Review: Cornucopia of emotions weaved together with lots of quick wit!
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 07 17, 2013
<i> I was given a copy from the author in exchange for an honest review. </i>If you asked me this morning what I was expecting to think after reading <i> Perfecting the Odds</i>; I would have told you something along the lines of- "probably just another story where the heroine's heart would be torn to pieces as the love of her life slips away and she finds herself in another's arms. With some steamy sex scenes thrown in, perhaps."<b>Facepalm</b>… damn was I wrong!After reading the blurb, I was intrigued by the story line. However, I didn't know what  to expect so kept my expectations minimal. Brenna St. Clare did an impeccable job building this story as well as the characters. After reading her bio, I am not one bit surprised that she, too, was an English teacher I really enjoyed how well she integrated literature into the story. The poems and verses she referred to fit perfectly!I found myself laughing out loud as I read (which also earned a few questioning glances from my hubby lol). I think the ice cream date scene was when I'd laughed most. So much wit and sexual innuendos; I loved it! On a personal note: wet nuts?! Is that a regional thing? Because over here in New England, I'm surrounded by ice cream shops and have never seen that on the toppings list ;pOkay, back to the story. I don't know how to explain the progression of the book; it wasn't rushed, but it also wasn't dragged out for pages and pages. It just flowed; flawlessly in my opinion. I never found myself bored or waiting for the next shoe to drop. It all just came naturally. I don't know how to explain it other than it was definitely refreshing compared to novels I've read recently.The only thing that I didn't care for was the perspective. Now, this is purely my opinion based on the writing. It has nothing to do with the story itself and didn't sway my rating by any means. I just was kind of thrown by the use of third person perspective with two character voices. I'm used to first person since third is less commonly used. I had a hard time deciphering who was speaking; Karlis or Michael. Also, a few flashbacks confused me and I had to reread to figure out where it began and where it ended. Again, just my perception issues.Usually I have a hard time connecting with characters that are 30+ considering I'm only 22 and have sisters that age. However I had no problem connecting in this case. A lot of things about this book surprised me. Not only just the story and characters, but the novel as a whole! Needless to say, <i> Perfecting the Odds</i> was a breath of fresh air. Beautiful, emotional, hilarious, shocking... the list goes on!