Review: An Insta-Love Romance That Falls Flat
Rating: 2 out of 5
Date: 05 28, 2013
What I only kinda/sorta liked:1. Hot lusty sex. Whew, aggressive sex, WITH consent, always rocks my socks. Ruby is sassy and fiercely independent. And while Troy seems like a passive, level-headed, sensible cop, he is uber aggressive and dominant in the bedroom. In fact, his dialogue made it seem like he wanted to screw her impertinent and and brazen behind right into submission. "You might get away with running that smart mouth to other people. But you won't get away with it here. If you continue to challenge me with eery word out of your mouth, I will f--- you repeatedly until you learn to play nice." Oh baby, oh baby - get me under the covers and strip me of my independence.2. Ruby was a struggling pool-shark that enrolls herself in college and has dreams of creating custom pool cues. She seems to have all the street smarts in the world but sleeps with a total random stranger...who happens to be a cop. At which point, she of course realizes that getting involved with a cop is a conflict of interest. Ok, she really doesn't because that would be the end of the book. Le sigh.3. Troy is a former Chicago copper (who is somehow not corrupt) that transfers to a different department in New York. He is mourning the death of his former partner (wonder at how he didn't have mandatory therapy or vacation), and risks his career and credibility by becoming involved with a hustler. Said hustler turns out to be involved in an investigation he's working on. Caution is thrown to the wind and romance ensues. *Scratches head*What I definitely didn't like:1. Too short to have any shot of being believable. I wish I had known I was reading a short story because this is clearly not a book.2. Insta-love. Insta-love. Insta-love. I loathe it. It reeks of laziness and a lack of imagination. Instead of creating a story in which the romance unfolds at a natural speed, the author decided to speed up the pace of a typical romance - TO ONE WEEK - -_- Right. Definitely believable. I like the element of fantasy in a romance but the logical side of my brain just couldn't be duped this time.3. Ruby was raised as the daughter of a con-man/hustler. She herself has been a hustler for years and associating with shady characters. Troy is a straight and narrow cop. They stumble into a relationship. Ok, I'm on board. They realize that there's a conflict of interest as Troy is investigating Ruby's former boss. Alright, Miss Bailey, I can still dig this. During the course of their magical sexcapade-turned-relationship, somehow Troy becomes increasingly upset at Ruby that she won't give up her dangerous lifestyle and completely trust him? He's asking this after only the 3rd or 4th day of knowing each other? No. No, Miss Bailey, this makes no sense. They've reached this pinnacle discussion of trust in their "relationship" in the span of...a week? At this point I just started laughing.This rates at 2 stars for me. But once I let go of my thoughts that Troy was using sex as a way to get Ruby to be less brazen and become more pliable to his requests, I gave it 3 stars for the caliente sex.