Fanfic Review - Let Your Light Shine

I have read @LolaShoes' writing before with her story My Yes, My No.  I almost loved that story and rated it Like A Lot.  It was the first Twilight vampire fanfic I had read and I was very impressed.  She really understands the Twilight characters and expands upon them very well.  My Yes, My No is set right after New Moon on the plane ride home where it consists of two parallel storylines showing what would happen is Bella took Edward back versus not.  In the end, the story converges to a singular shared ending.

Let Your Light Shine is LolaShoes' first fanfic and is a Canon AU starting during the honeymoon on Isle Esme.  It is definitely not Fade-to-Black and gives the reader an alternative ending of what they wanted without all that pregnancy mumbo-jumbo.  Sure, not everyone would want a different ending, but I liked having an alternative option.

The story takes you from the first time Edward and Bella consummate their marriage through Bella's transformation to become a vampire. 

So, what did I love...

• I loved the second half of the story when The Cullens came to visit the newlyweds on the island.  It finally gave the story some dimension.  Their visit made so much more sense in context of the whole story and I ended up enjoying the story most about 2/3 into it.
  
• I loved how expanded each character was, especially The Cullens.  I appreciated Jasper and Emmett's involvement in the story and how we really understood them more.  It didn't feel like a fake personality either.  It really felt like an extension of the original story, but better.
  
• I loved Edward happy and relaxed.  I loved seeing him finally at peace and not so brooding.  Even in the books, we didn't see Edward happy very often except at the very end of the story.  We knew he always loved Bella, but there was always so much angst even when they should have been happy.  This version of their honeymoon was so much more satisfying.
  

And, what I didn't love so much...

• I know this will make me seem like a prude, but there was too much sex in this story.  Now, each lemon was very yummy and so well written, but it was over saturation of it.  It felt more like porn versus romance.  I understand it's a honeymoon and they had never been able to be completely free with each other physically, but after awhile, even when well written, it started to get old.  There was so much love and no more angst.  It's like we finally saw the HEA, but then hung around for a beat too long.  I saw a movie once that said no one wants to buy porn when people are in love.  Maybe I didn't want to "buy" their constant lovemaking. 
  
• While I didn't love Breaking Dawn, I can see why it is what it is. If Bella had been transformed into a vampire through love, then the story would have been even more anticlimactic than the "non-battle" against the Volturi. 
  

If I hadn't liked the second half of the story as much as I did, this story would have been only OK.  However, because I did like the second half of the story, I am rating this story a "Like". 

There are two sequels to this story and I think I will enjoy them because they deal with Bella as a vampire.  I hope they deviate from Breaking Dawn's "perfect" vampire transformation.