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paulabrandon's review against another edition
2.0
I had a few Modern/Sexy books lying around the house after being picked up for $1 at an op shop, or given to me by others (I generally won't buy them new), and figured I could plow my way through them in a few days because they're quick reads. Wrong! This is another that took me several days because I wasn't all that caught up in what was going on, with the proceedings being flat and often confusingly described.
This one has Valentina being "blackmailed" into continuing her marriage to Kairos, even though she walked out on him nine (ten?) months ago after discovering the marriage was a business deal between her older brother and Kairos. I'm not quite sure how it was actually blackmail. There are some vague threats about paparazzi, but that's about it. Plus, there were no stipulations that sex be involved, so I was happy to go along with it. So they're skipping off to Greece to put on the marriage show for his adopted parents.
I think. The details of exactly why Kairos needed to "blackmail" Valentina to remain married before granting her a divorce are oh-so-fuzzy, but seem to revolve, like most of the book, around the actions of Kairos' adopted parents' biological daughter, Helena. Helena is a vile creature, and just about all the turmoil, drama and conflict in this novel exists because of her, and her whole family's inability to stand up to her. There's some internal conflict from Valentina that Kairos doesn't respect her and can't love her. There's some internal conflict from Kairos that giving his heart away can cause too much hurt. Otherwise, it's all just Helena, Helena, Helena.
There's some event late in the book that is another of Helena's evil's plans, which had something to do with one of her garments stuck in a door and Kairos taking a shower? Could someone help me out here? I have no idea what she was intending. Her plan was foiled, but I was very puzzled over exactly what this latest evil thing Helena had done was. Maybe because by then I was well and truly sick and tired of nobody lifting a bloody finger to stop this cow from doing what she was doing.
Worst of all, there's no comeuppance of any satisfying sort for Helena - she's left with a tidy inheritance, and she's still causing trouble right up until the last chapter. I was not in the slightest convinced that Kairos and Helena could have a happy marriage or life with this unbalanced harpy still waiting in the wings to throw another emotionally manipulative spanner in the works. She needed to be in a car that drove off a cliff and exploded.
Too much external drama that was confusingly described and too little emotional conflict between h and H made this book feel very flat and tiresome for me, which is why it took me so long to read it.
This one has Valentina being "blackmailed" into continuing her marriage to Kairos, even though she walked out on him nine (ten?) months ago after discovering the marriage was a business deal between her older brother and Kairos. I'm not quite sure how it was actually blackmail. There are some vague threats about paparazzi, but that's about it. Plus, there were no stipulations that sex be involved, so I was happy to go along with it. So they're skipping off to Greece to put on the marriage show for his adopted parents.
I think. The details of exactly why Kairos needed to "blackmail" Valentina to remain married before granting her a divorce are oh-so-fuzzy, but seem to revolve, like most of the book, around the actions of Kairos' adopted parents' biological daughter, Helena. Helena is a vile creature, and just about all the turmoil, drama and conflict in this novel exists because of her, and her whole family's inability to stand up to her. There's some internal conflict from Valentina that Kairos doesn't respect her and can't love her. There's some internal conflict from Kairos that giving his heart away can cause too much hurt. Otherwise, it's all just Helena, Helena, Helena.
There's some event late in the book that is another of Helena's evil's plans, which had something to do with one of her garments stuck in a door and Kairos taking a shower? Could someone help me out here? I have no idea what she was intending. Her plan was foiled, but I was very puzzled over exactly what this latest evil thing Helena had done was. Maybe because by then I was well and truly sick and tired of nobody lifting a bloody finger to stop this cow from doing what she was doing.
Worst of all, there's no comeuppance of any satisfying sort for Helena - she's left with a tidy inheritance, and she's still causing trouble right up until the last chapter. I was not in the slightest convinced that Kairos and Helena could have a happy marriage or life with this unbalanced harpy still waiting in the wings to throw another emotionally manipulative spanner in the works. She needed to be in a car that drove off a cliff and exploded.
Too much external drama that was confusingly described and too little emotional conflict between h and H made this book feel very flat and tiresome for me, which is why it took me so long to read it.
ankonyx's review against another edition
2.0
While I didn’t enjoy this one as much as my other recent harlequin presents two star, the characters were pretty well done and well rounded, even the side characters. It’s a solid 2,5 stars, not bad, I just didn’t like it that much.
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