Well written, but…
3
By Seattle Portista
A very brief plot summary: Hollywood Star meets small town cop; Sparks fly. They part.
That much can be gained from the cover blurb. What’s missing is her emotional response, because that’s where any spoilers would reside…
I’ll give her credit— it’s well written in terms of grammar and syntax (yes, it’s taxed!). [It’s become harder and harder to find on-line authors who know its from it’s, who don’t confuse there, they’re, and their, or who use your and you’re correctly. These are taught in middle school, but apparently forgotten soon after.]
Penny Reid doesn’t make any errors of that sort, which makes reading her a pleasure.
Unfortunately, that was all the pleasure I got from her book. It felt too formulaic. Once she got going, I realized that I knew (with admittedly one major exception) where it was going to go. Not the details, of course— I would never have guessed about the new rules for chess, and the protagonist’s sense of humor was her saving virtue. But I new where the plot was headed, and wasn’t at all surprised when it arrived.
My other issue was with Ms. Reid’s protagonist— I just didn’t find her to be a particularly likable person. Had it been a male character treating his female sexual partners the way she boasts of treating men, no one would read it, because it would be correctly seen as the worst of sexist piggery. Why should it be better, coming from a wealthy, entitled woman?
The deputy sheriff was a better human being (and more interestingly written, probably because Ms. Reid and her readers both prefer interesting men).
I would have given it just two stars, except for the quality of the writing— so it gets three.
FCZ
