Review: Cute story
Rating: 3 out of 5
Date: 07 1, 2013
Purely Relative is probably a great follow-up novella to the first in the series, P.U.R.E. by Claire Gillian.  Unfortunately, I went in a little blind to the backstory, because I didn't read the first one, and therefore, didn't know the characters.  This isn't really a bad thing though, because Purely Relative read just fine as a standalone novella (although I still recommend you read the first one - it sounds like there was action and hijinks).Gayle is a likable protagonist: she's funny and witty, and definitely self-deprecating in her sense of humor.  She definitely looks at the funny side of things, and as her author, Claire Gillian tells her story with a lot of banter and funny.  She's the kind of character that someone like me (sometimes offensive, often inappropriate) can totally relate to,  because she's the same way.She's also a total nympho, which leads to laughs, often.Jon is more reserved, but he plays the typical male role well, and Gillian writes him rather well, if cliche, as the bumbling boyfriend who doesn't talk, is over-protective and would beat up any man who looked at his woman wrong.  Oh, and who also likes to have a lot of sex, often.These two had so much sex, I'm surprised they were still able to walk by the end!  As Amanda said in her review of Tammy Faulkner's novel, The Magic of "I Do," some authors write steam and some write sex.  I think Purely Relative was more on the sex side than the steam side and I personally prefer steam to sex, although I'm not opposed to sex at all.  But I want it to leave me breathless at the end of the scene, much like the characters, and I didn't personally feel that in Purely Relative. But their sexual hijinks (and references to hijinks past) made me laugh!I did not feel like the book read right for their ages.  They are supposedly in their 20s, but I was reading them as if they were in their early 30s.  The tonality of their characters just didn't fit with 20-somethings for me.  That sometimes threw me off, but overall, it wasn't a large issue, just a minor complaint.  Although if their tone didn't convey their age, their sex-drive certainly did!I enjoyed the dynamic with Jon's family, it reminded me very much of my own: loud, obnoxious, over-bearing, and very, very Italian.  I guess that's just how we roll.The novella ends on a very good note, and this is one for the HEA fans.  I think romance junkies should pick up the first and this one as well, because it's a cute contemporary read.