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A review by poisonivy70
Blue Lines by Toni Aleo
2.0
**ARC provided by Random House Publishing Group - Loveswept from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review**
The Premise
The latest in the Nashville Assassins series, this book is about Piper and Erik. The instant Piper Allen sees Erik Titov, she wants him. They lock eyes, dance and then up up spending the night together. After that wild night, Erik tells Piper that he doesn’t “do” relationships, trying to let her know how messed up he really is. Piper is heartbroken...and then she ends up pregnant. She panics, not knowing what to do and ends up hiding her pregnancy for the first few months.
Erik, meanwhile, has been banging everything that moves in an attempt to forget his feelings for Piper, convinced he is not relationship material. This leads to being placed on probation by his team’s owner, for being a manwhore, apparently. When she finally breaks the news to Erik, his solution? Get married, and save Erik’s career, but with the understanding that the marriage would be over once the baby is born.
The Good
I liked Piper, even when she was irrational and giving Erik way more chances than I ever would have. I wish she had been a bit more direct and consistent. Erik was a frustrating hero, but I didn’t like how she’d set him up for failure. She had moments where she wanted him to do something, but when she had the opportunity to remind him, she wouldn’t say a thing, then blow up at him because he forgot. He was clearly thicker than a brick, but she was constantly telling him that she was “fine,” when she was anything but. If you want him to learn to be open with his feelings, I think it’s unfair to hide your own.
What saved this for me ultimately, was the birthing scenes at the end. I won’t detail them and spoil it, but suffice to say, they were funny, heartfelt and gave a balance to the HEA that was lacking from the rest of the book.
The Bad
Unfortunately, there was too much show vs tell in this book. The first night they’re together, I was told that it was life-changing, for them both, and that secrets were exchanged, hearts were bared. But I wasn’t shown this. I just thought it was really hot sex. Even at the end, I was definitely convinced that they liked each other, but I wasn’t convinced they loved each other.
I didn’t read any of the books between the first one and this one, and so I didn’t feel like I knew these characters well. I had a passing acquaintance with Piper from the first book, but Erik was a blank slate, and what I saw of him, I didn’t like.
Alot of the “bad” with this story for me, had to do with Erik. He came across as a wishy-washy a-hole through the majority of this tale, and I felt that the character would have been better served if I had had a glimpse of his treatment he received from his parents. I felt that he spent alot of time saying he didn’t want to hurt Piper, and then he’d hurt her anyway.
If I had had even one flashback of their night together where they simply talked, instead of just sex, I would have a huge impact on the story, and would have given a stronger emotional connection than what I had.
The Bottom Line (2.5 stars)
If you are a fan of this series, you may enjoy this more than I did and seeing the couples from earlier books may make more of an impact for you than it did for me. I wish I could recommend this, but I just didn’t like the hero enough to let go and enjoy the romance.
The Premise
The latest in the Nashville Assassins series, this book is about Piper and Erik. The instant Piper Allen sees Erik Titov, she wants him. They lock eyes, dance and then up up spending the night together. After that wild night, Erik tells Piper that he doesn’t “do” relationships, trying to let her know how messed up he really is. Piper is heartbroken...and then she ends up pregnant. She panics, not knowing what to do and ends up hiding her pregnancy for the first few months.
Erik, meanwhile, has been banging everything that moves in an attempt to forget his feelings for Piper, convinced he is not relationship material. This leads to being placed on probation by his team’s owner, for being a manwhore, apparently. When she finally breaks the news to Erik, his solution? Get married, and save Erik’s career, but with the understanding that the marriage would be over once the baby is born.
The Good
I liked Piper, even when she was irrational and giving Erik way more chances than I ever would have. I wish she had been a bit more direct and consistent. Erik was a frustrating hero, but I didn’t like how she’d set him up for failure. She had moments where she wanted him to do something, but when she had the opportunity to remind him, she wouldn’t say a thing, then blow up at him because he forgot. He was clearly thicker than a brick, but she was constantly telling him that she was “fine,” when she was anything but. If you want him to learn to be open with his feelings, I think it’s unfair to hide your own.
What saved this for me ultimately, was the birthing scenes at the end. I won’t detail them and spoil it, but suffice to say, they were funny, heartfelt and gave a balance to the HEA that was lacking from the rest of the book.
The Bad
Unfortunately, there was too much show vs tell in this book. The first night they’re together, I was told that it was life-changing, for them both, and that secrets were exchanged, hearts were bared. But I wasn’t shown this. I just thought it was really hot sex. Even at the end, I was definitely convinced that they liked each other, but I wasn’t convinced they loved each other.
I didn’t read any of the books between the first one and this one, and so I didn’t feel like I knew these characters well. I had a passing acquaintance with Piper from the first book, but Erik was a blank slate, and what I saw of him, I didn’t like.
Alot of the “bad” with this story for me, had to do with Erik. He came across as a wishy-washy a-hole through the majority of this tale, and I felt that the character would have been better served if I had had a glimpse of his treatment he received from his parents. I felt that he spent alot of time saying he didn’t want to hurt Piper, and then he’d hurt her anyway.
If I had had even one flashback of their night together where they simply talked, instead of just sex, I would have a huge impact on the story, and would have given a stronger emotional connection than what I had.
The Bottom Line (2.5 stars)
If you are a fan of this series, you may enjoy this more than I did and seeing the couples from earlier books may make more of an impact for you than it did for me. I wish I could recommend this, but I just didn’t like the hero enough to let go and enjoy the romance.