Prior to some thorough research (alright, maybe 10-15 minutes worth), I sought the reviews for the original Imzadi book which were mostly positive and thought, "Well, how bad could Imzadi II be?" After comprehending that Imzadi II was not a sequel to the first, I decided that this Signature Edition book should be the first novel of Star Trek [TNG] I should read. Comprised of Imzadi & Imzadi II, the 400+ pages of, well... Imzadi, was indeed a good read. I found that the back-cover of the book would seem misleading to those unfamiliar of this "combined"/reprinted edition and, honestly the only unquestionable information on the back cover was the "Exclusive Interview with the Author". The only thing that bugged me inside of the book, just a bit, was that there is no Table of Contents in the beginning to discern between the two books, but it is nothing a little Vulcan logic can't handle, as the books are broken up with a brief, bold description of the timeline/settings.
Having possessed the research knowledge, I dove into the book immediately after receiving it in the mail and within the first 50 pages, I was hooked with Imzadi. My mouth was agape sporadically as things got heavy. Imzadi is indeed a wonderful story, however I found myself kind of annoyed whenever Deanna's breasts were mentioned so... forthright and cheesily. I admit, I'm not one for love stories or overtly obvious sexual oogling, but the depth of the story lies within the irony of Riker and Deanna's "immature" behavior. It all seemed to work in the end. David gets the job done - hashing out the mysterious history of Deanna & Riker.
After finishing Imzadi, I started Imzadi II with the same question as the author, "How the fuck is this relationship between Worf & Deanna going to work?" Those aren't his exact words, but later in the exclusive interview, you can see why it's almost the same train of thought. While David might not be immensely proud of Imzadi II as he is with Imzadi, I actually liked it. It featured a multitude of appearances from Star Trek characters, and being versed enough in the ST universe, it was easy to read the characters as portrayed on the shows, as they seemed very true to character. Conceptually speaking, it seemed like a bit of a reach, but again the story worked itself out. The ending was not the one David wanted published, but seeing the dynamic of Riker & Deanna as it had developed into a slightly comical charade of sorts throughout ST Canon, it was appropriate given the timeline.
Throughout both stories, I found myself "sensing" the bigger plot and character developments. I struggled with preventing myself to over-analyze and predict the plots because I am a Star Trek fan ("Stop asking why this is wrong and just dive in it," I says). I found that this method of prevention made things flow easier, especially for the both of the climaxes. Overall for both stories, the settings, character developments, and various tones throughout made both books very acceptable, and quite addicting. The interview at the end of the book explained enough to expand the understanding of Imzadi II. I'm very happy with it!