Review: Very sweet story
Rating: 2 out of 5
Date: 11 1, 2013
This is a good, sweet story. It is apparently a first book for the authors, and there are good and bad notes.The good:The story is very successful in a Harlequin romance way.The characters are sweet. There is a bad girl and a bad guy;  supportive, loving family and friends; life threatening climax.And a hero who is head over heels in love with the heroine.Lots of sex.The bad:We are left in no doubt about the authors' political views. The first 25% of the book, is preachy as the scenes and story unfold. Very preachy. Thankfully, this is less "in your face" for the rest of the book.The writing lacks intensity and is awkward. It is probably just a temporary problem, resolved with experience, but from the authors' biographies, they each have a background in English and education. I don't understand why these particular problems exist within this book.For example:Rather than narration. Pause. We get direction.I am not kidding. "Pause" is used exactly that way, CONSTANTLY through the book. Pause. I don't understand. Pause.  They should be better with words and narration than that.Second, the narrative is awkward in many places. Every time reference has an "or so" attached to it. As in "she spent thirty minutes or so doing her hair and makeup", and  "we'll be there in ten minutes or so". The "or so" attached to every time reference is awkward.Verb tenses change mid-paragraph and mid-sentence.As I said, the writing lacks intensity. I think this was the reason it was difficult to get involved in the story and characters and lose myself in both. The sex scenes are explicit, but they are not compelling. (Given what is actually happening, they should be intense).Don't misunderstand. I will try a sample of future books in the series. The authors have set up several possible books with the secondary characters and their interactions.