all, I like the cover of this book, it's really beautiful. I can imagine the person on the cover as Sakura easily. Too bad the rest of the characters are not on the cover as well because it was so hard to memorize the Princeton brothers name, let alone how they look like.

The oldest son was Nicolas, who was twelve years old and had golden-blond hair and silvery-gray eyes like his father, complete with glasses. He looked kind and at the same time serious, just like his father. Then there were the ten-year-old, nonidentical triplets: Tristan with golden-brown hair and teal-blue eyes, Logan with copper-brown hair and silvery-gray eyes, and Sebastian with pale-blond hair and azure-blue eyes.

The boy with chestnut-brown hair and cobalt-blue eyes was eight-year-old Hayden. He had a mischievous look about him as he introduced himself. Next to Hayden were the nonidentical twins, Alaina and Darcy, at six year old. Alaina, the older sister by a mere three minutes, had honey-blond hair and baby blue eyes, and Darcy, the younger brother, had raven-black hair and mauve-gray eyes. And then there was the baby of the house, Conrad, at four years old, with golden-brown hair and silvery-gray eyes, hiding his face behind his mother's skirt.

Second, I like the name of the main character, Sakura. It reminded me of Sakura Kinamoto from Cardcaptor Sakura, my favorite anime. And because of that, I often compare them one another. Bad idea, I should've thought sooner.

Sakura Kinomoto

source: here

I don't like Sakura's character in this book. At first I thought she's going to turn up as this strong, independent woman based on the first paragraph of the synopsis. Turns out I was wrong, again. At first I like her characters for being brilliant yet fragile. But after she met the Princeton brothers, she changed into this super clumsy girl. And let's not forget how 'innocent' she is for not knowing that her brothers are into her from day one. I mean...seriously?!

Sakura froze in her spot. Good God! She didn't want to see them again so soon. She was still too embarrassed from the incident in the library and hadn't mentally prepared herself yet.

She heard Nicolas chuckling. "I'm more worried that Sebastian will bash Tristan's face in."

"Oh, yeah. Me, too," Conrad muttered. "But he wouldn't. They're brothers after all."

"Yes," Nicolas replied. 

Still on the stairs, Sakura knew she had to get away. They were just around the corner now and were getting closer. Thus she had no choice but to run up the remaining steps and then turn the corner. She was in such a rush that she didn't watch where she was going and literally ran into someone - smashing her slight body against a firm, masculine one.

This is a romance book and there's quite a lot of hot scenes (from my POV). I am trying to be an omnivorous reader, but there are still some things that are not my cup of tea, a romance book being one of them. I like romance, only when it's added into a fantasy or a YA book. 

However, this is the first book of a trilogy so I have to read the rest of them. Somehow with the 2.5 stars that I gave, this book has that charm which made me finish this book in 2 days. And thanks to that charm, now I'm longing for the upcoming books in the series. More like curious, actually.

Mary, with her head still down and jotting notes, finally asked the youngest brother, "And you, Conrad?"

"Sakura," he said softly. "I like Sakura. I want Sakura."

All the brothers felt the same way and couldn't help but look at her like little pups who wanted to be petted.

"No," Mary said, jotting down notes furiously. "You can't have Sakura. Sakura is not on the menu. It's a Japanese flower and you can't eat it anyway." 

This is another book which I consider as a weird book. I don't really like the story, the character is annoying for me, but I finish it pretty fast and then I wanted to read the continuation of the story. Weird, right?