Review: awkwardly written, and the story falls flat
Rating: 2 out of 5
Date: 07 17, 2013
I admit that I thought the premise of this book was a bit corny (seriously, knowing that someone is THE ONE after seeing them, but not exchanging a single word?!) but I thought I'd give it a chance.I am baffled by the author's choice to write the entire book using present tense.  I felt as though I were reading a stiff commentary rather than a novel.  It's overly wordy, and sometimes the words themselves are awkwardly used, like a student trying to make himself sound smarter rather than a published author.  A few examples:"Celeste finds it very easy to get to know Stephen's close-knit family and finds out that he is the only boy of four children and the only one, save one sister who is not yet married.  The one sister who is not yet married is engaged and currently making wedding plans with the help of her fiancé and their families." (location 1580)"Celeste is glad that Stephen had forewarned her about the snowy conditions when she watches out the window as her plane swoops in low for the landing.  She prays silently that God will not allow her plane to go careening off the runway into a snowy bank.God grants her petition and the plane is brought to a smooth landing and pulls up slowing to the disembarking ramp." (location 1761)"Celeste resides herself to obedience and turns to go retrieve the ring from where she placed it on her desk. Returning with the ring to stand in front of him she begins to place it on her finger.But Stephen removes it from her hand and tips her chin to look into her eyes. 'Never, and I do mean never, remove this from your hand again. Do I make myself clear?'It's not like Celeste to take orders from anyone, let alone a man. But knowing that all this is her fault, she decides it's better to accept his soft chastening. 'I promise.' " (location 2276)There are many places where the improper word is used (resides for resigns in the passage above, peaked/piqued, affect/effect) and numerous formatting errors (line breaks, paragraph spacing, etc.).Overall, I felt no connection with these characters.  I skimmed through the last half of the book just so that I could honestly say I read the whole thing.  The last scene I quoted from was very poorly written, and felt like a stereotypical controlling man giving orders.Even as a freebie, this book is not worthwhile.