Review: Not What I Expected
Rating: 3 out of 5
Date: 05 5, 2011
After reading 'Knowing Caleb' which I absolutely loved, I decided to explore more of this author's work. ReneCade didn't impress the way the first book did. I had a few problems. Ren and Cade come together fairly early in the book which was fine, but then the sex got repetitive and plot took a backseat for a few chapters.  Ren and Cade were interchangeably strong and insecure/needy, sometimes all within a matter of sentences.  Sometimes I couldn't figure exactly what they were angsting over as the conclusion they would draw from each other's actions didn't seem logical. The angst just seemed to be fabricated and drawn out for no good reason.  Cade's inability/unwilligness to forgive Ren's transgression, or even accept a portion of the blame, did not endear me to him.  Why he needed six months to forgive and fully commit to Ren after a) being so distraught when he thought Ren was hurt, b) having Ren wait on him hand and foot after HE was hurt, and c) after the scene with Ren's mother, was just beyond my comprehension and absolutely ridiculous.As far as characters went, I couldn't really get a handle on each of their personalities. With the exception of Cade being 'by the book' and a neat freak, they were pretty interchangeable emotionally, especially in the bedroom.Speaking of the bedroom (or anywhere else they had sex), I have never in my life seen characters talk as much during sex as this author's.  It bugged me slightly in "Knowing Caleb" but she really went to town here. I'm not talking post-coital pillow talk. I'm talking full fledged paragraphs of dialogue during the act. In one scene Cane actually orgasmed while Ren was still talking and I had to laugh because umm yeah, I don't need your damn life history!  Actually it's not just during sex, reading some of the dialogue will leave you breathless; there is just too much dialogue lumped together in one go. It just didn't feel natural.  And much of what they said was so flowery, I had to keep looking at the cover to remember that they were supposed to be men and not simpering schoolgirls.There were parts of the book that I did like and I actually cared for the characters, but surprisingly not the couple I was supposed to. I had a real soft spot for Ren/Tex. IMO, even though they were 'just' best friends and their sexual relationship was unbalanced in the beginning, they grew as individuals and were the only people who truly loved each other unconditionally. The fact that they had to go their separate ways to appease their respective spouses spoke volumes, both about their relationshp and the relationships they had with their spouses. At least Cane recognized that there was something very wrong with that.All in all this is an ok read.  I put it down a few times mostly because of Cade whom I truly rooted for in the beginning but who the author made unlikeable.  There are some strong points but this isn't a book I'll be reading again...or one I would recommend. Instead, I would suggest the following (also by Cameron Dane) -1) Knowing Caleb2) A Fostered Love3) Grey's Awakening (Cabin Fever)