Review: Cute Situation but Uneven Execution
Rating: 3 out of 5
Date: 08 3, 2013
The novella is a deceptively difficult form to master. One one hand, it requires more character and plot development than a short story. On the other, the narrative arc has to be a lot tighter than you'd find in a full-length novel. A romance novella is especially difficult to pull off because there often isn't enough space for the main characters to be set up as three-dimensional individuals, develop a mutual attraction, negotiate the complications keeping them apart and, finally, come together in a realistic and satisfying conclusion.Author Madison Johns makes a good start by having her couple already know one another. Kimberly Steele, pregnant and unmarried, works for lawyer Jeremy Preston. In this way, the plot gets a neat jump start. Jeremy's client, the representative for a beauty product company, sees Kim and thinks she'd be a great spokes-model for their new perfume. This is where the plot starts to falter. Out of the blue, this interest makes Jeremy begin to see Kim in a new light and the great love chase begins.The problem is that instead of developing Jeremy fully and giving us a genuine basis for his attraction to Kim (and the necessary ingredients are there: she's attractive, kind, and a damsel in distress)the author throws in unrealistic complicating factors. First there's Clare, Jeremy's sort-of girlfriend. She's also Jeremy's employee...and also a model. Clare presents some sort of threat that never actually materializes. Yet Jeremy feels it necessary to propose to her to protect Kim. Then there's the false complication of Kim's pregnant-but-unmarried status being a danger to her reputation and that of the cosmetics company. Maybe in 1980. Not today. At the very least, Johns doesn't make the danger real. Either way, Jeremy uses this fear to "trick" Kim into marrying him. Of course, Kim is secretly in love with him. The basis for her feelings is never established. But--BOOM--a happy ending is enjoyed by all. The reader is left shaking her head and wondering how the heck we got from point A to point B.Johns does a pretty good job with Kim's character. She's funny and likable. I did get a surprise at the end when I found out she couldn't be older than nineteen or twenty. Her language and behavior make her seem older. Her young age also raises more questions about Jeremy's character. He seems in his mid-thirties, but that would make him a little old for Kim. Then again, maybe he isn't that old. These are details the author should have made clear early on.Again, I think the problem is the novella form rather than the story itself. Johns had a good romantic situation but not enough room to execute it effectively. The result is a full-length romance novel played on fast forward.