Review: ok but not the best KA i've read
Rating: 3 out of 5
Date: 12 4, 2013
Jagged. Kristen AshleyReview from Jeannie Zelos Book Reviews.My first KA novel was the wonderful Knight, got it free in the days I first had my kindle – and that's still my favourite. I've bought several since then with mixed feelings. I love some of them, they have for me the perfect balance of storyline, emotion with highs and lows, and yet a couple of them I just haven't really gelled with. This is one such :( It's as always well written, but the characters and story just didn't cut it somehow for me.I liked Zara, hard-working and able to stand up for herself those are KA ladies I like best, not the twee man-dependent ones that sometimes creep in. Zara had suffered such a lot I really felt for her but yet it was almost too much. You know the way its bad luck after bad luck after bad luck? With such good friends she'd managed to cope but it still felt a little too much for me. Then there's Ham, KA heroes all seem to come from the same mould, strong, tall and built, hairy, ( I can't think of any I’ve read that weren't almost gorilla sounding!) and they seem to have the same abbreviated language, along with a perception that they are right. Always. No questions asked – OK so they are always right, but this time the way all these people just fall in with Hams suggestions got a bit irritating. Zara's friends gave him the “I’m watching you “ speech, but in reality just went with the flow most of the time. Once Zara's family got involved the plot and people seemed to get very convoluted at times, and I think that’s where it began to fall apart for me. I did like the way Ham explained his feelings, and the way we were in Zara's head to see how she felt about issues. That's so real, that way one person means one thing, and the other takes it differently....and leads to many misunderstandings.Anyway, a decent romance, a slightly too convoluted plot for me, it felt a bit too contrived somehow, working too hard, overcomplicated. Good lead characters and the supporting cast of locals were OK, but overall this isn't going to be one of my favourites. I did feel emotion, but not the deep downs and highs that I've enjoyed from other KA books. That bit for instance in Mystery Man where Hawk has a change of heart, and breaks up with Gwen. I could have cried at the emotion there.... Its felt very smooth paced, rather than the ups and downs emotionally that I need. As always lots of hot sex scenes, but again no real surprises, nothing different and I began to skip them towards the end as not really adding anything to the story. Still, KA has legions of fans and I'm sure for many this will be another five star read. Just not me :(Stars: threeNB: ARC supplied via Netgalley