AUTHOR: Peggy Hunter
PUBLISHER: Whiskey Creek Press Torrid
LENGTH: Novella (roughly 25k)
GENRE: Contemporary erotic romance
COST: $4.99
For 15 years, Allison has nursed the hurt that the only guy she has ever loved took her to prom simply to have sex with her. Now on the eve of her wedding, she needs to get Randy Gallagher out of her mind, once and for all. She buys a single night with him at a charity bachelor auction, but has she started something she can’t stop? Suddenly, she’s not so sure.
I need to mix things up when I read. If all my choices were only werewolves, or gay erotica, or historicals, I would get bored very quickly. That’s why I deliberately chose a straightforward contemporary romance for today. After the headache I got reading the last book, I wanted something simple.
Simple is what I got. Too simple, actually. With only the price to go by, I knew this wouldn’t be a huge long read, but I didn’t anticipate being as bored with it as I was. Revenge scenarios can be a lot of fun if handled well, but there was little in this story to truly engage me.
Allison’s motivations remain unclear at first. When they are finally revealed, their shallowness drove me to look for enjoyment elsewhere. First, I tried Randy. You know what? He’s a jerk. He calls women, “babe,” which is a major turn-off for me, and he freely admits to simply wanting to sleep with whatever woman catches his eye. Supposedly, he’s changed his mind by the end, but I don’t believe it for a second. Neither he nor the heroine do anything that merits such a change of heart except have sex. For a guy like Randy, sex must equal love. Not for me.
I tried getting immersed in the story’s plot and/or voice instead then. But while the author has a simple, readable style, there’s nothing original about it. It doesn’t help that the storyline is predictable either, all the way down to Allison’s wedding and the events that transpire afterward. In the end, without any one thing to keep me hooked into the story, I read just for the sake of killing time. Looks like I got bored mixing it up anyway.
| Readability | 6/10 – Simple prose, unencumbered by anything very challenging, though the occasional word misuse mars it |
| Hero | 3/10 – Forgettable and kind of a jerk |
| Heroine | 6/10 – A tad dim, and enough of a wet noodle outside of Randy’s presence to make me prefer her sister |
| Entertainment value | 3/10 – It left me bored and annoyed, not a great combo |
| World building | 6/10 – Fairly average, with nothing exciting or vivid to draw me in |
| TOTAL: | 24/50 |
1 comment:
Dude, it took her 15 years to get over the fact that a teenage boy wanted to go to the prom so he could get laid?! That's what teenage boys do! That's what the prom is for!
I would never buy this book anyway. The heroine sounds utterly neurotic.
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