Review: Harlequin book that HAD gone bad
Rating: 2 out of 5
Date: 08 20, 2012
The premise and basic plot for this book is not incredibly unique or creative.  Billionaire older brother kidnaps the wrong sister when he tries to save his playboy younger brother from making a big "mistake."  If you've ever read any Harlequin books, this premise will be very familiar.  However, whereas Harlequin books are edited and the plot generally follows in a concise manner, this book was unedited and all over the place in terms of character development, plot development, and writing style.I won't reiterate what many of the other posters stated regarding the incorrect and ubiquitous use of the word "had."  It starts in Chapter One and continues until the end.  Having been forewarned, I didn't try to make sense of it when I first came across it.  Because, when you first see the incorrect use of "had" you wonder if the character is having a flashback or something.  Then you realize, no, we are not going back in time; the author just didn't take any writing classes.  I ended up not even reading the "had" and automatically changing the sentence structure in my mind as I read it.So why is this a Harlequin book gone bad?  Because so much of the plot and characters just reeks of the typical Harlequin plot, but without the Harlequin delivery.  So much so, that it makes me wonder if this author was an avid Harlequin reader who one day decided to try her own hand at writing.  And I say this because I've read so many books that I've thought maybe I can write one too.  Only to realize that there is big difference between editing/critiquing/reviewing, and actually authoring a book.  As the other posters stated, an editor would have done this book a great deal of service.  Aside from the "had" issue, a good editor could have pointed out that the plot does not flow naturally, that the characters are just not developed enough (either make them very basic cookie cutter characters, or really flush them out), and just the general movement of the plot is entirely unbelieveable.Example: After kidnapping Diona, Nikias spends time with her going snorkeling and showing her around his island, etc., etc.  Now, if he was really the ruthless b**#$%&d; that the author tries to convey him as, then he would have completely ignored her while he continued with his own playboy ways.  I also find it unbelieveable that this brilliant self-made shipping tycoon didn't do the basic investigation necessary to know that Daryle had an older sister who was a nurse.  If you're going to spy on little brother, then do it properly.I'm glad the book was free, otherwise I would have felt ripped off. In fact, I still feel that the author should be paying the reviewers for the free editing critiques that we offer.