Scan barcode
A review by theeditorreads
Insanely Hot, Then Not by Daniella Brodsky
2.0
Scarlett Miller lives with her three-year-old daughter Zooey. She has the hots for a complete stranger whom she has been seeing every day on her commute to work. In fact, both of them have been eyeing each other for close to a year. But suddenly he disappears. With her ex-landlord dead, she lives in fear of being evicted any day. The building she lives in is empty, and she doesn't want to create a stir by complaining about the racket that the new owner is making while renovating the place upstairs.
Lachlan Close was in Australia all this time, helping out his mother with some legal issues. It was only recently, after his father's death, that he took over the latter's vast business empire in America. Abandoned by his father at a young age, Lachlan has deep issues with him as he chose his ambition over his wife and child. He's working or at least trying to work through them, but when he comes to know about the compassion he supposedly showed to the beauty he has been eyeing for months, he can't quite reconcile the image he has of his father with the image the latter projected to his family.
The story played on the trope of a fated union, but many instances throughout the story felt too judgemental. And I so didn't like the stress on Australians. I mean, okay, I get it that they are great, and this, and that, but it was just so annoying the way it was narrated. It did seem to me like a tour guide droning on about the star attractions of a particular city (read: people).
Book Three of the Flame Series, this is narrated in the first-person dual perspective. Scarlett works as a photoshoot producer. Lachlan is a property developer. While there is something really cool about those name, their professions were barely touched upon, rather it was either his obsession with hating/questioning/doubting his dead father or her worry of what he will think if he knows she has a daughter and whether or not she's doing right by her little girl.
At thirty-two, Lachlan is successful beyond his wildest dreams. More so since he inherited his father's business. But it greatly irks him to see that everybody had a high opinion of his father except him. It went on to the point that I had to agree with Lachlan when he said:
Yes, Lachlan. Why couldn't you let him go? But, it is revealed right at the very end the reasons that would've enabled him to let go much earlier. But there wouldn't have been much of a plot then. Sigh! Too little, too late.
As much as I love damsel-in-distress stories, there was this mini-rant about the 'Me Too' Generation which didn't sit well with me. I think the author got the terminology wrong. The following paragraph made my reading experience completely distasteful.
First of all, #MeToo is not a generation. It is a movement against sexual harassment and sexual abuse where people publicize allegations of sex crimes committed by powerful and/or prominent men. A simple Google search would tell you that. There is a big difference between needing people in our lives/ falling in love and staying quiet in the face of abuse by those same people. When the author could create a wonderful character in Lachlan, why did she feel the need to belittle what another woman may or may not want?
The story concludes one year later with again a dual perspective (which I loved). And Lachlan and Zooey's bond is something I cherish in this story, especially at the end.
Thank you to Candi Kane PR for an e-ARC of the book.
Lachlan Close was in Australia all this time, helping out his mother with some legal issues. It was only recently, after his father's death, that he took over the latter's vast business empire in America. Abandoned by his father at a young age, Lachlan has deep issues with him as he chose his ambition over his wife and child. He's working or at least trying to work through them, but when he comes to know about the compassion he supposedly showed to the beauty he has been eyeing for months, he can't quite reconcile the image he has of his father with the image the latter projected to his family.
The story played on the trope of a fated union, but many instances throughout the story felt too judgemental. And I so didn't like the stress on Australians. I mean, okay, I get it that they are great, and this, and that, but it was just so annoying the way it was narrated. It did seem to me like a tour guide droning on about the star attractions of a particular city (read: people).
Book Three of the Flame Series, this is narrated in the first-person dual perspective. Scarlett works as a photoshoot producer. Lachlan is a property developer. While there is something really cool about those name, their professions were barely touched upon, rather it was either his obsession with hating/questioning/doubting his dead father or her worry of what he will think if he knows she has a daughter and whether or not she's doing right by her little girl.
At thirty-two, Lachlan is successful beyond his wildest dreams. More so since he inherited his father's business. But it greatly irks him to see that everybody had a high opinion of his father except him. It went on to the point that I had to agree with Lachlan when he said:
Who was this man? Why couldn’t I let him go?
Yes, Lachlan. Why couldn't you let him go? But, it is revealed right at the very end the reasons that would've enabled him to let go much earlier. But there wouldn't have been much of a plot then. Sigh! Too little, too late.
As much as I love damsel-in-distress stories, there was this mini-rant about the 'Me Too' Generation which didn't sit well with me. I think the author got the terminology wrong. The following paragraph made my reading experience completely distasteful.
We went through the Netflix menu options, chose a movie we’d watched several times about some princess or another tastefully updated for the #Metoo generation, who didn’t need a man to fix everything, and yet still falls in love. I tended to think we overcompensated, but who was I to say. What was so wrong about needing people? Men needed us too, didn’t they? Not the one I once had, but if I went in with that kind of attitude, surely, I’d never get anywhere.
First of all, #MeToo is not a generation. It is a movement against sexual harassment and sexual abuse where people publicize allegations of sex crimes committed by powerful and/or prominent men. A simple Google search would tell you that. There is a big difference between needing people in our lives/ falling in love and staying quiet in the face of abuse by those same people. When the author could create a wonderful character in Lachlan, why did she feel the need to belittle what another woman may or may not want?
The story concludes one year later with again a dual perspective (which I loved). And Lachlan and Zooey's bond is something I cherish in this story, especially at the end.
Thank you to Candi Kane PR for an e-ARC of the book.