Review: Fantastic debut from an author to watch!
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 07 7, 2014
4.5 stars. I received an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review. This review appears in my Goodreads profile and a more detailed review is at my blog, In Patti's Imagination.There were a lot of things to like about this story and I'm looking forward to reading more from Stephanie Reid. Her style appeals to me and I wouldn't have guessed this was her first published novel if I didn't know it to be true. Certainly I've read more seasoned work that didn't come close to this level.The high points for me? There were several twists that I thought helped make the story more powerful and more interesting. I won't give them away because I think that they're not completely obvious and not everyone likes spoilers. And the other high point for me was Mac. He was a great hero - one of my favorite types, a uniformed alpha with a big heart and a big sexual appetite. Did I mention he's hot? Or that the love scenes were fan-worthy? Like all great male leads, Mac boosted the story for me.I think the Goodreads (and Amazon) ratings should allow for half-stars, because I 'really liked it' is pretty spot on, but since this is her first novel, I think she deserved an extra half-star for the quality. However, it's hard for me to rate a book as 'it was amazing' (Goodreads terms)(or in the case of Amazon, I love it) when that wasn't my feeling, and the review is supposed to be honest.And as an aside, to those of you who get snarky about these things, yes, I rate my own books at 5 stars. If I don't feel they're that good, then why would you bother? I'm also intimately connected to my own characters, so I don't need someone else to make me fall in love with them. I'm already there. Anyone who reads my reviews knows that characters draw me to a story more than anything else. In this particular story, I was drawn to Mac but less so to Emily or the secondary characters, and that's a big part of why 'I liked it' versus 'it was amazing'.I really enjoyed the book and can't wait to hear more from Stephanie. I predict great things in her future!