Review: "Insta-love" road
Rating: 3 out of 5
Date: 02 17, 2014
Ok, call me jaded, call me cynical…but one of my biggest pet peeves in a romance novel is when the story takes the two main love interest characters and speeds em down that “insta-love” road.  And that’s exactly where Tenley and Jayden set their cruise control for and careen from their first meeting and revving up to “I love you” within 24 hours of initial meeting to calling each other “Baby” in about the same amount of time.  Every time I read “I love you” and “Baby” this and “Baby” that…I would have a flashback to when I was in junior high and my fellow 12 & 13 yr old students would couple up and start spewing out these phrases within days of becoming “soul mates” and in my opinion, it just shows a lack of maturity when “adults” start doing this. I couldn’t help but roll my eyes a little every time these two would say “I love you” and then almost immediately follow-up with “Is this crazy, are we going too fast”? ; I mean if you feel the need to question it and then find some silly reason to justify these “insta-love” feelings, well, then maybe you should wonder why you keep questioning the warp-speed love track that you’re on and just spend time enjoying each other’s company first without all the “oogly-googly love bug eyes.Tenley… I couldn’t stand this bi-polar, ultrasensitive flakey little girl.  Tenley is “supposed” to be 18 yrs old, but acts like a 12 yr old.  I swear, when her whiney ass isn’t crying over a building or church windows then she’s giggling like some crazed maniac.  Oh… and she’s got the stones to jump in the shyte and threaten any female that shows interest in “her man”, but when she’s on the verge of being raped in a club, she can’t open her mouth and scream for help.  And then we’re introduced to another of her personalities that loves rainbows and sunshine and magic and unicorns and and skipping and all the pretty-pretties of the world… I’m mean, she’s supposed to be 18 yrs old, but at one point, drags her boyfriend into a “Build-a-Bear” store so she can make her very own little snuggly rainbow bear…wuh?  Are you kidding me…I’m surprised she doesn’t wear her hair in pigtails and prance around in “Maryjane’s”!  I just wanted to reach into my e-reader, smack her upside the head and snarl, “GROW THE HELL UP!!!”Then we have Jayden…walking encyclopedia about EVERY historical and touristy landmark in Paris.  Apparently Jayden’s also so gorgeous and smexy that most females tend to become a tad obsessive and perform a parody of “Fatal Attraction” when encountering him.  And Jayden just thinks that every little nuance and character trait displayed by Tenley is just “adorable”…and he just falls more in love with her than he was 30 seconds before whenever she exhibits another one of her “adorable” traits.I did like the characters Lacey and Brandon…the respective best friends of Tenley and Jayden, yep…they start a bit of a clichéd relationship since their best friends are in “love…troo wuv”, and they happened to be thrown together with them.  But at least Lacey and Brandon are realistic in voicing that although they really like each other and are sleeping together, they admit they are far from being in love at this point cause it’s just a little too soon for that.So, if ya like ooyie-gooey love stories with sunshine and rainbow teddy bears…then this just might be the book for you.  From my perspective… it just didn’t quite do it for me.3 Stars  ~Kathy