Review: Trying too hard to do too much
Rating: 3 out of 5
Date: 05 7, 2013
**I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.**I was attracted to this book right off the bat because of the beautiful cover. However, the cover ended up not being relevant to the story at all, and the book fell short of my expectations.This could have been a really good action-packed story with a large dose of romance thrown in. However, there were too many times that the story jumped from place to place, and I would get lost, and it would all just lose momentum for me. There were too many characters to keep track of, and towards the end of the story a major player resurfaces, and for the life of me, I couldn't remember him - and he was supposedly the best friend of the main male character. I think the story definitely would have flowed better and been easier to follow if the cast had been streamlined.At the heart of the story were the two main characters of Leo and Charly, both determined to seek revenge on people who had wronged them. Kenya Carlton was able to make the two story line plot work, but both stories were so good that I wish they would have each been given more time to develop. Really, I wish that the two plots could have been split into two different books so that I didn't have to keep switching back and forth while reading. I felt like one was always distracting me from the other, if that makes sense. By splitting the two plots into two separate books, they could have really been fleshed out and I feel like the stories would have grown into something great. The idea was there, but the execution was a little lacking for me.I loved the character of Charly. She is the epitome of a strong, alpha woman who don't need no man to take care of her. So, I sort of had a problem with how she allowed Leo to manhandle her. I know that they were supposed to have all of this crazy sexual tension between the two of them, but it didn't seem realistic to me. For 99% of the book, it seemed like they didn't even like each other - and the interactions they did have consisted of either them arguing or having sex. There was no gradual development of their relationship - no building blocks put in place to make the ending of the story seem in any way plausible.Overall, the book was well written, and I did enjoy reading it. I just wish it would have lived up to my high expectations. I will definitely pick up another Kenya Carlton book and give it a try.