Review: Good beginning but irritating in the final analysis
Rating: 3 out of 5
Date: 10 4, 2012
**********Content:  Explicit sex, various cuss words and profanity.**********Just barely 3 stars. Sorry to say, I liked Ruthie Knox's first book MUCH better:Ride with Me: A Loveswept Contemporary Romance. This book started off superbly, but in the end I found it absurdly melodramatic, with wildly shifting character portrayals, concluding with ridiculously improbable plot contortions.But still okay. Knox writes well, with sexy love scenes, tender moments and flowing dialogue. I really liked the beginning of this book. It was the best part, up through the first third of the book. I loved how sexy and tender Nev was with his Mary Catherine.The 3rd person POV shifted around from Nev to Cath, which I appreciate.Character flaws: In a romance novel, I need to sympathize with and/or admire the hero and heroine. At first I liked Mary Catherine a lot -- someone I would want to hang with. But by the end, she sympathized too much with herself, holding her old wounds close, and glorifying her tragic past with tattoos. She blamed Nev (aka City) for not believing in her, when SHE had been the one to replace real intimacy with sex. For 75% of the book, she kept secrets from her lover, never revealing her horribly sad past, even though he asked. Instead, she replaced emotional bonding with sex. Lots and lots of sex.Meanwhile, I liked Nev, but halfway through, he slipped out of character. At first, he seemed strong yet tender, and totally devoted to Cath. Then, he became a momma's boy and a wuss. The worst was when he...(SPOILERS AHEAD!!)...used Cath to get a promotion at work. In order to be promoted at the bank, he needed to be engaged within a month (that old trope). So what does he do? He takes Catherine home to the family mansion and presents her to his aristo parents as his wife, and he doesn't even tell her why he asked her to play along wih the charade. So....he loved her and wanted to marry her, but thought nothing of falsely presenting her to his family as his wife to secure the position at the bank?? And when the s*** hit the fan, he stood there lamely, and did not defend her to his family.  I was puzzled by this -- so weak, deceptive, totally out of character for the Nev I knew.Annoying scene: At the bus stop outside the family pile, Cath rips off her shirt in front of old ladies, a man, and a teenage boy (!!!) so she can wallop Nev with her tale of woe, and bludgeon him with guilt for all she suffered in her past? Each tattoo on her back and tummy reminds her of a big screw up in her life.  In this scene, Mary Catherine becomes an even greater prima donna: Melodramatic and self-absorbed, even a little vindictive towards Nev. The whole bus stop scene was in poor taste -- I lost sympathy for her, when originally I was in her court.Two eye-rolling improbabilities towards the end:1)  I could not believe Nev could a) find a venue for his new art gallery, b) remodel and paint it, c) advertise his first-ever art show, AND d) paint 5 huge (!!!) show-ready paintings of Cath in a MONTH (!!!)  in time for opening night at the art gallery -- his way to win Cath back. All of this was conceptualized and accomplished in 30 days?  I think not. Not even for the rich.  And over the top. It did nothing for me.2)  Meanwhile, from her hurt pride, Cath convinces the museum director to REFUSE a DONATION of $100,000.00 from a respected art patron??  Bloody not gonna happen! In what reality?? Total nonsense.Hardly any humor in the book. For a fun and sexy read, I HIGHLY recommend Knox's first book,Ride with Me: A Loveswept Contemporary Romance*****