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A review by aefedele
The Stranger by Kyra Davis
1.0
I really wanted to like this book. The premise sounded amazing after my love of Fifty Shades of Grey and Bared to You but it fell way, way, way short. Before I delve into why I didn't care for the book or why I read 50% and stopped (seriously it was like pulling teeth), I'll explain a little more about the characters and plot.
Kasie Fitzgerald is spending a weekend in Vegas with her best friend (can you say pimp?) where she wears tight and revealing clothes, drinks, and gets off on the attention from other casino customers. Of course she meets salt-and-pepper Robert Dade who happens to be totally hung up on this random chick wearing a red dress (seriously?)
She sleeps with him of course and then parts ways because she feels slutty AND she has an almost fiance (which is all sorts of a asshole). Of course she conveniently drops her business card after sex and he hires the firm she works for to head up some sort of financial thing for his company. Everyone knows she got it because she's sleeping with him except her boyfriend. She continues to fight sleeping with him by just sleeping with him and then feeling guilty.
That is about as far as I got before I couldn't stomach the story anymore. By the half mark I cared very little for any of the characters and I actually prayed Robert Dade would find himself attracted to someone else since he was sort of interesting. Kasie was being ridiculous and seemed almost cartoonish in her perceptions.
Okay let's just take a minute to look at Kasie and her stupidity within the first 50% of the book.
1. "He was my comfort food, my baked potato." ~On her boyfriend. WTF? What is wrong with her? I don't mind a girl or guy finding comfort in their significant other since they should but...a baked potato?! That is not the image I want of my lover/future husband. I love baked potatoes but lovers should not be compared to them.
2. "A voiced request means that I won't be able to say that I was just taken or that I wasn't thinking." ~On sleeping with Robert for the first time. Once again WTF?! She's basically saying she could have claimed rape or gotten away with cheating because she wasn't thinking?!! What sort of heroine pulls that crap?
3. "He's doing everything he's supposed to do. Getting me the ring I want in exchange for my agreement to be the person I've been for my entire life. All he wants is for me to abandon my recent vagaries of nature." ~On being a timid wife for a ring. So Kasie is willing to give up a part of herself for a shiny ring? What exactly is the message here? She rationalizes staying in a miserable relationship and losing a part of herself because he compromised on a ruby over a diamond? Seriously I have no words for this.
Let's take a moment and analyze this gem from Dave:
"You're a concealed weapon. A pistol hidden inside an Hermes handbag...Only in cases of extreme danger. Because a gun in the hand is vulgar, common. But when it's kept neatly in a couture bag, it becomes something else."
In response to that, Kasie thinks,
"This is the man who I wanted to blame for my own misbehavior. This is the man who I betrayed twice in one week. This is the man who sees me as I want to be seen. In his eyes I'm a lady, a deadly weapon in a designer bag. Dave sees the aspiration of what I want to be while Mr. Dade sees the woman I've been running from."
Dave wants her to contain part of herself inside because it's dangerous. He wants her to be half of herself because it's not 'ladylike' while she's slowly turned into what he wants. She rationalizes his idiocy by stating Dade only sees the part of herself she doesn't like. Dade sees the part of her that makes her passionate and happy. As the story progresses Dave sees her like a white rose while Dade sees her like an African violet. That one statement made it really clear Dade understands her so much better than Dave when he says this:
"Which means there's no excuse for his ignorance. White roses are pretty but they have nothing to do with who you are. You're more of an African violet...Its petals are velvety; they actually seem to want to be touched. And at its center, it's core, the very spot were the bees can coax out its nectar, it's a vibrant gold...The African violet is strong, enticing and its beauty can be seen, but to fully appreciate its depth, it needs to be touched."~Dave gave white roses to apologize for being completely ridiculous
If the heroine was a tad stronger or likable I might have finished the story. Robert Dade deserved a heroine equal to him. He deserved a woman who knew she was miserable and looking for a way to find herself.
P.S. It has been mentioned my dislike of this book could be paralleled with my hatred of "The Awakening" by Kate Chopin. I think it has to do with my perception of the weak heroine. Either way...I hated them both.
1/5 stars for the sake of Robert Dade
This book was provided by Pocket Books through NetGalley (Thank you for the opportunity).
Kasie Fitzgerald is spending a weekend in Vegas with her best friend (can you say pimp?) where she wears tight and revealing clothes, drinks, and gets off on the attention from other casino customers. Of course she meets salt-and-pepper Robert Dade who happens to be totally hung up on this random chick wearing a red dress (seriously?)
She sleeps with him of course and then parts ways because she feels slutty AND she has an almost fiance (which is all sorts of a asshole). Of course she conveniently drops her business card after sex and he hires the firm she works for to head up some sort of financial thing for his company. Everyone knows she got it because she's sleeping with him except her boyfriend. She continues to fight sleeping with him by just sleeping with him and then feeling guilty.
That is about as far as I got before I couldn't stomach the story anymore. By the half mark I cared very little for any of the characters and I actually prayed Robert Dade would find himself attracted to someone else since he was sort of interesting. Kasie was being ridiculous and seemed almost cartoonish in her perceptions.
Okay let's just take a minute to look at Kasie and her stupidity within the first 50% of the book.
1. "He was my comfort food, my baked potato." ~On her boyfriend. WTF? What is wrong with her? I don't mind a girl or guy finding comfort in their significant other since they should but...a baked potato?! That is not the image I want of my lover/future husband. I love baked potatoes but lovers should not be compared to them.
2. "A voiced request means that I won't be able to say that I was just taken or that I wasn't thinking." ~On sleeping with Robert for the first time. Once again WTF?! She's basically saying she could have claimed rape or gotten away with cheating because she wasn't thinking?!! What sort of heroine pulls that crap?
3. "He's doing everything he's supposed to do. Getting me the ring I want in exchange for my agreement to be the person I've been for my entire life. All he wants is for me to abandon my recent vagaries of nature." ~On being a timid wife for a ring. So Kasie is willing to give up a part of herself for a shiny ring? What exactly is the message here? She rationalizes staying in a miserable relationship and losing a part of herself because he compromised on a ruby over a diamond? Seriously I have no words for this.
Let's take a moment and analyze this gem from Dave:
"You're a concealed weapon. A pistol hidden inside an Hermes handbag...Only in cases of extreme danger. Because a gun in the hand is vulgar, common. But when it's kept neatly in a couture bag, it becomes something else."
In response to that, Kasie thinks,
"This is the man who I wanted to blame for my own misbehavior. This is the man who I betrayed twice in one week. This is the man who sees me as I want to be seen. In his eyes I'm a lady, a deadly weapon in a designer bag. Dave sees the aspiration of what I want to be while Mr. Dade sees the woman I've been running from."
Dave wants her to contain part of herself inside because it's dangerous. He wants her to be half of herself because it's not 'ladylike' while she's slowly turned into what he wants. She rationalizes his idiocy by stating Dade only sees the part of herself she doesn't like. Dade sees the part of her that makes her passionate and happy. As the story progresses Dave sees her like a white rose while Dade sees her like an African violet. That one statement made it really clear Dade understands her so much better than Dave when he says this:
"Which means there's no excuse for his ignorance. White roses are pretty but they have nothing to do with who you are. You're more of an African violet...Its petals are velvety; they actually seem to want to be touched. And at its center, it's core, the very spot were the bees can coax out its nectar, it's a vibrant gold...The African violet is strong, enticing and its beauty can be seen, but to fully appreciate its depth, it needs to be touched."~Dave gave white roses to apologize for being completely ridiculous
If the heroine was a tad stronger or likable I might have finished the story. Robert Dade deserved a heroine equal to him. He deserved a woman who knew she was miserable and looking for a way to find herself.
P.S. It has been mentioned my dislike of this book could be paralleled with my hatred of "The Awakening" by Kate Chopin. I think it has to do with my perception of the weak heroine. Either way...I hated them both.
1/5 stars for the sake of Robert Dade
This book was provided by Pocket Books through NetGalley (Thank you for the opportunity).