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A review by cocahina
Exclusive by Sandra Brown
4.0
4.5 stars for me. Wow. What a rollercoaster ride! Early on, I really didn't anticipate giving this one more than 3 stars, largely because of how Brown had her characters reacting to a doggo (I'm a dog mom and a lover of all dogs, so anything less than reverence doesn't go over well with me). I feel she could really use some lessons from Dean Koontz on how to write dogs into her stories.
As I continued reading, I bumped my mental rating up to a 3.5 because the characters were so well-written and engaging. The plot was well-paced and kept me turning pages, eager for more. But I saw one of the big "surprises" coming from nearly the beginning of the book so, again, I felt like there was no way my rating would change.
Near the end, I was surprised and thought, okay, Sandra Brown has done it again - another 4-star rating from me! And then... dun dun dun... I was shocked in the epilogue! The freaking epilogue! That never happens!
So, 4.5 stars is my final rating - half a star deducted because of the dog. Seriously, if that had been handled a little differently, particularly the heroine's inner dialogue about it, this would have been a 5-star read for me. I've read a lot of Brown's works and this is one of my favorites.
As I continued reading, I bumped my mental rating up to a 3.5 because the characters were so well-written and engaging. The plot was well-paced and kept me turning pages, eager for more. But I saw one of the big "surprises" coming from nearly the beginning of the book so, again, I felt like there was no way my rating would change.
Near the end, I was surprised and thought, okay, Sandra Brown has done it again - another 4-star rating from me! And then... dun dun dun... I was shocked in the epilogue! The freaking epilogue! That never happens!
So, 4.5 stars is my final rating - half a star deducted because of the dog. Seriously, if that had been handled a little differently, particularly the heroine's inner dialogue about it, this would have been a 5-star read for me. I've read a lot of Brown's works and this is one of my favorites.