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4.03 AVERAGE
4.03 AVERAGE
I’m normally a fan of KA’s earlier work, but this book drove me nuts. At one point I felt like the book should have been called “The Saint” since that’s kinda how they portrayed the heroine. So perfect, everyone in town just loves her immediately after meeting her for 5 seconds. So perfect, the gruff mountain man who was so annoyed when she shows up at his place after the reservation mix-up, she gets sick and he cares for her for two days and he’s instantly in love. So perfect and wise, she’s immediately counseling a young woman who was raped, that Nina literally met hours before, and only her sage advice and sympathy can help this young woman. So perfect, the crusty world-famous photographer who lives nearby starts gifting her his framed photographs worth lots of money, because well, it’s Nina, whom he literally met 5 minutes ago. And so on. Just ridiculous.
And I also grew to hate the secondary characters in this book - the townspeople and Nina and Max’s family included. The way they were always immediately up in Nina and Max’s business, constantly coming over uninvited to their home and crashing their meals, and butting in nonstop with their opinions, was crazy. I kept thinking I would NEVER move to that town if I had to deal with these people. But Nina and Max just took it in stride like it was cute and normal. It’s not cute, and it’s not normal! Regular people do not do that, but every character was written so eccentric and over the top, it was bizarre. And KA kept having the women shrieking throughout the book - from excitement, anger, just normal conversation, whatever. That would be so tiring in real life.
And I guess that’s my problem here - KA’s vision of what’s romantic, funny, or cute for this book came across to me as annoying, off putting, and ridiculous. Frankly, just a poorly written book and way too long as well.
And I also grew to hate the secondary characters in this book - the townspeople and Nina and Max’s family included. The way they were always immediately up in Nina and Max’s business, constantly coming over uninvited to their home and crashing their meals, and butting in nonstop with their opinions, was crazy. I kept thinking I would NEVER move to that town if I had to deal with these people. But Nina and Max just took it in stride like it was cute and normal. It’s not cute, and it’s not normal! Regular people do not do that, but every character was written so eccentric and over the top, it was bizarre. And KA kept having the women shrieking throughout the book - from excitement, anger, just normal conversation, whatever. That would be so tiring in real life.
And I guess that’s my problem here - KA’s vision of what’s romantic, funny, or cute for this book came across to me as annoying, off putting, and ridiculous. Frankly, just a poorly written book and way too long as well.
It was a readable book in the way the a random tv show keeps your attention when you’re bored. I love my alpha male stories but this was pushing so many red flags in my head that I didn’t even know.
The style of writing makes me wish Kristen Ashley gets a better editor. For example, in one single page two separate people are described as “only having eyes for (another person)”. It’s a great line but loses its beauty when you see it in almost the same paragraph. Or that every guy is a mountain man.
The female lead… she annoys me, she cannot be the age she says she is and believe that someone can only ever have room in their heart for one person. She needs constant reassurance and coddling. It’s no wonder the male lead has to act like he does. But overall it just gives off the air of a dysfunctional, unhealthy relationship.
Too many moments of the FL trying to talk and being interrupted (that alone is annoying to read MULTIPLE times) and just being told what to do. Again, I love big, strong alpha male types (I’m a sucker for highland romance smut) but as it stands, I won’t be grabbing another Kristen Ashley book anytime soon. I wanted to like it, because it had some really wonderful parts the were spoiled soon after by repeat phrasing on the same page (totally an editors fault) or the interruptive fights “Max…” “MAX!!!” I’m sorry. I know it takes true guts to put pen to paper and then print it but I can’t say this writer is for me.
ALMOST a DNF for me but I absolutely despise not finishing books.
The style of writing makes me wish Kristen Ashley gets a better editor. For example, in one single page two separate people are described as “only having eyes for (another person)”. It’s a great line but loses its beauty when you see it in almost the same paragraph. Or that every guy is a mountain man.
The female lead… she annoys me, she cannot be the age she says she is and believe that someone can only ever have room in their heart for one person. She needs constant reassurance and coddling. It’s no wonder the male lead has to act like he does. But overall it just gives off the air of a dysfunctional, unhealthy relationship.
Too many moments of the FL trying to talk and being interrupted (that alone is annoying to read MULTIPLE times) and just being told what to do. Again, I love big, strong alpha male types (I’m a sucker for highland romance smut) but as it stands, I won’t be grabbing another Kristen Ashley book anytime soon. I wanted to like it, because it had some really wonderful parts the were spoiled soon after by repeat phrasing on the same page (totally an editors fault) or the interruptive fights “Max…” “MAX!!!” I’m sorry. I know it takes true guts to put pen to paper and then print it but I can’t say this writer is for me.
ALMOST a DNF for me but I absolutely despise not finishing books.
So much happened in this book, it's crazy. Well written, romantic and sexy, mountain men at its best!
Oh wow! If you feel you need a hetero romance full of dramatic twists and turns this is it! It is not the shortest read, but it is definitely worth reading. :) 5 out of 5 stars
Absolutely loved this book! Drama, strong women, alpha men, great friendships. This story was all of this and so much more. This is a book that is already begging to be read again!
I've read one other book by Kristen, and that was "Creed." I thought that one was ok, interesting characters, cool story, but I wasn't in love with it. I picked this one up because it seemed interesting and it had great reviews, but it's just not doing anything for me.
I'm at 34% and as soon as I started skimming, I realized I wasn't going to finish this book. Nothing is happening at all. There's no real plot and Max is basically Creed with a different name in a different setting. Nina is annoying. The dialogue is cheesy and unrealistic. Does she have to repeat everything everyone says or answer "Sorry?" to everything? Everyone is constantly saying other people's names. And her relationship with Niles stinks of plot device. I understand people being in unhappy relationships, but the way she describes it, they are basically acquaintances. I'm having a hard time understanding why he even asked her to marry him if he seems to dislike her so much. It's simply unrealistic to me and sucks me out of the story.
I'm not going to even rate it. I'm sure others have found plenty of fun in this book, but it's not for me. I'd rather move on to something that will hold my attention, since this now feels like a chore to finish.
I'm at 34% and as soon as I started skimming, I realized I wasn't going to finish this book. Nothing is happening at all. There's no real plot and Max is basically Creed with a different name in a different setting. Nina is annoying. The dialogue is cheesy and unrealistic. Does she have to repeat everything everyone says or answer "Sorry?" to everything? Everyone is constantly saying other people's names. And her relationship with Niles stinks of plot device. I understand people being in unhappy relationships, but the way she describes it, they are basically acquaintances. I'm having a hard time understanding why he even asked her to marry him if he seems to dislike her so much. It's simply unrealistic to me and sucks me out of the story.
I'm not going to even rate it. I'm sure others have found plenty of fun in this book, but it's not for me. I'd rather move on to something that will hold my attention, since this now feels like a chore to finish.
emotional
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I wanted to like this book, but by golly, this woman needs an EDITOR.
NOBODY says another person’s name that many times while talking TO THAT PERSON. And, in 676 pages, I’m pretty sure there must be 5,000 “Max-“ cut off responses.
I don’t necessarily have a problem with first person narration, but, it was just too much.
Max called her “cute” about a billion times when she was most definitely not being cute.
She described, in painful detail, what she (and everyone else) was wearing... down to, “I put on panties.” And that specific sentence was repeated a handful of times. We get it. Nina wears underwear. That’s usually kind of a given in daily life.
Aside from that, in a two week period there was rape, attempted suicide, multiple murders, attempted murder, stalking, kidnapping, vandalism, and she got beat up once, backhanded twice, and threatened with bodily harm. That’s A LOT for one vacation. Hell, that’s a lot for one YEAR! Given all of these events, I don’t know how eager I’d actually be to move to Gnaw Bone, Colorado!!
.
I finished the book because I’m a completist, and because I did want to find out who killed Curt. The whole plot took a bit of a left turn at the end, but it wrapped up with a Happily Ever After.
I fail to understand all of these 5 star reviews, but I suppose different readers have different expectations and needs. I fell in love with Colorado when I visited for the first time last fall, so I was excited for the locale. The heroine is 36, so I was anticipating liking her as a lead. Hopefully, I can find some better romances with older heroines in them.
NOBODY says another person’s name that many times while talking TO THAT PERSON. And, in 676 pages, I’m pretty sure there must be 5,000 “Max-“ cut off responses.
I don’t necessarily have a problem with first person narration, but, it was just too much.
Max called her “cute” about a billion times when she was most definitely not being cute.
She described, in painful detail, what she (and everyone else) was wearing... down to, “I put on panties.” And that specific sentence was repeated a handful of times. We get it. Nina wears underwear. That’s usually kind of a given in daily life.
Aside from that, in a two week period there was rape, attempted suicide, multiple murders, attempted murder, stalking, kidnapping, vandalism, and she got beat up once, backhanded twice, and threatened with bodily harm. That’s A LOT for one vacation. Hell, that’s a lot for one YEAR! Given all of these events, I don’t know how eager I’d actually be to move to Gnaw Bone, Colorado!!
.
I finished the book because I’m a completist, and because I did want to find out who killed Curt. The whole plot took a bit of a left turn at the end, but it wrapped up with a Happily Ever After.
I fail to understand all of these 5 star reviews, but I suppose different readers have different expectations and needs. I fell in love with Colorado when I visited for the first time last fall, so I was excited for the locale. The heroine is 36, so I was anticipating liking her as a lead. Hopefully, I can find some better romances with older heroines in them.
Meh. I struggled to get past the first few days of the storyline. Girl shows up at her vacation rental to find the homeowner is in town. She leaves. Gets stuck in snow. He (strange homeowner) rescues her by bringing her back to the house. She gets sick with the flu. This Strange man takes care of her for two days, showers her, changes her clothes. Snuggles in bed with her to “help break her fever.” Woman is feeling better. Goes to leave. Handsome homeowner calls the taxi company and says do not pick her up. Police show up asking handsome homeowner where he was when a nemesis was murdered. Woman is used to corroborate his alibi. That’s maybe the first 5% of the story. (It’s a long book. Long. And it feels like it.) I finished it because I didn’t have anything better in the queue but I had a heck of a time getting past the beginning introductions.