Review: Fun, Flirty
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 04 27, 2011
This novella exemplifies the best purpose of a free sample book. Too frequently, the free ebooks disappoint with poor writing, unlikable characters, and tedious plots, so I tend to abandon them halfway through, or suffer bitter resentment from my time wasted reading to the end hoping for a satisfying conclusion that never comes. Then, occasionally, I am delighted by a gem. This short novel is one of those jewels. I saw it posted initially but didn't bother downloading it due to its single-at-the-time, one-star review. Then I read a short piece by the author on CNN concerning the romance genre; that article mentioned James was a professor of literature, and I decided to download and read the book, wondering whether the damaging review could be a bitter attack by a disgruntled student (lashing out at her professor for a bad grade?). This fanciful supposition seemed feasible after I actually read the story. The dialogue sparkles, the highly likable characters' internal thoughts are interesting and compelling--even the man who doesn't get the girl is intriguingly mysterious and at the end of the story, I wished for him to receive his comeuppance for his aloof and controlled demeanor (trading a fiancée for racing horses, albeit to someone who loves her) by falling painfully in love with a woman capable of breaking his heart. Another book? My only complaint is the rushed nature of the story. The plot is big enough to suit a full-length novel and, frankly, it feels truncated in its current form. Novellas are novellas because 20 pages is not enough for the story and 300 is too many. This story is not perfectly suited to being a novella.But, in the end, I want the freebies to introduce me to a writer's style, be a complete story (no lead in with cliff-hangers for the "real" book that I have to buy), and give me a few hours pleasure. This novella does all three. I look forward to reading other full-length work by the author, a result which I am sure will please her and her publishers.