Tag: contemporary romance

Review: Coming Home

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Ugh.

So the cover is beautiful.

But this was not a novel. Or even a novella.

This was a very rough draft of an interesting story, that started near the very end of it. I wasn’t invested in any of the characters, because all the backstory was filled in by a bunch of info dumps scattered throughout. The characterization, particularly for the heroine, was scattered and hard to follow, and honestly, not very well thought out. I mean, is she tough or not? Can she take care of herself or not? Is she sassy or sweet? And her BROTHERS. OH. MY. GOODNESS. They may have well have bartered for her worth with the hero, because that whole scene was cringeworthy at best.

The emotions didn’t resonate because they weren’t earned. The smut took turns being sorta hot and then being completely weird. (Second book in a row where the lines “and she loved it!” feature during a sex scene. Just… why? If she’s encouraging it to continue, the reader can figure it out.)

A lot of this book made me cringe. “If Kansas were his woman she wouldn’t be walking the streets by herself late at night.” HIS WOMAN?

and

“Kansas was naturally beautiful and didn’t need the layers of makeup some women felt the need to trowel on.” But some women DO need it?

and “He went to her bookshelves and perused what was there. You could tell a lot about a person from their personal belongings.” Or he could ask her?

And then Tobias goes back and forth several times on how his past experiences in the DEA affected him. He says that he hated the man it made him, that it didn’t even help anyone, but in the end he’s proud of the work he did?

Ugh. I just can’t go on.

***FREE EBOOK COURTESY OF NETGALLEY.COM***

Review: The Wingman

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Overall, I enjoyed this book. It was a fun romance with some minimal drama, and I was eager to finish it. It wasn’t boring, and the writing is solid.

There were a few things that confused me a little, and partly it’s because I had a really hard time placing the book until about 20% in. It takes place in South Africa, a place I am wholly unfamiliar with. The cultural aesthetic seemed to be in between British and American, and so I kept wondering over and over where exactly this story was taking place. Finally, ‘Cape Town’ was mentioned, and I got it. I think that should have been cleared up within the first chapter. And because of my unfamiliarity with South African culture, some of the words choices may have been spot on but seemed a little too formal or too crude. For example, the words ‘bitches’ and ‘bitch’ were tossing around like pronouns, and it seemed excessive for what I’m used to. But maybe the word *is* tossed around a lot in South Africa?

The middle of the book was pretty good. Lots of believable family drama, and the insertion of Mason into the family dynamics was solid. Where the book lags is in the set up and in the conclusion. The set up was disjointing because there was a lot of exposition in weird asides, things that could have been weaved into the main storyline better. The conclusion felt laggy but rushed at the same time. I didn’t quite understand Mason’s reasons for pushing Daisy away. And of course, Daisy ending up in the hospital caused them to come together which is a little tropey, but it also made sense with the story and early plot developments.

Now, what most of you are here for: the smut. Ah, it needed a little work. Most of the foreplay was great – hot, leaving the reader wanting more, just enough to push the plot forward. But the actual sex was riddled with strange dialogue/thoughts from the characters. Example: “It was crazy, hot, and sexy, and Daisy loved it!” Complete with exclamation point. Also, it takes me aback when male bodies are referred to as “furry” and that’s supposed to be complimentary (in that instance it was his balls. I mean…?).

Overall, it was a quick read and I enjoyed it, despite the minor things that sometimes took me out of the story. Also, there’s a pomeranian named Peaches and a black lab named Cooper who fall in love. That’s excellence, right there.

**free book courtesy of NetGalley.com**

Review: See Jane Score

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This book was one of those mediocre books that capture your attention just enough to keep going although the technical aspects aren’t so great. There were some weird choices in wording, strange repetitions, and the plot kind of rushed forward then stalled out a bunch of times. The characters were really great, though, even if the romance itself didn’t seem to be very believable.

Okay, I take that back. Everyone but the heroine was believable. I didn’t understand her motivations or her behavior at all, and I think that is the major shortcoming of the book. There’s a lot of her friend just telling her how she is about relationships, but that doesn’t really make it true to the character. Her development wasn’t very well done. Luc and the rest of the hockey players were great though, I enjoyed them, and I found Luc’s storyline fairly believable and true to an arc. I also loved his interactions with his sister, and how their relationship changes through the book. Jane was too plain.

Review: The Royal We

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I found this book really hard to get through. There was a lot of story to lead up to what is really the main plot, all of which takes place in the last 50 odd pages of the book. I just wasn’t particularly invested in the story of Bex and Nick, and was way more curious about just about every other relationship. I didn’t see the plot twist coming, but that may have been more that I just didn’t care. I’m probably the wrong audience for this book because royals don’t interest me in the least. There just wasn’t a lot of meat in the story to keep me going. Now, I would 100% read a story about Lady Emma and Prince Richard, that story sounded really good.

And there’s really no resolution to the end. We don’t know if all the shenanigans paid off, or if they start a whole new problem. Is that because there is sequel in the works? Who knows. I probably won’t read it if there is.

This is one of those books that I feel bad for not liking because it was well written and the characters are decently fleshed out but I just didn’t find the story compelling. That’s the reason my rating is as high as it is, I’m sure lots of people would really enjoy this book, but it just wasn’t my cup of tea.

Review: Bet Me

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I really wanted to like this book. It was on so many lists of great romance novels, and was even mentioned on a podcast that I enjoy, but it just didn’t live up to the hype.

Aside from the really bizarre character names, the whole thing reads like a rough first draft. Turns out, this was Crusie’s first novel after she read 100 romance novels for her dissertation. The bones of the story are good and have a lot of potential, but the descriptions are bad and the characters flat. I had a really hard time picturing almost everything. I can’t for the life of me conjure an image of those bridesmaids dresses. The side plot with David and Cynthie was exasperating and way too mustache-twirly. When I start rewriting scenes in my head as I’m
going, that’s not promising to me.

Despite my inability to imagine anything going on, the book was a fast read and the plot moved along at a pretty good pace. There were some points that I was thinking “oh, just get on with it”, but those were few. It just needed to be heavily massaged by a good editor. Considering that she has gone on to write many more books, I hope that her craft has improved, but I don’t know if I’ll be checking out more of her books.