Rating: 3 of 5 stars
My Review:
This felt like a nice older Harlequin novel. Some nice dramatic angst, no external conflict, just two people trying to overcome their past and miscommunications to be together. Lots of tears from the heroine. Lots of virginal innocence. Some nice, anger from the hero - that's not really anger because the heroine is just too innocent to see it as desire.
There were only very passing mentions of sex. One paragraph from start to finish in most cases and not at all graphic. Brody was occasionally very eloquent, but could also tend towards the silent, make-her-say-it-first type, just like most older Harlequins. Reyna had been through so much that she didn't have much trust left and it takes her a long time to trust Brody.
Like a lot of the older Harlequin novels I've read, this one barely mentions anyone outside the two main characters. Secondary characters are occasionally mentioned simply to further the plot and then dropped immediately afterwards. I thought this book could have been developed a lot more. Brody and Reyna would have been much stronger characters in my mind if they had other people surrounding them, helping them grow.
There were lots of plot points that were mention towards the beginning of the book and then resolved within a couple paragraphs later in the book. Brody's dream home is introduced, but then it's not brought up again after he shares it with Reyna. Reyna was getting her degree, but that's not mentioned again either. Reyna's ex-father-in-law seems like he could cause a lot of trouble socially for Reyna (because of his social standing), but there's never anything beyond the idea he planted in Brody that Reyna was using drugs.
Some things were inconsistent and made me stop to research. The beginning of the book implies pretty clearly that Reyna and her husband had been intimate, but then *surprise* she was still a virgin when she slept with Brody. It seemed like a pretty stock plot device for a Harlequin-style book, but just didn't jive with earlier parts of the book. Then Reyna takes the subway to work. In Denver. I had never heard of a subway in Denver, so I had to look it up to be sure. Looks like lightrail and bus only.
Then we get to the editing. That's the bulk of this lower rating. I couldn't believe how badly this book was edited. The first half is so filled with commas that it's difficult to decipher. The second half is missing almost all commas which makes for some very comical reading. There are words missing or used poorly (accept instead of except, out shadowed instead of overshadowed, etc.), characters names wrong and sentences that run off to infinity (especially considering the comma problem).
It was a touching story that I enjoyed reading. The angst and emotions were well drawn and it was a nice world to get pulled into for an afternoon - and I was pulled in, even with the editing problems. I hope this book gets an editing make-over quickly and then I'd give it a solid four stars. I'd definitely read this again when I'm in the mood for a light, soap opera romance.
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