Review: Geek-tastic heroine & sexy hero are stand outs in a story that just misses the mark
Rating: 3 out of 5
Date: 05 25, 2013
There is a lot to like in this book, but ultimately it doesn't quite soar.First the good:I LOVE geek-tastic heroines.  Love them.  Kansas is a great addition to the geek girl romance heroine family.  She has a Tardis on her shower curtain and sci-fi references sprinkle her dialogue throughout the book.Jett was also a great hero.  Not too alpha-hole, but nicely authoritative.The conflict was internal and believable.  Kansas' hang-ups could have easily become frustrating, but the author didn't let them.  She knew when to dial back.  Having just read another book where the heroine's hang ups totally stymied the relationship and made me frustrated beyond belief, this was refreshing.There were a couple of times when it seemed like Jett and Kansas were on the cusp of going into a Grand Misunderstanding.  But, again, the author knew when to dial back and allowed them to communicate instead.Really liked how the author explored Jett's involvement in his fiancee's illness -- how he approached it, what he felt about it, how he helped her deal with it -- the whole thing.For the most part the writing was great.  There were absolute flashes of brilliance in the dialogue.  I loved "listening" to the characters speak to each other.And yet....The not-so-goodAlthough I loved Kansas and Jett as individuals, I did not feel the connection or chemistry between them.  Honestly there was a bit of insta-love there that did not 100% convince me.I think the issue here has to do with length.  According to All Romance Ebooks, this book clocks in at 32,710 words.  In it, there is a prologue, family issues on Kansas' side, ex-fiancee issues on Jett's side plus the two of them meet, have their own romantic conflicts, fall in love,and have an HEA.  That is a lot to work with in under 200 pages.There are some intriguing aspects of the families we only get glimpses of.  His job as a Hollywood  actor seemed to be a huge trigger for his ex-fiancee's illness, I would have enjoyed discovering if what effect getting involved with a hollywood star it might have on Kansas too.  I think Jett and Kansas' actual "falling in love" gets short-changed.  It feels like a chapter later and BooM! they are in love.  There were a lot of interesting ideas that we only get the surface scratched.Also, as I mentioned above while the writing was overall very good but there were places here and there where the exposition felt clunky and awkward. Character physical descriptions often felt like police blotter descriptions, complete with height, weight and detailed skin colors.  And the love scenes read as very porny, not just erotic.I really liked the characters and the dialogue, but feel that so much potential story gets missed and not explored that in the end the book doesn't 100% work for me.