Review: Fun, short read if you have an hour to fill (3.5 stars)
Rating: 3 out of 5
Date: 08 10, 2011
This was a cute little novella. For me, 3.5 stars means it's worth a read, but it would be something I might borrow instead of buy myself. Full disclosure: a romance novella has to be absolutely fantastic for it to get a really good rating for me. With such limited space, the author really has to work to give me some type of satisfying character / relationship development.This is my first Karen Erickson read and I was definitely interested enough to want to browse through her other works. She's a good writer and there was some nice chemistry between Julia and Garrett. It was a little hotter and more modern in terms of the sex conversation, and the plot does revolve around them wanting to start a purely sexual relationship with one another and then both falling in love. Nonetheless, this did not read like a romantica/erotica and I would not classify it as such. The relationship begins as a lust-based one, though there is mutual respect and liking from the beginning, and because it's a novella most of what we is their sexual relationship, however it still does fill the erotica checklist and is relatively tame in comparison.As a rule, I hate instant-attraction lust-based one-night-stand romances (especially for HRs) - unless they're romantica/erotica - but here I didn't have as much of a problem with it. Neither Garrett nor Julia "plays games" (not really enough pages for that, but anyway ;-) and Julia's vulnerability and unfulfilled desires feel very authentic. They both come off as mature adults, which was a nice change from some of the recent romances I've read. I loved it when Garrett started to get possessive of her and that when he confronts her with his feelings, she doesn't pull a ploy of making something up to put him off, but rather tells him the real reasons she thinks that they would not suit: she's older than him, she probably can't have children, etc. Again, great show of maturity.What was missing for me was a fuller picture. I wanted more of the background on Julia and Garrett's previous relationship as family friends and wanted more of their individual character history. Because it's so short and everything happens so quickly, I didn't feel like we ever really got to know them as individuals.BOTTOM LINE:Not a must-read by any means, but a pleasant story if you have an hour to fill. I liked it for what it was and think the author has talent; am hoping she has some longer works already published that I can enjoy.* This review is of an advance reading copy provided by Carina Press through NetGalley.