Hopefully no one could see he was carrying around enough baggage to stop a 747 from getting airborne. pg. 8
This book is a mixed bag, but I'm going toHopefully no one could see he was carrying around enough baggage to stop a 747 from getting airborne. pg. 8
This book is a mixed bag, but I'm going to have to give it a low rating. I'm going to have to give it a low rating because these MCs are fucked up and actually are terrible together. Let's analyze.
UNIQUE ROMANCE
Caleb Matsuda is:
Half Japanese-Half White A practicing Jewish man Disabled – he most of the use of his right hand in a skiing/avalanche accident. A trauma surgeon forced to become a physician due to his injured hand.
Garnet James is: A wellness practitioner – specializing in acupressure A protestant of some type or other
It's rare that I read a interracial romance that features a Jewish man or an Asian man. It's also the only Hanukkah romance I've ever read. Tons of Christmas romances, but I don't see a lot of Hanukkah romances out there. Very rare.
So of course I had to pick it up. Look at the cover!
THE GOOD
Let's start off by listing the book's good points. There are quite a few.
First of all, as already mentioned, Greer isn't going for typical here. I rarely see books like this in Harlequin's lineup.
Greer makes Caleb disabled, but his disability is not a big deal. It's part of his life, but it's not some huge, overwhelming thing that dominates the entire story. It's not brought up too frequently or dwelt on.
A lot of the 'good' is in the sex. I'm going to have to explore that in my section on sex.
When Greer introduces a stupid made-up drama (in this instance: Garnet becomes paranoid that Caleb is using her, or just pretending to be romantically interested in her so he can – get this – make more friends) I was upset, thinking this fake-drama stupidity would last till the end of the book. Not so. Thirteen pages after introducing this concept, Garnet simply voices her concerns out loud to Caleb. Like a fucking adult. This is mature, and shockingly rare in romance novels. Usually authors create fake-drama and then milk it for all it's worth, and it gets resolved at the very end of the novel. Kudos to her for avoiding this.
THE BAD
Ok, let's talk about the bad. And there's a lot of bad.
The main problem I have with this novel is the MCs are terrible for each other. Also, they are very annoying people. Both of them are huge, raw nerves just waiting and eager to get offended by every single little thing. They both love to play amateur psychologist and psychoanalyze themselves and each other constantly. It's SO fucking annoying.
They can't even have a normal conversation because each one is SO touchy and SO sensitive that they are just WAITING to be offended. Sometimes, nothing even slightly offensive is said, but they get offended ANYWAY because there might be some deep-down shades of offense if you look hard enough. Sometimes they get mad at each other AHEAD OF TIME, before the other one even says anything, IMAGINING the offensive thing that is going to be said.
Geez Louise, these people just CRIPPLE themselves with all this sensitivity and getting offended 24/7 and taking every single thing the wrong way. It's SO exhausting. JFC. I can't imagine wanting to be in a relationship with either one of these people! How can you be honest with your partner or even get to know them as a person if you are just jumping down each other's throats all the time? It's impossible. Each feels like they have to walk on eggshells around the other, and with good reason. Each is just filled with anticipation of soon being engorged by rightful indignation. It's horrible.
So they fight and fight and fight and fight. What are they fighting about? Honestly, NOTHING. They just MAKE UP things to fight about. They just make up things to be offended and upset about, that honestly have no bearing on reality or on the other's actual feelings or intentions. It's infuriating.
Not only that, but they surround themselves with a group of so-called 'friends' who are the same way. Super-eager to be offended at every single turn, and very excited to use their extremely amateur psychology 101 chops on each other. I would break up with these 'friends' in 0.02 seconds. They are godawful. Not only could I not understand why Caleb and Garnet were romantically interested in each other, I couldn't understand why they tolerated their alleged 'friends' and hung around them.
If Caleb decides to do something nice for Garnet, and it's against his actual inclinations, she gets all bent out of shape and accuses him of LYING to her. It's insane.
So, what kind of fights am I talking about? Well, one time Garnet makes a comment about Canadians liking hockey and her female friend jumps down her throat in rage for stereotyping. Garnet also has this exchange with Caleb:
"I'm surprised that you've tried acupressure. A lot of doctors are still on the fence when it comes to energy treatments. Then again, with you being - "
"Part Japanese?" he said, saying it before she did. Being biracial meant he got a lot of stupid questions. Sometimes it was easier to cut things off at the pass. "Must be into Shiatsu and finding my qi?"
Her mouth fell open and she reddened. "No. Zach said you were progressive as a surgeon and might be interested in holistic treatments.” 37
Also, I'd like to point out that Caleb thinks Garnet is a practitioner of hippie-dippie shit and really has no respect for her work, which – although it might be understandable from a former surgeon – is really a shitty way to see your woman and view your woman's work.
Another example of a fight is when she hears him saying to his mom on the phone that he doesn't think the relationship is at the point where he will bring her home to meet the parents, and she gets SO upset and cries etc. etc., but then also won't allow him to call her his 'girlfriend.' I mean, what the FUCK. Who would want to be in a relationship like this? Constant drama for NO reason that makes NO fucking sense. And he's just as bad as she is. They are both terrible.
The flirting, and this couple's idea of flirting is hideous – awkward and strained. You cringe just reading it.
She jerks away when he tries to kiss her at 25%, then is okay with him kissing her at 33%. This would be fine if we had any sort of explanation or reasoning. Instead, it's completely arbitrary and we are mystified.
She pressures him into skiing again, even though she knows damn well he has PTSD from the avalanche.
And he gets over this PTSD, at least related to skiing and going up the mountain, in a flash. BAM. Cured. He still retains his PTSD about fearing Garnet will get injured on her job till the end of the book, so it's kind of a mixed bag. But her pressuring him to go skiing and then him being fine with it was quite ludicrous to me.
HOW'S THE SEX, CARMEN?
The sex is the only good thing about these two's relationship. In bed they are fine. Maybe because they shut up and don't talk?
I actually feel like Caleb is good in bed and it's one of the only places where he has his shit together and can exude confidence. The rest of his life is a disaster.
He fingers her in the gondola, it's pretty hot. She's eager to see how he is at eating vulva, and I can't blame her. I would be, too. Unfortunately, we never get there in the novel.
When they do get down to having P in V sex, they are very mature and adult about it. They have a pre-sex talk not only about where they want the relationship to go and if they are on the same page, but they also discuss whether she is on birth control and he had a condom. It's excellent. Rarely, rarely do I see this kind of reasonable, helpful approach to sex that allows the characters to avoid any kind of emergency panic that crops up after sex (e.g. Oh, no, we didn't use a condom! Oh, no, I didn't ask if he/she was clean! Oh, no, we didn't discuss if this was just a fling or the start of a relationship and now I'm very hurt and confused! Etc. etc.). Big relief, and major kudos to Greer for this fine example of how to enter a sexual relationship as an adult.
At one point she wakes him up to tell him she's leaving, instead of leaving him to wake up in a cold bed in the morning. Excellent. Very courteous. Extra points.
Big, major points also to Garnet for asking Caleb to stroke her clitoris during P in V sex. Audacious. The sheer audacity of a woman asking for what she needs in bed to make her come is SO FUCKING RARE in romance, and I'm so glad this scene happened. I could almost not believe what I was reading. I was over the moon that a.) Greer was acknowledging that often cumming on a penis just penetrating you over and over again can be difficult, while pleasurable for some it often does not provide the extra push you need to orgasm. b.) She is brave enough and confident enough and secure in her sexuality enough to tell her man what she needs done in bed. Very sexy, and very good thing to portray in romance novels. More women need to find the courage to say this kind of shit in real life. c.) Of course Caleb fucking does it without any questioning or hesitation, which is very good. I felt he was invested in getting her off and wasn't stupid. He obeys immediately and everyone is happy.
I know what you are thinking: you should have known to do that in the first place, jackass. And while I feel you – of course I love a hero who has automatically amazing skillz in bed – I think this kind of touch of realism adds immensely to readers. It lets readers know that it's ok and even common for women to be unable to orgasm on penis insertion alone, it lets readers know it's ok to ask for your lover to do something in bed for extra stimulation in order to orgasm, and that men don't have to take this as a criticism or seeming failure on their part, just file it away as good information and get the fucking job done. (This is about the ONLY time in the book our boy Caleb doesn't take offense at something! LOL)
Caleb likes snuggling, both drink French press coffee (yum yum!) and even though Garnet mourns her lack of omelet making skillz, Caleb is like, “I got this.” and he is an awesome breakfast cook. Nothing better than a man who makes you yummy breakfast the morning after!
So, the sex was pretty good. Unfortunately, there's a lot more to relationships than sex. And in every single other aspect of their relationship they fail. It's a huge disaster.
TL;DR – While I appreciate a lot of things that Greer made sure to include in this novel, the end result was not encouraging. Both Garnet and Caleb are huge walking wounds who just hurt each other over and over and over and over again – and it's completely unintentional. They are both so self-absorbed and so throbbing with their own pain that they can't see the world from the other's perspective. They actively look for ways to be offended by each other every day, they take EVERYTHING the wrong way, they fight over absolutely nothing and they do it every day. The only glowing part of their relationship is the fucking. And I'm sorry, but that doesn't cut it. This is a romance. A romance with not a lot of romantic aspects.
I would have loved an interracial, interfaith romance that worked. But I got this. While not a total loss, it's definitely not something I can recommend.
ROMANCE CATEGORIES Contemporary Romance Holiday/Christmas Romance Multicultural/Interracial Romance Non-Virgin Heroine Doctor Romance Disabled Hero He's a Doctor; She's a Holistic Healer. Takes place in: Montana, USA
NAME IN THIS BOOK: (view spoiler)[ Caleb Matsuda. - glasses Garnet f – grey eyes, auburn hair, freckles Zach m Lauren f Nancy f Cadie f Tavish m Ben m Sam m Lachlan m Marisol f Meiko f Bryce m Asher m Harman m Ryan m Jess f Stella f Maggie f Gertie f Mackenzie f Teddy m Andrew m Ruth f Alex m Frank m Bev f Jacy f (hide spoiler)]...more
First I was angry because it seems like the hero, Shane, is a real jerk.
He's rich. Choosing to make your hero rich means you're jThis is pretty bland.
First I was angry because it seems like the hero, Shane, is a real jerk.
He's rich. Choosing to make your hero rich means you're just going to have to work that much harder for me to like them. I'm not attracted to rich men.
Then, we have his "I'm a celebrity chef" personality. As you well know, that translates to "jerk."
AND the author at one point refers to him as a "gentleman bastard." Which is one of the worst ways you can describe a man to me. It sets my teeth on edge and makes me snarl.
Shane was a jerk right up to the part when he and Gianna decide to go to bed together.
Then they have not-very-described sex.
The whole book focuses on the fact that Shane was adopted and is trying to find his birth parents. Tons of telenovela-type drama ensues. I found it very boring. And I love telenovelas. This is not up to my standards for soap-drama. That's how bad it was.
How's the sex, Carmen?
Worthless. ...
Tl;dr - Mild jerk but nothing too asshole-ish, much to my relief. Boring book with lots of tedious melodrama. Not even exciting melodrama, just boring. This isn't going to get your heart pumping with either the romance/sex or the adopted-man-finds-his-biological-parents angle.
ONE REAL STAR, ONE ROMANCE STAR
P.S. Oh, yeah, the fat-shaming. This book was making me foam at the mouth.
"I hated leaving you shorthanded. You must have run your legs off."
Gianna looked down. "Nope. Still there. Cellulite, the extra two and a half pounds on each thigh and all."
ARGH!!!!! If I ever hear anyone talking this way about themselves, I instantly shut them down. SHUT IT DOWN. Don't talk about yourself like that. Isn't life hard enough without hating yourself for some incredibly stupid reason like you think your thighs are too big? If I were her friend in this conversation, we would have a big talk about loving yourself and how you are perfect and how you are beautiful and how I love you just the way you are, amiga mía. Either it would a.) sink in that you are beautiful or b.) be so embarrassing for you that you never dis yourself in front of me again. I don't talk about myself like this, I sure as hell don't allow my friends to talk about themselves like this. What the fuck, book?
And this isn't the only offense. Gianna can't seem to stop talking about how many calories are in food. She also (ON A DATE!) calls herself a pig for eating "too much." Of the gourmet food her chef boyfriend cooked her. Don't ever dis yourself, but if you absolutely have to dis yourself because you hate yourself on some level, NEVER do it in front of a man who's trying to get you into bed. It's very not-sexy. And it sends the man the message that it's okay to disrespect you, because you don't even value yourself. DON'T DO IT. You're beautiful!
"Great," Angie said and took a deep breath. "And I've just met the most amazing man today. His name is Forrest Traub. He's a veteran and he's the man "Great," Angie said and took a deep breath. "And I've just met the most amazing man today. His name is Forrest Traub. He's a veteran and he's the man of my dreams."
This is a book about a rather frightening very enthusiastic 23-year-old, Angie, who determines after ONE meeting with a man that he is her future husband. And she starts acting like his wife right away. It's scary.
As for Forrest, he's a veteran of Iraq and he's got a bum leg and PTSD. He's 31 but acts like he's a crotchety old man of 85.
Both of these characters were annoying me. Angie because she just sees this man, decides he's her future husband, and instantly starts baking him cookies and bringing him soup when he's sick and etc. etc.
"Forest Traub. He's an army veteran and he's staying in Thunder Canyon while his leg heals. I met him yesterday and, Austin, HE MIGHT BE THE ONE."
Forrest because he acts like he's a pervert or a horrible person for being sexually and romantically interested in Angie.
No, he told himself. It would be wrong. She was innocent. She had no idea what she would be getting into.
1.) She's 23. I think she's capable of making her own decisions.
2.) You just had some tiny kissing, calm down.
What? What's tiny kissing?
You know. Tiny kissing. Not very serious kissing. Not making out or kissing on the neck. (Kissing on the neck is very serious!) This was just some tiny kissing.
3.) Stop acting like you're some dangerous person. I hate when men in romance novels act as if having sex with a woman is some scary act he's performing on her that will somehow permanently scar her or something. I don't get it. I once read a book where a guy liked to spank his woman in the bedroom and he spent the whole novel acting as if he were a serial killer or something - I mean, he just beat himself up constantly and acted as if he were a monster. Just because he liked a little bit of slightly rough sex. Forrest doesn't even have that excuse, he just wants vanilla sex and he acts like somehow this is a criminal act or something. Calm down.
"Well, hello, I already told you that," she said. "And I'm past puberty."
He jerked his head to meet her gaze. "You wouldn't know that by looking at you."
Wow. Just wow. I have no idea why she likes this guy so much. He sounds awful.
I didn't find Angie that appealing. At one point she says,
"Oooh," she said, shaking her finger at him. "Bad boy."
and I was like: "Ew, no. Please don't say that ever again." She was saying it because... he ordered meat loaf and pie at a restaurant. One, I have no idea how that makes him "a bad boy." (*shudder* Ugh, even typing that gives me the heebie jeebies.) Meat loaf dinner and pie for dessert sounds perfectly reasonable to me. Two, people who comment on and/or judge other people's eating choices MAKE ME RABID. *growls*
But as far as character-hatred goes, I think Forrest is going to have to take the cake on this one. He is Angie's (view spoiler)[First Time (hide spoiler)], and he just completely gives her the cold shoulder after sex and breaks up with her the next day. How can a man even possibly BE such a piece of shit? I mean seriously, HOW. I don't even understand how this is physically possible. What a HORRIBLE person.
"What's on your mind?" she asked.
"A lot," he said and took a deep breath. "We can't see each other anymore."
"What?" she asked, her expression incredulous. "What are you talking about? Was I that bad at making love?"
I am going to KILL you for making her feel that way, asshole. *Carmen growls low in her throat*
Forrest was miserable, but he knew he'd done the right thing.
THE RIGHT THING?!!?!? The right thing?!?!!?!
It would tear him up to see her belief in him crumble before his eyes.
I'm pretty sure it crumbled when she realized you were a piece of shit who was (view spoiler)[her First Time (hide spoiler)] and then fucking just threw her away like she meant nothing to you. You piece of shit.
I thought you said she was coming on to him very strong.
Ah, very true, but no one forced him to have sex with her! You just can't fuck with people like that, no pun intended. He's a soldier, I'd expect him to have some self-control and some honor. ...
This book was very stupid and poorly written. The grammar and spelling are fine – but the plot, wording, and especially the dialogue will make your eyThis book was very stupid and poorly written. The grammar and spelling are fine – but the plot, wording, and especially the dialogue will make your eyes bleed.
If possible, her eyes brightened even more. It made him think of the way a satisfying, steaming cup of hot coffee tasted on a cold winter's day.
WTF is this? o.O
Get a load of this:
Damn, but there was something about this woman, Cody caught himself thinking, one thought flashing across his mind completely out of the blue. Something that stirred up his insides like one of those food processors he'd seen demonstrated once. All without any warning.
o.O And the dialogue is even worse. Ferrarella seems to have this problem (I've read a dozen of her books, this is 13 for me, I think) of making her dialogue broken-up and often confused by the characters so that people say “What?” a lot and characters have to repeat / explain themselves a lot. It's very annoying. I wanted to bang my head against a wall.
I wanted to type out some dialogue for you, but honestly the prospect of even doing that is giving me a headache. No one should be subjected to such cockamamie, drifting, pointless and boring-as-hell conversations.
Another thing I've noticed about Ferrarella is her obsession with honesty. Nothing in her books is worse than being a liar – even if you're just lying about how that jean jacket looks on your wife. Any and all lying is completely evil, insinuating someone is a liar is tantamount to challenging them to a duel at 10 paces, and absolute honest at all times is held above all things.
This isn't necessarily bad, just my observation.
Oh, and this doesn't illustrate the terrible dialogue to its full extent, but we have this hideous scene:
Not to be put off, Cody warned her, “I'll feed you if I have to.”
Armed with the partially unwrapped sandwich, he took a step forward, then another, forcing Catherine to take the same amount of steps backward. Before she knew it, Cody had her backed up against the wall and was using his long, lean body to bracket her in place.
Suddenly, she had no room to move. “Cody, what are you doing?” she protested.
“You must have been without food even longer than I thought if you can't figure it out.” Then, in case she was unclear on his intent, he told her, “I'm feeding you for your own good.”
She refused to be bullied by either her sister OR him. “No, you're n-”
The rest of her protest went unsaid because she suddenly found herself confronted with the sandwich that C.C. had left with Cody. Not just confronted with it but her lips were now smack-dab up against it with no leeway to move to the left or to the right. Catherine had no choice but to take a bite or be faced with eventual death by sandwich.
Grudgingly, she chose life.
“There now, that wasn't so hard, now was it?” Cody asked, using the same tone he might have taken with a particularly stubborn five-year-old.
This is wrong on so many levels.
The book is horrible, please avoid it at all costs unless you want a raging headache.
She swallowed. Hard. "I'm... on the pill, but I should have brought condoms."
He reached in his pocket and brought out four of them. "Okay," he said roShe swallowed. Hard. "I'm... on the pill, but I should have brought condoms."
He reached in his pocket and brought out four of them. "Okay," he said roughly. "It's like this. I never planned to put a move on you, I promise you..."
She teased, "But you wanted to be ready, just in case I dragged you up here and wouldn't let you go until your made mad, passionate love to me."
"Right." His dark eyes were bright with humor - and heat. "You being such a total animal and all."
She took the condoms from him and set them on the nightstand next to the chocolates. "So, all right, we have chocolate and condoms. We're ready for anything."
This book was actually charming, I am surprised.
Jace (Jason) Traub is going through a bit of a... life change. After breaking it off with his fiancée he's not only single (much to his family's horror) but also refusing to work in the family's oil corporation (to his family's even bigger horror). Now he's back in town for a reunion, and it's not very enjoyable to him. His mom keeps trying to introduce him to "nice girls." His great-aunt is chasing him around trying to get him to go to church. His older brother is trying to browbeat him into coming to work at the oil company and his one-night-stand from last year is trying to get a repeat performance.
Can't a man ever get a little peace?
He heads over to the bar to get a beer.
There he meets Joss, sitting at the bar by herself. Thirty years old, she's on her "un-honeymoon." Her boyfriend of five years was slowly becoming someone she didn't like. The last straw was when she caught him - on her wedding day - having sex with her cousin Kimberly in the closet. Now she's jobless, homeless, and determined to enjoy this week-long un-honeymoon.
Jace is instantly attracted to Joss. He wants to hang out with her and spend time with her and get to know her. But she's like,
"Before I decide whether to go with you or not, I need to get something crystal clear."
"Fine."
"I want you to listen very carefully, Jace."
He assumed a suitably intent expression. "I'm listening."
"I'm. Not. Going. To. Have. Sex. With. You."
Jace says he's fine with that, and he actually means it. They decide to be "best friends" for a week. And it's a great set-up. They go golfing, horseback riding, out to dinner, swimming, and dancing. They talk to each other about their lives, their problems, and their pasts. But when the week is over and it's time to say goodbye, can they really let each other walk out of their lives forever? ...
I was surprised at how cute and charming this novel was. It is also pretty juvenile.
I don't mean "juvenile" as an insult, necessarily. It's very light, light-hearted - more of a romantic-comedy or sitcom than what you'd usually find in the romance genre. The story is simple and straightforward and predictable, but with a kind of teasing breeziness that is rather delightful. Neither Jace nor Joss take themselves or their problems too seriously. Jace and Joss often come across not as thirty-year-olds, but as older teenagers. That's not bad or even necessarily unrealistic. A lot of people nowadays who are in their late twenties and early thirties are not in the place their parents were at that age. I don't think this is a bad or unkind portrayal. Tons of people will be able to identify with Jace - he's at this point in his life where he only knows what he DOESN'T want to do, not what he actually wants to do. He's a bit lost and at a crossroads.
I mean, it's not exactly like I feel sorry for him - he has an executive oil job laid out for him if he ever wants to work for his family's corporation. This is a wealthy man with lots of security and options.
Jace is a kind of teasing, funny hero - but at times he acted a bit too childish for me. I like goofy guys, but that chocolate fight scene was a bit much. Mostly I liked him, though. I love men who tell you it's okay if you don't want sex, and actually mean it. He's a good friend to Joss and I feel like they actually get to know each other. He's great with consent and boundaries.
Joss is struggling to put her life back together after catching her groom in the act - she's the more serious half of the couple, although she's teasing and comedic, too.
How's the sex, Carmen?
Not very exciting, but I felt like Rimmer was genuinely trying. It wasn't bad, it just wasn't very hot. ...
Tl;dr - Cute, light-hearted, and funny - this could be exactly the breath of fresh air you need if you are bogged down by angsty romances. A quick Harlequin jaunt.
This book is terrible. I didn't like the hero OR the heroine.
Annabel is a happy, idealistic, pushy do-gooder who is half children's librarian half dogThis book is terrible. I didn't like the hero OR the heroine.
Annabel is a happy, idealistic, pushy do-gooder who is half children's librarian half dog therapist. She lives with her mom, dad, and two single sisters. She cries ALL the time. I don't think she should be a therapy dog handler, because she literally cries every time she sees a patient. Any patient.
Thomas is an asshole doctor. You know. Rich, busy, pompous, uptight, bossy, type-A personality. I HATED HIM. HATED. He's such a fucker.
Thomas headed straight toward it and Annabel hurried to catch up with him. "Oh, I'm fine. You don't have to - "
"Annabel, don't argue." He motioned for her to continue moving. "Just walk."
This is on a DATE. How he acts when he's in a "good mood." He's rich, he whines when he can't go to fancy restaurants on dates, he has to be in control all the time or he gets anxious and flustered.
He's perfectly fine have sex with the heroine multiple times but then freaks out when she takes him to a family BBQ because that might mean "commitment." Listen, fucker, this woman screams "commitment." She's the freshly-scrubbed girl-next-door with the golden retriever and the big family. What on Earth gave you the idea you could just sleep with her and yank her around?
And he hates being seen with her in public or eating with her at a public restaurant because "people might gossip that they're dating." You ARE dating her. Fucker.
He breaks her heart again and again and she just keeps coming back and offering him her jugular and I'm like NO. No, no, no. Stand up for yourself! Defend yourself! How can she STAND this asshole?!?!!? Ugh. She says she's in love with him and I'm left completely gobsmacked.
And he's jealous of her dog. HER DOG.
How's the sex, Carmen?
As if I could summon up any interest in what these people do in the bedroom. ...
Tl;dr - A hopeful idiot falls in love with an asshole doctor. DO NOT RECOMMEND.
Maybe it was finally time to take off his ring and look to his future rather than hold on to the past.
I have really conflicted feelings about this booMaybe it was finally time to take off his ring and look to his future rather than hold on to the past.
I have really conflicted feelings about this book. First, small plot outline.
Andrew is a widower. He was married for five years, his wife has been dead for three. He still wears his wedding ring. He has a seven-year-old daughter.
Rachel is the co-owner of a flower shop. She hasn't dated or had sex in 16 months because the last man she had a relationship with, Eric, was still in love with his ex-wife and she had control over him and his daughter's life.
On Valentine's Day, Rachel and Andrew end up sharing a table at an Italian restaurant and end up going on a date. ...
Okay, now let's get to the problems.
The book started off really well. Andrew seemed like a great guy. He takes Rachel bowling after dinner in a cute way. He opens doors for her. He walks her to her door. He is a great date - he doesn't try to get her to invite him in. A week later he cutely stops by her work to get her number. Not going to her house like a creeper would. He seemed like a respectful and good guy.
He's good at kissing. Here's an example:
Oh. My. God.
He was kissing her.
And this wasn't a casual brush of the lips. It was immediate and full mouth-on-mouth contact. Not in a way that could be considered aggressive or pushy, just direct and sure, and there was something incredibly sexy about his self-confidence.
In the space of a heartbeat, those masterful lips took Rachel from casually intrigued to completely aroused. About three seconds later, she decided that if levels of expertise could be assessed like in the martial arts, he was a black-belt grand master of kissing. Two seconds after that, she was incapable of forming any other coherent thoughts.
Kissing Andrew Garrett was simply... bliss.
He lifted a hand to cup the nape of her neck, his thumb gentle brushing over the racing pulse point below her jaw. His other arm curled around her back, drawing her closer. She went willingly, eagerly. Her lips parted beneath the pressure of his, and when his tongue slipped between them, she felt the surge of heat through her veins, igniting flames of desire.
And still he continued to kiss her, savoring the taste and texture of her mouth without pressing for anything more. His lips nibbled, his tongue teased and everything inside of her quivered with want, need. He wanted her, too - there was no mistaking the desire she tasted in his kiss - but it was tempered by patience, balanced by caution.
Okay, so let's highlight what is good here. Kissing with sexual tension, check. Telling me what he's doing with his hands, check. Extra points because he is doing sexually exciting things with his hands. Cupping the nape of the neck while gently stroking her pulse point - extra hot. Doesn't seem like he's only kissing her in order to walk her into bed, check. She can't form thoughts because he's kissing her, check.
We can leave out the silly stuff about grand master of kissing and taste of desire, etc. But I wanted to highlight a few things that make written kissing good because people have been asking me. This isn't close to the best I've ever read, but it is good and fun.
OKAY, back to the plot. He opens car doors for her and makes sure the car is the right temperature for her. You know, he is courteous and doing all the mensch stuff that thrill women when you do them on dates. I love when men open doors for me, insist on walking behind me, open car doors for me, ask me if the temperature is to my liking, buys me food, etc. He drops her off at the entrance, parks the car, and meets her inside. You know - gentleman stuff. Stuff that I definitely notice a man doing and give him extra points for on a date.
However, warning signs start appearing. He hasn't mentioned to her that he has a daughter. Big no-no.
He wasn't deliberately keeping the existence of his child a secret from her - he just hadn't yet found a way to bring her name into the conversation.
He is still wearing his wedding ring. This understandably makes Rachel leery.
But all of that is fine, and fixable. After all, the book has to have some conflict. I expect that and understand that.
But the real red flag appears at 32% when he has this conversation with his daughter:
"Do you think I'll ever get a new mommy?"...
"I don't know," he finally said. "It's not as if you can pick one out as easily as you would a carton of ice cream at the grocery store."
"I know," she agreed. "You hafta find a girl you think is pretty and marry her."
He smiled at the simplistic explanation. "PRETTY is good."
That emphasis is his, not mine.
Now would be a good time to talk to your young and impressionable daughter about how important personality is, or clarify that being pretty is not the sole requisite - or even required - for a woman to be an amazing wife. And I fully expected him to. I was waiting... waiting... nope. This is supposed to be a pretty family- and female-friendly line of books. But no. He's perfectly fine allowing his daughter think that men marry pretty women. That's it! Only requirement. She's pretty. BAM. It's so important to teach girls that they are worth loving. 'Even' if they are 'ugly' or 'fat.' Maybe he thinks his daughter will grow up to be none of those things, but even if she grows up to be society's version of 'gorgeous,' he's doing her a real disservice by not using this golden opportunity to say a quick word about how kind women are attractive. Smart women are attractive. Strong women are attractive. Personality. Love! Love, which is not based on appearances. This is supposed to be a romance novel.
She can be introduced to ugly reality later, but this is a key moment to say something of substance, and he just doesn't.
Then, Rachel finds out he has a daughter in a pretty ugly way. He calls her and begs her to allow him to grovel.
Okay, fine. I will allow him to grovel. He tells her to met him at a restaurant and gives her the address.
This is where it all starts to go south.
The 'restaurant' is really his house. And she had no idea he was rich, and he's had her drive to his house - under false pretenses - and it's a fucking huge mansion. At this point I would get back in my car and I would never see him again. Didn't tell me about his daughter? Hides that he's rich? I have a real problem with rich men, anyway. Fucking gives me directions to his house while pretending it's a restaurant we're meeting at? Three strikes and you're out, fucker. Do not pass go. Do not collect $200. Actually, you're lucky I gave you three strikes. I often don't.
THEN, THEN, he is supposed to be groveling, right? Say or do something that will make up for this shit, right? He just totally goes into creeper mode. He grilled, made a nice dinner... I'm like, "Great. They'll sit down, they'll talk, he'll just be honest with her..." No. Instead she gets in the house and he immediately starts pressing into her on the couch and kissing her and trying to sex her. EXCUSE ME. NO. EW. But she just goes along with it because she's 'so turned on' or whatever. NO. No amount of good kissing is going to excuse the shit you pulled! And the fact that he's trying to seduce her right now instead of having an honest adult conversation should be a real red flag to her.
Harlen tries to write good sexual content here, but how can I enjoy good sexual content when I feel this man is an asshole?!!? Newsflash: I can't. I'm sitting here fuming and Harlen is desperately trying to turn me on.
THEN, he gets her all worked up and then is like, "Oh, wait, I don't have a condom. Never mind! Let's go eat dinner!" And I'm like, "You're not letting her orgasm?! For fuck's sake, man! She's THIS close to cumming! How difficult would it be to just finish the job!?" JFC. Fail. Huge fail. And if he has his panties in a bunch about getting off himself, he can get off after he helps her get off. There are ways to orgasm without sticking your penis in her vagina, you fucking moron.
Can you tell I was very angry with this scene for a plethora of reasons!??!?!!
But the MAIN problem with the book - the really core problem - is that Andrew thinks sex is love. No, really, he does. His wife died three years ago, he hasn't had sex since then, and since he wants to fuck Rachel he thinks he's in love with her.
AND IT'S NEVER MORE THAN THAT. Every time he looks at Rachel and thinks about why he wants to marry her or spend his life with her, it's because 'she's hot.' or 'I want to have her in my bed.' I'm starting to understand that conversation with his daughter A LOT better. He probably didn't take that moment to teach her about loving a woman for more than the fact that she's pretty because he doesn't understand that concept himself.
Really, take a look:
He was torn - not about his feelings for Rachel. Those were unequivocal. He wanted her with an intensity that the couldn't ever remember experiencing before.
Do your feelings involve anything greater than the feelings in your pants? No? Too bad, that's sad.
He still wanted her. There was no denying that simple fact. He wanted her naked in his bed, those long, slender limbs wrapped around him as she panted his name. Unfortunately, he was pretty sure he'd destroyed any possibility of that ever happening again.
So, let me get this straight. The only reason you are sad that Rachel and you aren't dating anymore... is because you miss the sex. Right. Got it. Very romantic! /s
He wants to reconcile with Rachel. Why? He misses her lovely smile? Her laugh? The way she treats his daughter? Her sense of humor? Her personality?
But he was desperately holding on to hope that she'd forgiven him sufficiently to get naked with him again.
No, only her body. What a disappointment.
Each time, I settled in waiting for him to add something to the 'I want to fuck her' line. He contemplates breaking up with Rachel (for reasons I won't get into here in order to avoid spoilers). He doesn't want to, because... he'll miss fucking her. Okay, what else? I'm waiting, waiting... is he going to say something about her personality? Her drive? Her smile? Her sense of humor? Her good instincts with his daughter? NOPE.
Later, he's at a point where he's musing about missing Rachel. What is he missing about her? Fucking her! That's it. Full stop. Great opportunity for the author to show us that he is love with her. NOPE. All he misses about her is her ability to give him orgasms, I guess.
Even later, he holds his breath wondering if Rachel will forgive him. Because he can't live without her smile? Because she's brought so much joy to his and his daughter's lives? Because she's smart and funny? Because she makes him feel nurturing, protective, indulgent, and happy? NO. She has sex with him. THE END. That's the beginning and end of what he thinks her value is.
*Carmen throws up her hands in despair* Listen, I'm all for sex in romance novels. I want sex in my romance novels. The fact that Harlen includes detailed and good sex scenes in her novel SHOULD be a wonderful thing. But I can't enjoy it at all because a.) he's acting like an ass, and b.) I don't believe he really loves her. I don't believe it even one little bit. The basis of loving someone - and the basis of a ROMANCE novel - should not be 'I enjoy sex with her.' Erotica, maybe. Romance novels, no. Does Harlen even understand the meaning of 'romance' or 'love?' It should be something a little more substantial than 'she's got a nice ass.'
Even if Harlen had gone for the easiest and laziest thing - 'I love the way she treats my daughter, and she improves my daughter's life and makes her happy' (which is true, btw) - it would be better than what we have. Which is basically 'she makes my cock happy.' Fuck this shit. Utter fail. It shouldn't be this hard to say a few things he loves about her. Harlen easily could have thrown some lines in here about something he admires or misses about her at any of these key points. But she just doesn't. o.O
How's the sex, Carmen?
How can I possibly enjoy the sex, no matter how well-written it is, when the hero acts like this?!!?!? Sorry, I am NOT interested.
Tl;dr - This book got off to a strong start. I was really enjoying it up to about 45% where he begs her for a chance to grovel and instead just throws more shit at her, and then pressures her into sex instead of acting like an adult and discussing things. Not surprising when it is made clear by the end of the book that he simply 'loves' her because she is a hot piece of ass who has sex with him.
I expected so much more from this! How could it fail me this badly!? ARGH.
Not to mention that there are five short parts where we see things from the seven-year-old's perspective - not enjoyable IMO. I only want to hear from adults in a romance novel, thank you very much.
"More than a little," he "Why didn't the hostess give us menus?"
"Because I preordered our dinner."...
"Don't you think that was a little presumptuous?"
"More than a little," he admitted, smiling at her across the table. "But I think you'll be pleased with my choices."
"What did you order?"
"Everything on the menu."
LOL That was such a cute scene.
ANYWAY.
Clayton is taking care of his 6-month-old son Bennett. He's staying in a boarding house run by Antonia. Antonia is 8 months pregnant and the hot topic of the small town's vicious gossip. Who the father is, she isn't saying, and many people believe she got artificially inseminated.
At first drawn together because of their single-parent situations (or soon-to-be single parent), eventually they can't deny there's a huge spark between them. I'd say something like, "Will they learn to love and trust again?" But we all know that they will, so... moving on. ...
This book is the 2012 Reader's Choice Harlequin Special Edition Award for the Romantic Times Book Review.
PLUSES:
- It's not poorly written. The scene with the menu and him ordering everything is cute. Just the setup of a man with a baby and a pregnant woman falling in love is inherently cute. Well, I think it's inherently cute.
- Pro-adoption, "it doesn't have to be your biological kid for you to love the kid and be a parent" message.
MINUSES:
Okay. About ten years ago I read a really great pregnancy romance. Obviously, I was not on GR at this time so I have absolutely NO idea who wrote it or what the title was called. But not only was it heartshatteringly touching, but it was HOT. I mean, the sex was like *fans self*
So I'm probably holding this book up to an impossible and unrealistic standard.
ONE: It really annoys me when pregnant women dis themselves. It's hard enough for Antonia living in a town where people are painfully hostile to her ("how dare she come to church every week! It's sinful!" "How can she plan on raising a baby without a father!" etc.) but then to hear her describe herself as "huge, unattractive" and "an elephant" really grates my cheese. This goes on and on throughout the novel. It was painful, I really wanted her to stop putting herself down. You're eight months pregnant! Obviously you are not going to look like you did 8 months ago. And that's fine. Please love yourself.
And I hate fat-shaming and this smacks of "fat people are disgusting, because pregnancy makes you bigger than you were before you are instantly 'fat' and therefore unattractive. No man is going to want to fuck a pregnant woman just like no men want to fuck fat women - unless, in both cases, they're freaks/perverts."
It would take me days to fully unpack this, but it's very offensive on many levels. Believe me.
TWO: Not only is the town filled with malicious gossips who make Antonia's life hard, but her family isn't great either. Her father and her older brothers DO NOT act in the way I'd expect men to act when their family member is pregnant with no man in the picture. They judge her, sneer at her, and order her to cook for them (!) etc. And Harlen isn't even portraying them as villains here. They never get reprimanded or get their comeuppance, she just has to live with this kind of treatment. It's horrible.
"'Cause we worked through lunch," Hudson said, a subtle plea in his tone.
"There's leftover roast beef in the fridge," she told them. "You can make yourselves a couple of sandwiches."
Ace frowned. "Isn't that your job?"
CARMEN: "Excuse me? What did you just say to her?!?!?!? Did you seriously just tell your 8-months-old pregnant sister - who is babysitting a child right now - that it's her JOB to make YOU lunch? The fuck? You're grown! Make your own damn sandwiches. I didn't see 'your servant' in her job description."
And she MAKES THEM THE FUCKING SANDWICHES. WTF? And can I stress that these jokers were in no way presented as villains and they never get the beat-down from her, the hero, her good-for-nothing drunkard father, no one. Shit.
Hmmmmmmmm, what else?
Oh, yeah
THREE: I don't know what you would call this. But tons of statements like people meaningfully looking at Antonia's belly and saying,
"Don't you believe that every child should have a father?" this happens a lot.
and with Clay's situation, a lot of people saying stuff like
"A man needs a wife." and
"That baby needs a mother."
And this isn't part of the malicious gossip stuff, it's as if we're actually supposed to agree with them.
Can I just point out that both the mother of Clay's baby and the father of Antonia's baby are HORRIBLE people who hightailed it as soon as they could? The child does NOT need those people around. I am in the camp of having parents (or a parent) who loves you as being better than trying to force a relationship with some sorry-ass excuse for a human being who doesn't love or want the child.
Of course, this is a romance novel and the whole point is that they will eventually come together as a "complete" family, but I just want to say for the record that single parents are amazing and bust their asses to raise their kids. ...
How's the sex, Carmen?
It's okay. *shrug* It's not as described as I'd liked and it's very glossed-over. But at least they use condoms! Yay! ...
Tl;dr - I don't think this is worth getting exciting about, but you could do worse.
A rancher named Noelle finds an unconscious lawman on her ranch and helps him get to the hospital.
She hates cops, because cops shot her 18-year-old brA rancher named Noelle finds an unconscious lawman on her ranch and helps him get to the hospital.
She hates cops, because cops shot her 18-year-old brother to death.
This was a cute romance. I liked Noelle's plain, no-nonsense, hard-working, calloused hands attitude. I liked the dogs and horses in the stories. I love animals. The horses were named Lonesome and Driller. Only one dog was named, and she was Gracie.
The sex is nothing to get excited about.
I am so burned out on romance novels now. Time to switch to something different.
OMG Amazing romance book, so amazing! It just clenched my heart in its fist! I was struggling to breathe as I turned the pages! Funny how that can hapOMG Amazing romance book, so amazing! It just clenched my heart in its fist! I was struggling to breathe as I turned the pages! Funny how that can happen even though I know it's a romance novel and will have a happy ending.
Patricia Cargill is a heiress. She's living a pretty awful existence because of her horrible father, who is a pig and also stupid and greedy. She's trying to keep the family and the money together before her father can spend it all on model girlfriends.
She also loves working for Texas Rescue, setting up temporary hospitals and helping people who are injured or homeless because of disasters.
It's at Texas Rescue that she meets firefighter Luke Waterson. He's handsome, funny, sweet - and best of all, has no idea that she's mega-rich.
She tries so hard not to be with him... ...
Wow. I was swooning right and left in this book. For one thing, Luke is so patient, careful, and respectful. OMG so hot.
"I've been officially informed that you are my boss today," Luke said, giving her the smile she was so good at ignoring, but which he liked to believe she wasn't entirely immune to. "What do you want to do with me? Tell me to go to hell, maybe?"
Secondly, my heart was breaking for Patricia, which is REALLY hard for me to admit since she's beyond rich and usually I can't stand 'rich kid problems.' But Carson did a great job of making me feel terrible for her. She was just so vulnerable and the ways that she tried to hide this were heartbreaking.
Patricia couldn't smile back. She wasn't like that. Flirting for fun was a luxury for people who didn't have obligations. She'd never learned how to do it. She'd known only responsibility, even when she'd been 22 and men had been interested in her for more than her bank account and Cargill connections.
Well, I don't really know what else to say. So amazing. The sex could have been better but I'm just throwing in the towel and realizing Harlequin just isn't going to give me what I want on this. However story-wise, this knocked my socks off!
5 ROMANCE STARS, 3 REAL STARS.
P.S. Can I just add that Luke is a firefighter-slash-cowboy/rancher-slash-Texan-SLASH-millionaire!??!!?!? I mean, how many cliches can we fit in here?
Trey Waterston is a former football player who is suffering from brain damage. He is so ashamed of his "disability"5 ROMANCE STARS. Most excellent. ...
Trey Waterston is a former football player who is suffering from brain damage. He is so ashamed of his "disability" that he isolates himself from his family and friends. He moves to a completely different state and starts his own business in order to have his own life where no one can pity him or remember how he was "before."
He's spent 10 years that way.
Now he is forced back to the ranch that he owns 1/3 of, the ranch in Texas that he grew up on in order to attend his brother's wedding. He's upset and afraid to go back and see family that he might not even recognize due to his brain damage. But he sucks it up and figures he'll cope the best that he can. ...
Rebecca Cargill is 24, but has never really lived. Sheltered and used as a pawn by her mother, a rich woman who courts and marries men for their money (and has been married 6 times), Rebecca has no money or independence of her own. She's not even allowed to pick out her own clothing - her mother's tried to keep her as youthful as possible for as long as possible - even though Rebecca's 24, her mother constantly tells people that she's 18.
But since her mother has gotten older and older, she doesn't hold the allure to men that she once did. And so she makes arrangements to pimp out her daughter. Yes, the time has come to sell her daughter's virginity to the highest bidder, who in this case is a rich, much older man and one of her mother's lovers, named Hector.
In a panic about being forced to go to bed with a man she doesn't like, Rebecca does the most courageous thing she's ever done and flees her mother's house, going to attend her step-sister's wedding - the same wedding Trey is attending. But in order to get to the wedding, Rebecca used her credit card to purchase a plane ticket, and when her mother calls her to tell her that she's coming after her, Rebecca flees the ranch in a panic. Worried about her safety in the frigid winter temperatures, Trey heads out after her... ...
Wow. This book was so sweet and cute and gripping. It was a very enjoyable romance. I have to slog through 50 horrible romance novels before stumbling on one that I truly enjoy, and this is one of them.
We've got: the inevitable showdown of Rebecca + Trey vs. her mom to look forward to. A brain-damaged hero who thinks he's unworthy of being in a long-term relationship. A sheltered woman making her first forays into the real world. Warm up naked in a sleeping bag to save someone from hypothermia trope. (One of my favorite tropes, personally.)
This is the first romance book I've seen that deals with an actual brain-damaged hero, and I really loved it. I like when either the hero or heroine has an actual problem and not a stupid, unrealistic problem like: "No one really loves me because I'm too rich" or something.
I loved how everything was handled. Carson masterfully weaves Trey's brain damage and its resulting shame and fear into everything he does. Rebecca's unfortunate upbringing is also coloring her life in a very negative way. When she starts falling in love with Trey she goes through a crisis thinking that it is for the wrong reasons and that she's just like her mom - using a man for comfort and security, and because of being afraid of being alone - instead of experiencing real love.
Trey is a "cowboy" and a "rancher." I have NO IDEA why Harlequin is SO OBSESSED with this type of man. I must have read 10 cowboy romances in the last week. There are other types of men in America, Harlequin. Everything doesn't have to be about cowboys and take place in Texas. *rolls eyes* However, if that is my biggest complaint about a book, then it is pretty damn good.
It was also fun to read a Christmas-themed book and get in the spirit of things. :)
Tons of cute, sweet, romantic things happen in this book. Is it cliched? Of course. Is it silly? *rolls eyes* Did you miss the part where I told you it was a romance book? Listen, I don't read romance books looking for great literature. I want to be entertained, I want characters that I care about and worry for, I want to go "awwwwwwww!" a lot, I want some good kissing and sex, and I want to be charmed. This book succeeds on all counts. A+, amazing romance, 5 romance stars.
This is also a romance book that sticks in my mind because it is one of the few I've ever read with a disabled hero.
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