Scan barcode
A review by opheliabedilia
Dance Upon the Air by Nora Roberts
1.0
Zack is the absolute worst. He figures out pretty quickly that Nell was abused, and reacts by continually pushing his way into her space and life even when she asks him to at the very least slow down; he expects her to not be afraid of him simply because he tells her he wouldn't hit a woman, gets annoyed when that alone doesn't make her comfortable with him, proposes super early in their relationship even though she repeatedly says she wants to go slowly and then gets mad when she says no, gets mad at her for the fact she didn't divorce her abusive ex even when told exactly why she couldn't, yells at her even though she reacts with fear and tells her he'll yell if he needs to yell, and tops this lovely sundae off with the cherry of calling her stupid, even knowing that's one of the things her ex used to do. He does eventually do some apologizing, but he never sees any reason to treat Nell with any gentleness, or to give her the time and space she so obviously needs. His reaction to knowing about her past abuse is to be mad at her ex, but not particularly compassionate to her. It's all about what Zack wants, all the time.
Also, this is one of those plots where the main character walks into a small town where she knows no one and is almost immediately just handed everything she needs. She gets a job at the first place she walks into, without even filling out an application. The owner of that place walks her around back and presents her with an adorable little apartment, furnished and tenant-less, just waiting for Nell to move in. Said owner is immediately Nell's new best friend. The handsome love interest walks in the door on her first day on the job. Oh come ON.
A few other things I didn't love: the magic subplot was hokey and predictable. Zach's sister was once best friends with the cafe owner, whose name I forget and who insists on calling Nell "Little Sister", but now Zach's sister hates her, and basically says "screw you" in response to everything Best Friend says, for no particular reason. I don't know why the audiobook version isn't listed here on Goodreads, but I listened to it, and I didn't care for the narration, either.
This was my first Nora Roberts book, and I'm not going to lie, it left me completely baffled as to why she has roughly eleventy million published books. I would think maybe I just picked a stinker, but judging by the rating, I guess maybe this writer who is beloved by so many just isn't for me. Which is fine, I often disagree with the masses. I will probably try one more someday, in case this was just a bad pick for me to start with.
Also, this is one of those plots where the main character walks into a small town where she knows no one and is almost immediately just handed everything she needs. She gets a job at the first place she walks into, without even filling out an application. The owner of that place walks her around back and presents her with an adorable little apartment, furnished and tenant-less, just waiting for Nell to move in. Said owner is immediately Nell's new best friend. The handsome love interest walks in the door on her first day on the job. Oh come ON.
A few other things I didn't love: the magic subplot was hokey and predictable. Zach's sister was once best friends with the cafe owner, whose name I forget and who insists on calling Nell "Little Sister", but now Zach's sister hates her, and basically says "screw you" in response to everything Best Friend says, for no particular reason. I don't know why the audiobook version isn't listed here on Goodreads, but I listened to it, and I didn't care for the narration, either.
This was my first Nora Roberts book, and I'm not going to lie, it left me completely baffled as to why she has roughly eleventy million published books. I would think maybe I just picked a stinker, but judging by the rating, I guess maybe this writer who is beloved by so many just isn't for me. Which is fine, I often disagree with the masses. I will probably try one more someday, in case this was just a bad pick for me to start with.