AREN’T YOU BORED YET? … “WAITING FOR GODOT” SOME ORIGINALITY
**2.5 stars because it's almost Christmas**
NOT AN ARC REVIEW
Well,
I am
waiting for some semblance of originality, and pardon my rant because it isn’t aimed solely at this author at all, but this book triggered a festering reaction in me about romance authors lately that's been building for just the (W)right trigger (pun intended) and this book was it. If you feel like me, it will all make sense.
THE BOOK
I’ve only read the first two Wright books and have had quality of writing issues with author’s other books. If you haven’t read all the Wright books, you’ll be at a disadvantage. The Wrights and their people take up more page space than Whit and Eve and not in a good way. I soon lost track of so many connected characters and why I even cared. It doesn’t help when you don’t like the FMC, and the MC is too good for her.
Whit’s a bit of dream, but he should have run far, far away from Eve. The literally poor girl is rubbing elbows with rich Wrights and trying to hide her roots and make ends meet (despite being in real estate), as she sends most of her paychecks back home to support her younger sister. On the other hand, she’s got a wild reputation with men and only wants casual or one-night stands because of a bad breakup. Ho-hum. What got to me was her instant change in behavior. She and Whit were an almost hookup at a wedding because Whit wasn’t buying what she was selling, but when she’s assigned to work with him as a surprise to both of them, she does an abrupt about-face from acting uncertain, nervous, and overwhelmed by all his hotness to an overtly flirtatious, alluring vixen trying to entice him with every word that comes out of her mouth. In a workplace situation where she needs the job? I think not. After all, she’s in the spot she’s in because her last boo fired her and kicked her out of the apartment he owned.
CONCLUSIONS
And then I realized at the end of many more pages, that the work thing was just an excuse to throw them together for a workers-with-benefits sexfest that made the book primarily all talk and sex. That’s when I cashed out. There are too many other books worthy of my time. Aside from this author’s never-ending proofing issues, her books are heavily into cross-over characters (lots of them), lame dialogue, gaps of logic, and story re-direction that make my eyeballs roll. I often think she makes up stories as she goes. As an author, she's not alone on those issues. The book is overlong for what it is -- mundane talk and alot of horizontal mambo. I don't get my sex-fix from the pages of a book, so that's just overkill because there needs to be some engaging story along with the sexfest.
I mentioned Waiting for Godot (one of the most important plays of the 20th Century) for comparison. That play involves a character named Godot who never shows up, which impacts the other characters, and that’s how I feel about most romance authors today who don't show up. If, like me, you are a regular romance reader, you will have noticed an overused author trend: recycling stories, characters, sex scenes, and dialogue from book to book, from author to author. Borrowing from their own books. And clearly, authors read each other because otherwise it’s statistically impossible to write the exact same lines, sex scenes, etc. over and over from author to author. The offenders crank out assembly-line books and the quality of writing keeps going downhill on page for all to see and read.
OBSERVATIONS
So, I’m going to make some observations of this book that also apply to countless other books and authors. Don't think I’m just piling on this author because she's not alone, but there are also plenty of good authors out there capable of making stories, sex scenes and dialogue fresh and new every single time.
1) If you can’t spell and don’t know grammar or punctuation, then hire a reliable person to proof your books because it’s insulting to readers to be an author that thrusts substandard writing on us without improving the rudiments of your craft.
2) Write some original sex scenes for a change, and stop using the same tired, clichéd words and phrases that almost every single author uses and no one I know even considers a blueprint for great sex.
Case in point, the following lines from this book:
”You’ll get my c*ck. You’ll get it when I’m good and ready to give it to you.”
“I want you to come for me first. Get you good and ready to take me.”
“Come for me. Come for me now.”
“I need to f*ck you now.”
“You can take it.”
“You feel f*cking incredible.
“I need to come inside your pu*sy,”
“Going to own this tonight, baby.”
“Think you can handle me all night?”
You get the drift. None of this floats my boat, and its become desensitizing. Tell me you haven’t read those exact words a million times, and repetitive scenes, too. There’s a difference between good writing, good sex scenes, and dialogue that fits characters without sounding or reading like every other book and author. That’s just boring and unoriginal, and a mistake to think that readers don’t notice. The only way these repetitive sex scenes and dialogue works is if a reader hasn't had sex or very little sex or romance. Is that who authors think their readers are? Because it's not me. Get out of the rut and give us something worthwhile. It doesn’t make it any better by writing dirty talk as raunchy, salacious and taboo as possible.
And then, there’s one of my biggest triggers:
Stop giving MCs (and in this book, the FMC) calloused hands as though it makes any sense or that rough calluses feel great on sensitive or delicate skin inside or outside a woman.
GOING FORWARD
Having been out of the review scene for most of the year due to recovery from an injury, I came out of my hidey hole for this review. I’ve taken a new stance at the end of this year by dumping newsletters from authors who write like this and no longer follow them or seek out their new releases. This author is far from the only one and she has the cutest baby ever, but her books are no longer for me. My time is too valuable to waste on such books.