Review: What am I Missing?
Rating: 1 out of 5
Date: 06 13, 2013
Did I read the same little story as all the 4- and 5-star reviewers?  This is a short story (prequel) to other stories, with the back story of Emma and Aidan.  This little story is, from what I can tell, one giant spoiler for the other books, and frankly, doesn't really stand alone all that well.My main problem with The Party, however, was simply that it was just so coarse!  I'm not averse to some steamy sex, and I'm aware that a lot of people swear, but the fact that the hero and his buddies are referred to (more than once) as "manwhores" was more than a little off-putting.  Within the first few paragraphs we get Aidan and his "f*** buddy".  Nice.  Aidan and his equally trashy friends at the party just seemed to be over the top, I-can-write-just-as-nasty-as-50-Shades to me.Then there's Emma, the heroine, who's still carrying a torch for her fiancé, five years after his death.  Tragic, yes, I understand that.  But it borders on creepy and obsessive that she's still holding "celebration of life" parties five years later and hasn't moved on.  Throw in the "dry humping" incident with her gay friend (the guy she asks to father the baby she wants) and I kept asking myself what was wrong with the people who were raving about this author's work.  I've read samples of the other books, and they seem to be equally coarse and absurdly dramatic (in one of the others, Aidan's girlfriend cheats, but he and his father keep it a secret and allow Aidan's mother to "sing Amy's praises" -- WHO DOES THAT????).I very seldom leave negative reviews, and have never left a 1-star review before, but I felt so strongly about this one that I felt it was necessary.  I wouldn't recommend this book (or any other by this author) to anyone I know.