Review: It had promise but fell short
Rating: 2 out of 5
Date: 11 17, 2012
First let me start off by saying that I only review what I read the entire thing of (with very few exceptions), and I read EXTREMELY fast. However, it took me 3 days to finish this book.Why?I'm not entirely sure. It wasn't because I was so enthralled with it that I had to take my time.Not in the least.If anything, I skipped over much of the internal dialogue once I hit the halfway point in the book because it was just repeating the same thing over and over....if it didn't work for Stephanie Meyers it won't work for you.The female lead in the story was completely predictable and overall annoying. Having a lead character that struggles to be something she isn't and for what? (seriously, why was she being like that? It wasn't even completely explained in the book other than she was an idiot as a kid and reckless, like everyone else)The male lead, he was more tolerable but at the same time he was extremely annoying because he completely trusted the crazy broad in the story but the not timid lead that knew his cousin.That just doesn't make sense and it made me want to throttle him and the author for not thinking that through properly.Another issue I had with this story is that his family had power and pull, high up in the government even, and yet they couldn't get a background check on Miss Holt? Come on! You cannot be serious. They can close a police investigation, why, I really didn't grasp and I don't think the author did either, and yet they couldn't do a background check on their dead loved one's assistant?!Not believable in the least and it was extremely annoying and belittling to the reader...to my intelligence.Personally, if the author would have had a background check and Chad knew about Miss Holt and where she came from and her past indiscretions it would have made for a much better and more realistic and believable love story. They would have had commonality which was never actually connected in the story (extreme sports were hinted at and that was it). Instead, their chemistry and relationship was a complete hit and miss.Even the intimate moments between the two of them were lacking.I'm sorry, but if you are writing romance and you expect to have the reader pulled into the story, and you want to get them all hot and bothered and anxious to turn the page, don't use clinical terms for the male and female anatomy. There are MANY romance specific terms available that will keep it from being DIRTY or VULGAR but won't have that clinical feel that completely disconnects the reader from the story/scene/moment/characters.The ending was extremely predictable and not at all believable...the last three chapters, honestly, made me want to put the book down and not care how it ended because it was figured out in the first 4 chapters. Also, the last chapter with Chad and Miss Holt was completely cut off at the knees. It was as if the author said, "The word count is up there, let's wrap it." There was no closure, no real direction, nothing that would leave the reader saying OH MY GOD! I  CAN'T WAIT TO SEE THEIR BABIES. THEIR WEDDING. WHAT HIS FAMILY THINKS OF HER. Nothing. It was just CUT and THE END.Very amateurish, even for a series you have to have a ending to each book.Overall, the only reason why I am giving this book two stars instead of one is because it wasn't too terribly bad in the editing department. There were things here and there, as with all self-published books nowadays, so the additional star was for making an attempt at editing it.Would I read the next book by this author?No, not a chance.Would I recommend this book or the author to others?No. There is nothing about the writing that is enthralling, captivating, stimulating, or not predictable.