Thursday, December 17, 2015

Book Review:My Reckless Valentine (Lovestruck Librarians #2) by Olivia Dade


Library manager Angie Burrowes is in trouble again. Her superiors have never approved of her unconventional methods, but the latest warning is serious—another complaint from the administration or a patron, and she’s fired. With a steamy Valentine’s Day contest to conceal and her career on the line, the last thing Angie needs is a near-accident while driving home. At least, until she meets the tall, dark, and sexy stranger responsible for her very own spicy plot twist...

Straight-laced Grant Peterson has only one thing on his mind: making a good impression as the new Director of Branch Services at the Nice County Public Library. On the eve of his first day, however, a lusty encounter with Angie unleashes a desire unlike any he’s ever known. Their tryst may be one for the record books, but when he learns he’s Angie’s new boss, will Grant need to check out on love?



 



I think that my biggest issue with this book is the characters. While I find each of them interesting in an analytical/fluid sort of way, I just couldn't connect with either Angie OR Grant. I think that the author wanted the reader to see Grant as endearing with all of his idiosyncrasies and perfection issues but I didn't. I just found him irritating and completely inauthentic. The words I was reading about his character in particular didn't mesh with the vibes that he was putting off. I don't even know if that makes sense ... his character seemed like one dude but then he would turn out to be completely different. I don't know if this type of confusion was what the author was shooting for or if it was an unfortunate byproduct of a character that wasn't fully fleshed out but it kind of ruined the book for me because I couldn't picture this guy as a real, in the flesh dude. Angie, on the other hand, was interesting. I thought that her character was perfect and I really enjoyed how she would get into trouble, take the smack on the hand and then do it again. It was cute and while I enjoyed her, I just couldn't connect with her on any level.

I thought that the idea behind this book was so interesting. To be honest, I was completely sucked into the novel when it first started and I was itching to find out what was going to happen next. But that quickly wore off when the characters started in with their weird passive-aggressive-dom-prude thing going on. I just couldn't get immersed after about 20 percent into the book. Nothing had hooked me, even my enjoyment of Angie, and in the end, I just wanted it to be done. No, that's not true ... I wanted it to get better. Up until the last page of this one, I was hoping for more but it just never arrived. I even had to put this one down for a bit and then try again but it didn't work the second time either.

It all comes down to the characters. The story can be amazing but if the characters aren't up to par for me, it just kills the entire book. Sad way to see this one end, I really liked it in the beginning.

* I received this novel in exchange for an honest review *



 Available: January 19th, 2016

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