Review: Promising, but disappointing
Rating: 2 out of 5
Date: 08 21, 2013
Some background -- I'm a heavy duty romance reader and since I received my kindle 14 months ago, I've read well over 200 romance novels.... most by independent authors.  I support the independent author movement and encourage good writers by purchasing their books.I was moved to buy this book by the title, synopsis and the cover -- there weren't enough reviews posted when I bought this so I took a chance.  I expected a lot more to this than what I got, especially since there's another book in this series.The basic plot/story is good.  This could have a made for a great foundation upon which to build both the characters of Maria and Ethan.  However, the synopsis of this book leads the buyer to believe that this can be a standalone book.  After reading Jar of Hearts, I'm not sure that's true (but admittedly I haven't read Glow).  I found a lot missing regarding Maria's personality and why she is the way she is.  I wanted to read MUCH MORE about her -- I love strong female characters, those who aren't ready to fall in love because of their past/family, etc.  And I like to read about them in-depth.  But there just wasn't enough to pull me in and get me to relate to her.  Perhaps there's more in Glow??  But the synopsis says this is a standalone so I guess I have to chalk it up to lack of depth in the writing?  Not sure that marketing this as a standalone is really accurate?  Too many questions, for sure.The sex scenes were hot - I could definitely feel the sexual chemistry when they first got together... but as time goes on and there are other encounters between these two, I want to see the sexual relationship also develop, and that was lacking somehow.  Since this is a book, I would have wanted to read more about what they talked about when they met, besides just being attracted to each other.  It also could have used more sex, frankly.Note that the cover leads the reader to believe that there could be 3 men vying for Maria, but Keith and Marc ultimately are filler and barely worth photoshopping their names onto the hearts on the cover... but I liked the cover - it was colorful and a change of pace from the steamy half-naked covers I see on a regular basis.I'll conclude by saying that I'm a stickler for certain kinds of grammar:  If you are a writer it's pretty important to know the difference between they're, their, and there and properly use them in a sentence.  Knowing the difference between a veil and a vale is also important when you're writing about a wedding.  When to use an apostrophe to show possession, etc.  This writer needed a good proofreader.  I would have bumped this to three stars if grammar rules were applied.