Review: Held So Much Promise
Rating: 3 out of 5
Date: 02 8, 2011
This book started off strong. The author is an extremely gifted storyteller and we are immediately thrown into the heat that is Hayden's attraction to Josh.  Her descriptions are stellar and you can literally 'see' the characters, feel the sexual tension and frustration and empathize with Hayden when he thinks his love is unrequited. You care about the protagonists and you're already chomping at the bit at the end of the first few pages.  She writes flirtation and passion really, really well and you will definitely be glued to the pages hungry for more.So why only 3 stars?  There are a few problems.*The author seems to love italics.  They're peppered all through the book for no apparent reason and I had to repeatedly stop myself from altering my 'mind voice' at words that didn't really need emphasis.* I agree with others who have said that the back and forth in the timelines makes for a choppy read.  Just as you're getting into a certain timeline, you're jolted back to another.  It gets confusing as to what happened five years ago and what is present day.However, I took these in stride. They were not huge issues.  For me, the biggest downfall of the book was the anti-climatic backstory.SPOILER ALERT!!>>>>>>*************SPOILER ALERT***********The layup was weak and the story only got weaker.  The attack on Hayden and Josh was not believable.  It pushes the boundaries of plausability for me that two werewolves, ALPHAS at that, even in human form, could not fend off a simple attack from two humans. Josh and Hayden supposedly stand at 6'1 and 6'6, yet even with weres' increased strength, speed and natural survival instinct, our protaganists somehow turn into pre-teen girls who can't figure out how to a) call for help and/or b) defend themselves. I think even Anne Rice's Louis would have gotten a broken arm in.Also unbelievable was the reason Josh gave for allowing the things he did and for staying away during the 5yr lapse.  After reading his weeping account, all I could say was, 'Really?'  It just made no sense and I was really disappointed with that entire storyline. Finally, so much was made of the court case and the book ended without a resolution in that regard.  Why?  The book held such promise!!Others have mentioned the rape scene.  It was not a problem for me as it took all of one paragraph, was only mentioned in passing and was not described in any way.  My problem was that I really didn't see the point of it as it didn't add anything to the story.*******************************************************Alas, after 9 wonderful chapters of meaningful conversations, toe curling and warm-fuzzy-inducing flashbacks and sizzling - and I mean HOT -  chemistry and sexual tension between Hayden and Josh, Chapter 10 catapulted me into a world of syrupy, cheesy and eye rolling dialogue from which I never escaped. Alphas were supposedly still alphas, except now not so much and I found myself skipping around the sex scenes. Something I wouldn't dare do earlier in the book!All in all, this was an enjoyable book which I will definitely read again, but after Chapter 9 it will be skip around city.