Review: Too good to be a short story!
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 02 16, 2013
I should start off by acknowledging that I don't like short stories/novellas; and in fact since I dislike them I usually don't read them. Generally speaking the characters tend to seem under-developed and the plot rushed. The only reason I decided to read this particular story is because it promised to deliver all the elements of my favorite Anne Stuart books and curiosity demanded that I check it out.All of my expectations were met. My main problem with the story and the reason for the lack of a 5 star review is that it was too short, the plot felt rushed and while I really liked the hero and heroine, I would have liked them to have more depth. Alistair had the makings of my favorite kind of hero, hard and cold on the outside with a touch of dissolute evilness clinging to him yet harboring an almost desperate vulnerablity on the inside. He was not so bad as to be irredeemable, yet he was bad enough not to be the worst kind of hero ever - the "faux bad boy". He also scored extra points for not being a whore in real time; meaning once the heroine arrived on the scene. Just a personal preference but I prefer my heroes to be so taken with their designated love interest that all thoughts of sex with other women simply pale in comparison.As far as the heroine is concerned I liked her quite a bit as well. She was reasonably strong and fearless with a decent sense of humor. She did fall rather quickly for Alistair; but it being a short story she was on a bit of a timetable.It would have been much more gratifying to watch Elspeth slowly come to realize that Alistair was not the villian everyone said he was and to see her feelings for him develop based on learning about his character through spending time with and observing him.The story was enjoyable as it is; but I was left feeling disappointed that it hadn't been chosen to be developed into a full length novel.