It hurts to rate this novel only two stars. The first couple of books were AMAZING! I loved them so much and gave them both fivers! So why did this third story only get two stars? Well, nothing much happens. When we are first introduced to this fictional world there is mystery, adventure, action, cheesy comedy, and sweet romance.
I adore books with ample amounts of fluff and cheesy goodness, so naturally I was excited to start reading this story. Hart seemed to have the recipe down pat on how to write a plot that contains everything needed to make a great book. However this time, instead of trying to balance out all those genres, we are bombarded with a giant mass of romance.
And not the good kind! The sassy banter between Ivy and Jack is normally really cute and quite amusing. I had high expectations for a dazzling romance that warmed up my Grinchy heart! But things go butts up and instead of having an amazing, intimate moment of clarity during a pulse pounding adventure, we get a ridiculous drama flop.
For 90 pages, 90 LONG pages, nothing really happens other than Ivy and Jack acting like a couple of angsty teenagers. Both pining and crying about their situation until Brian talks to them both and points out that they are being difficult. Thank goodness for that man! And Aunt Felicity too! She helped out a lot as well.
Eventually after all the juvenile arguing and pussyfooting around the plot can finally take off. And I will use the word 'plot' loosely as it's not a very deep or thought provoking plot. Someone shoots at both Ivy and Jack and since Jack doesn't know who the perps target was, he goes on the defensive.
He decides to push Ivy away to keep her safe until a later time because he feels that he has put her in danger, which is what causes the fighting and misunderstanding. Then after the two stop acting like butt-heads and make up, they try to figure out who is responsible for firing the gun at them. Why would anyone be shooting at them?
The overall moodiness of Ivy and Jack was very off putting, and the intimacies were absolutely too much! When the lovebirds finally get together I had hoped the moment would be sweet and meaningful. Nope! I like cheese and fluff in my books because it makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside. But the schmooze in this book made me cringe!
It was so bad! It read like a terrible YA romance chalk full of puppy love *shudder.* All the 'cutesy' words and sweet nothings made me wanna vomit. Max was my favorite character in pointing out how clingy and gross the two act around each other.
The ending was . . . Well, it was an ending. I wasn't shocked or surprised by what was going on or by who did what. I guess there is kind of a cool twist that happens but I feel that it was overshadowed by the gooey romance that takes place front and center.
Now I can't say that I was happy with this third installment. It's not the kind of story I expect to get from this author! But I will still try out the next book because I know that Hart can write a decent novel. I just hope this series doesn't forgo all the other necessary story bits in lieu of straight up romance. Fingers crossed!