Review: Easy beach read with a bit of a bite
Rating: 3 out of 5
Date: 01 22, 2014
Hemphill Towers tells the story of three female co-workers that are also close friends. Riley, Stella and Birdie work for the same marketing firm. A girls night out results in three romantic liaisons. Thus starts a whirlwind tale of wine forgery, stalking and romance.Hemphill Towers is a quick, easy read: a light, enjoyable read for an afternoon spent sunbathing on the beach. Pence’s story is very elaborate and keeps the reader interested  until a happy conclusion has been reached for each of the heroines.Pence is a great storyteller and, as many great storytellers, she has the tendency to tell the reader instead of show the reader. There are thus a vast number of characters and storylines in this novel. There could easily be a novel for each of the three main female characters. Instead, there are three novel-length stories crammed into one book. The reader is thus bombarded with information in order for the three stories to come to a happy ending. Unfortunately, despite the vast amount of information, there is a lack of small, realistic details, which made the story feel unauthentic. Pence didn’t manage to capture the essence of the settings of Chicago, Italy or Spain. The dialogue felt flat and unrealistic.I recommend this book for lovers of the romance genre that are looking for a story with a bit more bite to it.*I received a free copy of this book from the author in return for an honest review.*