Review: It's a Puzzle to Me
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 02 7, 2014
I can not for the life of me figure out why this book held me so enthralled. It broke so many of my hard and fast rules, that this should have been a DNF after the first two chapters. So why did I read the whole book in one sitting, turning page after page in record time?? I can only attribute it to Janet Nissenson's talent as a writer. If someone had told me that I would finish a book that centered around a hero cheating on his fiance, I would have been all "Oh, hell, naw!" I think the lack of poor, pitiful me was a major factor. If I run across one more character who has suffered child abuse from a drunk uncle or their rabid horse, or any type Jerry Springer scenario, my head might explode. These were two well adjusted normal people with human flaws and frailties. Now, to be honest, a big draw IMHO (and keep in mind that I am a big ol' perv) is the outstanding dirty talk. You may think, dirty talk? Anybody can do that. Noooooo, not well they can't, trust me. Dirty talk in the hands of an amateur can not only be a turn off, it can also be cause for restraining orders. There is a very fine line between dirty talk and just being gross with moments of terror. Serendipity should be mandatory reading for anyone thinking about writing or practicing dirty talk. Janet is an artisan in this field. I haven't blushed in decades, that is until I read this book. It's not that what Nathan and Julia engage in is so exotic or bizarre, it was the language that shoved those images into the readers mind with a fierceness.So, I am convinced the reason this book didn't register on my DNF scale is because I read it as an EROTIC romance. There are different guidelines, in my convoluted mind at least. For example, If this had been a Julie Garwood novel, I would have been convinced that Julie had suffered a severe head trauma. Whereas if this had been an Emma Holly novel, I would think she was a bit off her game because everyone in the book hadn't slept with everyone else at once. Think of it as a time delayed menage of sorts. So even with all the WTF, I still really, really liked this book. I do hope the sister gets her HEA, hint hint.