Review: Lovely Read!
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 12 16, 2012
Was it ESP?  I complained about excessive sex scenes on another review and, though not enough time passed between then and now, it nonetheless feels to me that the writer listened to me, whether she did or not.  (whew--run on sentence, much?)  It looks like the writer can't win for losing.  I've been complaining about some of her short stories being just sex scenes loosely strung together with plot devices and I see here that another reader complained about the shorter sex scene in this one.  I guess it goes to show that there are different goals for different readers.  I'm looking for a romance, a bit of character development, some good world building, and an interesting plot.  Sex scenes are something I just don't take much into account except in a negative way since I do read in public fairly often.  I'm not sure if I'd feel differently were I to read at home more often that when I'm out--or even exclusively.  So, here's a brief synopsis of what I look for in a book so that readers who see this review can take that into account.  That way they can ignore my comments about things they don't care about.  I want a hero I can love, a heroine with which I can identify (or at least not hate), an interesting world (whether futuristic, historical, or contemporary--or even alternative history), either social commentary or character development or both, and a romance between H/H in which I can believe.That said, this book hit on most of the above.  I liked both characters--what I knew of them.  I enjoyed the world--what I saw of it.  The Return of the Nine series has a very interesting persistent world and I like the idea of a sentient life form that can live on land or in water.  The water people chef was a very likeable (and amusing) secondary character.  A hero I can love:  check, though I'd like to have known him better.  A heroine I can like, identify with, or not hate:  check. An interesting world:  check--this is one of her better persistent worlds.  Character development:  check, what there was of it.  Believable romance:  This one I have some reservations about, but I accepted it at the time given the persistent world.  Bottom line?  This was a satisfactory read.  The hero and heroine seemed to be perfect for each other.  As much as can be done in a few words, I felt if I were the heroine I'd have fallen in love with the hero.I save my Viola Grace stories for just before I go to sleep at night or a quick lunchtime read.  They are about 45 minutes to three hour reads.  YMMV (Your mileage may vary) considering I read very quickly and, if I'm in public, skip over the sex scenes.  With the short length something has to give--there just isn't time for a lot of secondary/tertiary characters, intricate plot development, complex character building, likeable H/H, believable romance, good sex scenes (if you want them) and complex world building.  The latter is taken care of by setting more than one story in the same world.  The secondary/tertiary characters can be less developed if you see them in other stories.  That can be true of the H/H, too, and sometimes that is the case in Ms. Grace's stories.  Believable romance is a bit trickier though it get a bit of a boost if the H/H are seen elsewhere.I'd have to say that I'd buy this book again and that I'll be keeping Ms. Grace on the top of my "must read" list after all.