Review: Lots of sappy love at first thrust
Rating: 3 out of 5
Date: 05 23, 2013
This story is a well-done attempt to capture the essence of a small-town-girl-turned-celebrity. Plenty of fans, stalkers, concerts, tours, paparazzi, Marine bodyguards, the whole shebang.What you might like best is how genuine and courageous Brooke is and how she maintains her moral fiber throughout the colossal--and often heart-wrenching--changes in her life. There's a pulsating energy that follows her and you'll fall for her easy-going twang from page one.The central problem is all the side stories introduced mid-plot. Too many characters take center stage and steal Brooke's spotlight. Too many love-at-first-thrust romances. Too many heroines that might just be more perfect than Brooke is.Part of this failure is owed to the omniscient POV. A good romance focuses on the H/h, shoves you deep in their heads until you're feeling every thought and emotion. The head-hopping narrator in this story is all over the place, keeping you at an arm's length from this huge cast characters. And because SM doesn't use dialogue tags, most of the dialogue includes the characters' names as way to keep track of who's talking to who. You're beautiful, Brooke. I love you, Brooke. Pass the salt, Brooke. No one uses names over and over in natural dialogue. It might make your head throb.Despite all this, it's a well-written love story...well, four love stories, and if you like page after page of heartfelt declarations of I-love-you's and you're-the-one's, then you'll love this