Review: Some good ideas over a very classic frame
Rating: 2 out of 5
Date: 06 22, 2014
Losing Control starts with a serious handicap: it tackles one of the most overused tropes in contemporary romance.✓ She's a poor Cinderella type, but thank God, totally beautiful;✓ He's a billionaire with a little bit of a dark side and overprotective tendencies, and he's basically a greek God.✓ He falls for her instantly.✓ Hot sex and some insignificant conflict ensues.In this regard, Losing Control fills each check box with diligent efficiency:✓ A virtuous heroine with a sob back story (mom has cancer, heroine has dyslexia so she can't have a great job, heroine takes care of her mom and becomes socially isolated, hospital bills pile up, forcing the heroine to work for a douchey relative who intents to sell her body ... The usual, except for the dyslexia, which is a great idea and a touch of originality I really enjoyed.✓ Countless depictions of just of staggeringly rich and perfect Ian is (not a single flaw. I dare you to find one). Character flaw? He's generous and overprotective, and oh, he likes to have things his way.✓ Instant attraction between them (actual instant attraction, I'm not using any shortcut, here)✓ So much sexual tension that I'm actually surprise there's build up toward the first complete sexual encounter. The build does feel a bit artificial, but it is there.So, is it good? Not so much, in my humble opinion. Losing Control does seem to make an attempt at rising above the trope it is based on, but never manages. The heroine is too goody-two-shoes, the sick too sweet, the hero too perfect. Jen Frederick gives me the impression that she didn't dare giving her main characters any flaws, for fear they might become unlikeable, but in the end, it is that lack of asperities that makes them a bit annoying.Another aspect that bother me a little is the—once again overused—cliché of the billionaire who wants to take control of the heroine's life, buy her clothes, an apartment, pay for her mother's bill, which create some conflict as the heroine accepts the gifts but feels socially diminished by them, since she's losing her independence. It's not the worst conflict, but God, enough with all those overly kind and domineering billionaires already! :)The bad guys are pretty standard too and I felt the story lacked conflict: kind of like the author was forcing some sort of plot to avoid admitting that well, yeah, she's poor, he's gonna take care of her in every aspect like a dream prince charming and uh ... that's it. The blurb suggested strong conflict and much darker hero, when Ian is in fact so quick to fall in love and devote himself completely that it doesn't feel very realistic.Story wise, the last point that put me off were the sex scenes. Nothing again some hotness, but this was porn, in the truest sense of the word: I'm not complaining that the sex scenes were explicit, I'm complaining that they described with disturbing precision porn movies scenarios and positions. That might be my personal taste speaking, but for example, that scene when the heroine is eager to perform fe***tio and d**p-thr**ting on her knees, before being rewarded with what can only be called a f**ial ... That didn't feel very romantic or titillating. Same went for the constant brutal fin***ing. It was your basic porn script.In the same vein, each sex scene included some extensive dirty talk that was very off-putting. I cringed more than once at those long tirades during which she asks him to make her see stars with his cosmic salami, and he tells her that he's going to bang her so hard that she'll [never walk again / feel it for weeks / pass out / insert excessive sexual promise here]Execution-wise, the writing is okay, but lacks in editing: some missing words, awkward sentences and repetition here and there. The pacing is sound enough, you will not get bored by overly drawn-out scenes.Overall, I recognize an earnest attempt here (otherwise I wouldn't have finished it and taken the time to critique), but I feel it lacked originality, and used too many clichés. I'll still check Jen Frederick, though, because the Hit Man series is fun and shows that she does have the ability to build more compelling worlds, and original characters.