Review: Not a bad book but falls flat
Rating: 3 out of 5
Date: 01 12, 2014
Reviewed by JenBook provided by the author for reviewReview originally posted at Romancing the BookAs I’m sitting at my computer trying to write this review, I’m finding it hard to put my words on “paper”. As much as I wanted to like this book, in some ways it fell flat for me and lessened my reading enjoyment. That said, it wasn’t a bad book, but perhaps just wasn’t my cup of tea.I think a big part of my discontent was that I found it hard to like Mary. And if I’m not liking the main characters, I’m not invested in the story and therefore not enjoying the book. From the blurb, we know that Mary is stranded in South America after her deadbeat boyfriend abandons her without any money or means to get home. At this point, I think just about any of us would be a bit whiny. But it felt that it just kept on going. She finally got a grip about 2/3 of the way through the book, just in time to fall in love and then start acting a little irrational when it came to Paulo.Paulo was more likable, but I felt he was unrealistic. I suppose when reading romances, we want those kinds of heroes, but something was just off for me. He just seemed too accommodating to a complete stranger; too good to be true in general. He had some flaws, but they were very minor and overcome by the end of the book.And then there’s the plot. Mary’s stranded in South America, because her boyfriend lost in a high stakes poker game and basically gambled her away. Paulo “wins” her and tries to make amends. But there’s a bad guy who is mad that Paulo won the game and is now threatening both Paulo and Mary. Not bad, but it’s pretty thin. And it’s resolved too easily. I would have liked to have seen the book beefed up a little to develop the characters and plot more… and the romance as well. I never got that real feeling of falling in love. There was lust and then bam… the “I Love Yous.” In fact, through much of their courtship Mary and Paulo were barely talking to each other.As I said, it wasn’t a bad book. In fact, I’m giving Katheryn Lane another try by reading The Royal Sheihk, with hopes that the development is a little stronger.