Review: Enjoyable if somewhat predictable read
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 01 28, 2014
A sweet story, though the situation is somewhat clichéd and the outcome somewhat predictable. Still, it's an enjoyable read despite all that, for the details along the way don't always follow what you might expect.Alice is still on the rebound after a messy breakup with her ex-fiancé a year or so prior to the start of the story. She's been attracted to her attractive neighbor since moving into her grandmother's old house, but has been largely too shy to act upon that attraction besides not being ready for another relationship yet. Her sister's wedding kind of forces the issue, however, when she finds herself in need of a date/companion for the wedding cruise in order to save face in front of her ex. While all of this is a fairly typical setup to a story that's been done before, Alice is not a cardboard cutout here, for her personality is far more vibrant and feisty than the heroine in this type of story tends to be. Instead of being a shrinking wallflower, she's very social and outgoing, and there's little doubt that if the situation with her ex hadn't still been so raw and tense she'd not have thought anything about going alone on the cruise. She also doesn't hesitate to go for it when things begin to heat up between her and Noah, determined to take what she can, while she can, even if she doesn't believe anything can last between them once the cruise is over.Noah at first seems to be the typical semi-reclusive vampire who only interacts with the people around him to the extent that he has to in order to maintain appearances. As we get to know him better, however, he starts to show more personality and we find that he has quite a fun-loving side to him as well. If anything he's more indecisive and uncertain than Alice is about their relationship, though to be fair he does feel like he has to protect her to some degree. Thankfully he doesn't let his desire to stay hands off and keep from dragging her into his problems stand in the way of his other desires. At least not too much.The chemistry between these two is fairly explosive right from the start, made moreso by their mutual hesitancy and awkwardness around each other at the start. This fades a little bit faster than you might expect though and it's refreshing that they don't waste time and energy trying to fight their attraction and give themselves over to indulging in at least a physical relationship within a day or so of having to spend most of their time together on the ship. So many books would have had one or both of them agonizing over taking that step and I was pleased to see the author dispense with that charade here. The main conflict between them that eventually happens is still fairly predictable, though the resolution isn't quite what I would have expected - yet another way in which the author manages to keep a fairly cliché storyline fresh.I'd recommend this one to anyone that enjoys paranormal romances, particularly ones that are on the lighter side. Fans of contemporary romance will probably enjoy this one as well since the fact that the hero is a vampire is somewhat incidental and it reads not too unlike a contemporary. I give this one a good 3.5 stars, rounded up for the system.