Review: hard to read
Rating: 2 out of 5
Date: 06 18, 2013
2 caveats I must make:1) this may contain some spoilers and2) I didn't finish this book. I got halfway through before I just couldn't continue with it anymoreIs this a cliched premise? Hard core alpha bad boy falls for hardworking good girl who heals him and opens up his heart? Absolutely. But can it be done well? Of course. I don't have a problem with cliched premises at all. In fact, I very much enjoy the good girl who heals the bad boy books. So when I read the summary and all the good reviews, I immediately one clicked and settled in to read this.I didn't get very far...only about halfway through. Perhaps the latter half of the books is phenomenal in all ways, but I had a really hard time just getting through the first half and just couldn't take it anymore. Why?* the writing is very awkward and stilted. There's a lot of internal monologues going on, but it doesn't flow well. A lot of it is just a character rambling on and on and is somewhat hard to follow. I agree with a previous reviewer who said the writing seemed British. I have no problem with British writing - but this just seemed very forced - as if a Brit was trying too hard to make this sound American. There was some slang and usage of words that just seemed...misplaced. Overall - this was an awkward read that just didn't flow well.* the characters are very juvenile. Also, very one dimensional. I know that they're meant to have deep, dark and tortured back stories, but somehow, neither the H nor the h seemed to have any depth. They seem very much like cardboard cut out characters and I just couldn't connect with either of them. I know these types of tropes generally start out with a love/hate relationship - especially as the h is trying very hard to resist the H and puts him in his place in a sassy way. But this just didn't work well here. I don't know if it was the dialogue or their internal monologue (he's so devilishly handsome and sexy but I hate him! I HATE him! But I must $*%& him! But I still hate him!), but I wanted to slap them. The OW (the villainess) seemed like a cartoon character. It came off as very high school. High school on TV that is, not high school in real life.* the rambling. oh, the rambling. There's a lot of rambling going on in the heads of all the characters - even minor ones who don't really play a role in the story. A lot of this rambling is about how hot the h is and describing her physical attributes - over, and over. There's rambling about her body in the heads of her gym trainer, the gay dresser, the boss, the boss' wife, the wannabe boyfriend (not the H), the other ring girls...this is just at 50%.* (spoiler!) I don't like my heroines to sleep around. Especially after they've met the H. While I don't need them to be sweet and virginal and pure as the driven snow, I don't need scenes describing them getting it on with someone who isn't the H. It's just icky and uncomfortable in a ROMANCE novel. If you don't like this to happen in your books and it's a deal breaker - yeah...this book has the heroine getting it on with another guy. Uh...no.I hate to give this such a low rating. I know that just publishing a book is an incredible feat and something that I could never aspire to do - but when you have a limited amount of time to read for pleasure - you want to be immersed in a story. Ultimately, when I read a book, it's a matter of how immersed I am in what's going on, how invested I become in the characters and what happens to them. Sadly, this didn't happen in this book - I just didn't care about them. I'd be jerked out of the story by the stilted writing, the awkward dialogue, hard to understand long winded ramblings, or just the unbelievably juvenile actions of the characters. This is subjective though - so what doesn't work for me may very well work for you.