Review: Premise Better than Content
Rating: 2 out of 5
Date: 06 11, 2014
I was a bit disappointed by this book, which is why I rated it 2 stars.  I almost rated it three, because it's not that bad a book, but I think that certain things weren't handled very well, so I ended up deciding to rate it 2.  Really it's probably somewhere around 2 1/2.Darcy is a wonderful heroine, she's probably the best part of the book.  Yes, she's a little headstrong sometimes, but she's not DUMB like so many spanking heroines are.  She earns most of her spankings, but not because she's stupid.The main character I had a problem with was Will, because I wanted to like him, I really did, but he was not a good alpha male.  For one, he didn't even try to explain to Darcy what happened when she saw Priscilla kissing him.  Instead, he let his pride take over.  Searching around for his mother's ring was more important to him than the fact that he'd just hurt and embarrassed the woman he loves and was engaged to.  Then he acts like it's completely incomprehensible that she could be upset, even though it's not like he even attempted to set her straight.  Maybe she needed to have more trust in him, but he had way too much pride and he didn't act any better than she did.  The first time he spanks her it's done out of anger, in front of a witness, and he has NO RIGHT to because she's not his fiance anymore.  There's not even any trust between them because he STILL hasn't tried to explain what happened between him and Priscilla.He spends most of the book discounting Darcy, discounting her feelings, and discounting her abilities.  There are only a couple of times that he realizes he's wrong and admits it.  I had trouble believing any romantic tension between the two of them because he definitely didn't seem to care for her as the woman she was.The spankings scenes aren't exactly explicit, so if you're looking for a hot spanking story, this isn't it.  There are no real erotic scenes.  Both of which I'd be find with if the romance between the two main characters was better.  Even the side characters' romances aren't that interesting, because they happen so quickly and it's hard to believe how invested they are in each other.It doesn't help that the writing style is somewhat childish at times.  I rolled my eyes when the last sentence in the section written from the villain's POV was "He had no conscience!"  Umm.... gee thanks.  There's a lot of "telling" instead of "showing" in this book.Personally, I don't know if I would describe this book as a 'sweet' romance.  The sweetest romance in it was Brian and Priscilla's and their story is so short and uninvolved that it was hard for me to get emotionally invested.  I was much more invested in Darcy, but I didn't think that Will deserved her.  He stepped over his bounds with her, broke his promise never to spank her in front of someone else again, didn't apologize for breaking that promise, didn't even STOP spanking her when she reminded him on that promise, constantly disregarded or insulted her abilities, and overall just wasn't a very likable man.  I think she deserved better.I might try another one of Ms. Kay's books, because I did almost like this one, but if her male characters are all like Will in how they treat wonderfully strong, intelligent and fiery women like Darcy, then the next one I try will definitely be the last one.