Review: Branded by Gold
Rating: 3 out of 5
Date: 04 14, 2010
Book 1:  Men in Love seriesOn the run from her stepfather, Jenny Barnes wakes up in hospital to find the two men she's loved for years are with her. Her stepbrother, Jake, and his best friend and lover, Cree, have finally been called to her side after they spent years searching for her. But when they take Jenny home to their new ranch, even they can't keep her tormentor away. With the help of their ex-Seal buddies they set out to keep the love of their lives safe and to capture Jake's own father.WARNING:  This review contains spoilers*****************************************************************************************************************I found myself frustrated with this story.  The writing is tight and the storyline amazingly good.  I love the premise and the way the story builds from Jenny passing out on the street after being assaulted by her step-father to her living with her step-brother Jake and his best friend/lover, Cree, while continually being stalked by her step-father.  The characters are likable and come off as real rather than caricatures.What I had a problem with were Jenny's reactions after the abuse she suffered at her step-father's hands.**SPOILER ALERT**  **SPOILER ALERT**  **SPOILER ALERT**  **SPOILER ALERT**I found Jenny's physical reactions after being raped and tortured to be unrealistic.  When Cree surprises her in the kitchen by grabbing her from behind, Jenny's reaction is to 'almost' drop a roast.  Not yell.  Not scream.  Not try to fight.  I would have expected any of those reactions rather than the more mild "starting" that actually happened especially after 5 years of being on the run from her step-father.I also found it incredibly unrealistic that Jenny would be able to fight off her step-father while she was still fresh from a gunshot wound to her side.  I might have believed it had the author talked about adrenaline rush and gone on to talk about the pain of reopening a wound.  I also highly doubt that after all of that, Jenny would be in shape to have a wedding after only a week, let alone take a day to go shopping in the big city and have herself waxed 2 days before that.My last complaint concerns the language.  In a few places, I found the characters' conversation to be formal and more like what you would (pardon the pun) read in a book than what real people would say.  This is actually a very mild complaint since it's not through the entire book and really is just in a few places.**END SPOILER ALERT**  **END SPOILER ALERT**  **END SPOILER ALERT**  **END SPOILER ALERT**I gave this story 3 stars because I felt it was middle of the road with the issues I mentioned.  I think a quick re-write would make this a solid 5 star story and it has definitely made me want to check out the next story in the series, "Ben's Wildflower".