Review: Tasty Tale for Any Time of the Year
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 04 21, 2014
Really fun, spicy little read. Siobhan (which name I always struggle with in my head, over the pronunciation) is a fairly mature 25, left broken-hearted after seasoned veteran batting coach Jake has loved her and left her at season's end.What I liked: Siobhan's no pushover, and despite Jake having (presumably) much more sexual experience than he does, she still manages to take him by surprise. Loved the angle with the grown daughter playing matchmaker, and the fancy costumes at the ball. What I didn't like: The Magic Vagina. Too many references to how he felt something special for her at the moment he was inside her. [SPOILER ALERT] I also am not a fan of the we-used-protection-but-we're-still-accidentally-pregnant trope, but could swallow it better, EXCEPT for the emphasis on how Siobhan never for a moment considered anything but having the baby. This is a pet peeve of mine; regardless of whether you are pro-choice or not, regardless of whether you live in an era where abortion is legal or not, EVERY woman who's faced with an unplanned pregnancy considers abortion. She might consider it briefly, and immediately rule it out, and I am fine with that, but if I am told by the author it never crossed her mind, then I feel like either the character is an idiot, OR the author is pandering to the pro-life crowd. (See, this character might love sex but she's still a "good girl.") In any event, it draws more attention to the idea than simply letting the reader assume the character did her deliberating in private; it's like the author telling me "she never considered becoming a trapeze artist," I am taken out of the story. [END SPOILER]I also found some of the transitions between present day and the past jarring. There was a really nice one where it was *present day* Thanksgiving and Siobhan is seated on a barstool, then a flashback chapter to *two months earlier* when she's seated on the same barstool. But then the next chapter also starts with a *present day* tag and I expect it's still Thanksgiving and she's still on the barstool, but it's now December and she's at the ball in costume. Took me a few headshakes to figure out when/where we were.I really liked the way Jake had come to realize his feelings and continue to pursue a reconciliation with Siobhan without crossing the line into creepy stalker, and I adored the Christmas tree he chose because it needed somebody to love it. Great HEA, smokin' hot sex scenes, overall I did like it very much.