Review: Asian Guys just got sexy (ier)
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 07 5, 2013
Ms Ash takes a serious Japanese-American, orthopaedic surgeon and a free-spirited black woman and weaves an interesting & funny story which will hold your attention.Akio is gorgeous, super smart, sensitive and sexy and Gloria is pretty, sweet and loyal. The chemistry between them leaps off the pages and I love that they took the time to develop their relationship instead of jumping into bed at the first opportunity.Gloria is the happily lonely owner of a successful bakery and it's thanks to her best friend Alicia's meddling that she first meets Akio on a blind date of sorts. Gloria has sworn of men forever (yeah right!) following the death of her fiancé 5 years before but is very attracted to Akio, an attraction he also shares. No matter, she rebuffs him but he drops by her bakery, is friendly and non-committal and they soon become close.There is quite a bit of drama surrounding their budding relationship from family members, personal demons and the ghosts of lovers past, all rearing their heads but naturally, love conquers all.What I liked:The chemistry between them was well written and intense. Akio came across as a wonderful guy: decent, hardworking, thoughtful with the prerequisite level of hotness. Gloria was simply adorable.I enjoyed the interactions and side story of close friend Alicia's family. Their friendship seemed very real to me.Good research and detail about their respective professions. It wasn't simply thrown out that he was a doctor and she a baker but their work was described in some detail that added the right amount of realism.What wasn't great:The endless drama which followed Akio and Gloria. I appreciate the need for conflict to drive the plot, extend the story or spice things but in my view the writer laid it on a bit too thick. I won't give any spoilers away but there were way too many deaths, people feeling guilty about one thing or another and crazy family drama than was necessary. Gloria seemed to lurch from one painful tragedy to another which had me thinking 'da*n give a chick a minute!'The sex scenes could have been more spicy. They were good but could have been better.When Akio mentioned a certain detail about his body I was thinking ' how vain/self-involved'. Surely he did not whip out a tape measure?Their endless charitable causes and activities. Okay, okay we get that they are incredibly kind, giving people but after a while I got tired of it. So shoot me.;)Every second outfit of Gloria's was a halter neck. Akio seemed to live in black dress shirts and trousers.Some grammar & editing issues.It's hard to judge from just one book but I see potential with this author and look forward to checking out more of her work. Hopefully, like fine wine her books will get even better with time.