What Lies Beneath The Sand by Jonaxx
Series: Costa Leona, #5
Genre: Tagalog Romance
42 chapters
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Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
Pretending as her cruel stepsister, Ace Zaldua graced the Mercadejas mansion with confidence and grit. Ang tanging gusto niya lang roon ay ang makuha ang pera para matustusan niya na ang pag-aaral at mamuhay na siya ng payapa, malayo sa kanyang stepmpther at stepsister.
Wala siyang pakialam kung marami man siyang malokong mga tao. Wala siyang pakialam kung ginagamat lang siya ni Daniella, ang kanyang nagrerebeldeng stepsister, para lang makatakas sa isang arranged marriage. Daniella ran away with her boyfriend while her mother believed that she went to the Mercadejas mansion to meet her supposedly fiance.
Nasilaw sa pera at sa kagustuhang makatapos sa pag-aaral nang walang aberya, binalewala niya ang unti-unting nararamdaman para kay Zamiel Mercadejas. She fooled him. She fooled him wholeheartedly and it hurt. It was supposed to hurt. She made a choice and she chose the money and her future.
So when the time came and the truth was revealed, she had to stand by her choice even if it hurt her. Burying their engagement ring on the sands of Costa Leona, she buried her heart and her love, as well. Pero mananatili nga ba itong nakabaon sa limot? Kung sa bawat ihip ng hangin, hampas ng dagat, at pagdaan ng panahon, hindi nagbabago ang anyo ng buhangin sa dalampasigan, ganoon din kaya ang kanyang puso?
Review
**The last book I read during my break.
I’ve been avoiding this story after finding out that it’s finally completed many months ago. It’s not because the story is bad but because it’s bad for me. I have many favorite authors but Jonaxx is on the top of the list when it comes to making me lose my mind. Her stories never fail to amaze me that even though the plot is cliché or I’m not a fan of what’s happening in the story, I still ended up losing my mind. And for this story, nothing changes. Before 2017 ends, I was planning to binge watch anime but instead, I’ve been binge reading, haha.
I’m still adjusting on the first page but before I finished the first chapter, I already bid farewell to my sanity in advance because I’m sure I’ll be insane in the coming chapters. The idea of hiring a stand on wasn’t new to me. So I already predicted the next scene but was still surprised because not all of my predictions happened. After the confrontation, the story became 100% unpredictable and I’m slowly losing my mind. Dang! It was sexy as heck that I can’t help but cover my mouth because I’m close to shouting. Every scene, every line, all we’re just so sweet that even though I wasn’t that impressed with Zamiel, I still ended up falling. Dang!!! You’re asking me why I can’t choose just one with all of Jonaxx’s heroes? It’s because I always ended up falling for ALL of them. It makes me feel ridiculous to just pick one, good thing I can choose as many book boyfriends without being sued, haha.
I can’t really say that I love this story so much because there were some scenes that I didn’t really like at all. I was even set on giving this one a 4 star rating but dang! For all the feels it gave me, I’m not sure if it’ll be alright. So to keep my mind at ease, I told myself that this story is definitely not my favorite from all the stories in the Costa Leona series. I think it will always be Sibal, hehe. So yep. Even with all the feels, I am giving this story a 4 stars rating.
The scenes, the lines, the characters, all we’re so properly executed. It was in Wattpad and the author already warned us that it wasn’t proofread yet so there were ofcourse some wrong spellings, but believe me when I say that it wouldn’t really matter at all because you’re too consumed with the story that you will never notice them. I love that everything sounds so convincing even on those parts that I wanna strangle both of them for making it reach 7 years to finally work their happily ever after. But with all the things that happened, I have to say that it was all worth it.
For Ace. My! Her life is like Cinderella because she also has an evil stepmother and just one evil stepsister. I hated that she needs to endure all those things considering that she’s really not poor at all. But I guess it’s still a good experience since because of it, she was able to grow stronger and tougher. I don’t remember that there’s at least one heroine from Jonaxx that I really love. Whenever I read her stories, my attention was always on the hero and never take notice of the heroine unless she’s going to do something that will irritate me. So far, there’s really nothing that I could think of that I hated. But I have to say that with everything she’s been through, I am one of the happiest when the final will of her father was revealed.
For Zamiel. My! Just his name sent shivers to my body. But when I found out how shameless he is for being a cocky playboy, I was really disappointed that I turned my attention to his younger brother Kajik. And then slowly, he manages to change my mind and really falls for him. Dang that man! Of all the things that happened, I was happy that he didn’t do anything stupid, unless you count the time when he didn’t clarify his real relationship with Daniella. After he found out about the lie and all, I have to say that even if he’s convincing other people that he’s not interested in Ace anymore, the heart still wants what it wants. He even did everything to know the story about her father’s properties and all. I hated his commanding side but I love that he didn’t entirely give up Ace. I love that even if he’s too hurt, he still fights for her. It’s just amazing how Costa Leona’s guys are so persistent into getting what they really want. Aside from his playboy old self, I don’t have anything against him. I just said I love the guy right? Haha.
What I always love about this series is that it always ends up with a chapter solely taken from the guy’s POV. This one gave us his thoughts on most of the scenes that were important in this story, but the part where he realizes that he’s really ready to settle down even though he’s saying he’s not, I still think it’s lacking. It’s just too soon that he fell in love at first sight. But nah! I won’t make it a big deal since I’m really so convinced that he loves her so dang much.
Another thing that I love about their story was the mention of the familiar characters. My! There were even some familiar characters that it took me so long to realize that they were mentioned from the previous installment haha.
There were so many conflicts in this story, even though the Cinderella thing was kind of cliché, I still think that this story was a very good one considering the cliché start. And for my rating, I am giving it 4 stars. I believe that it was not the best story from this series, but I can’t deny how this story made me feel. My! I was practically immobilized while still reading this story. I can’t think and do anything unless I finish this story. All I think of is what will happen next or if Ace and Zamiel will finally settle things over and have their happily ever after even if I’m in the toilet lol, haha.
Just like the other books in the series, this one has sexy scenes. I’ve read a lot of erotica books before but I have to say that it’s only Jonaxx’s stories that makes me a pervert, haha. I keep on imagining all those sexy scenes in my head making me blush. Hahaha.
And yes, there’s definitely HEA in this story. It’s the fifth book of the Costa Leona series but you can definitely read it standalone. If you’re up for a trip to insanity land, then go ahead and try this story.. well, try all Jonaxx ‘s stories and you won’t be disappointed at all.
Challenges
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Even though I have an old Wattpad account, I’ve never actually read anything on there so stoked to see you review one of the titles Vanessa. I love the mix between the sweetness and sexiness of the storyline and that it can be read as a standalone too. I’d love to see a post with other Wattpad recommendations if you have any. Brilliant review Vanessa, really enjoyed it <3
I have tons of stories in Wattpad that I still need to read though, hehe. I’ve read few English authors but haven’t for years now, unfortunately 🙁 If ever I encounter some good authors there, I’ll sure to share some recommendations 🙂
I know what you mean about not wanting to read the last book in a series by a favorite author. Oh, and isn’t that fun when you can end up loving a book and still see its faults? I’ve given a few five stars for books that weren’t perfect because they really made me feel.
Great review, Vanessa!
Thanks Sophia Rose 🙂