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A review by rellimreads
Fever by Maya Banks
2.0
This is the second book in the Breathless Trilogy. The series is set around three 38yo Millionaire hoteliers. They’re best read in order - while each book focuses on one couple, there are storylines that span the series. This is best if you enjoy over the top controlling, alpha male paired with a without-means submissive woman.
There’s some pretty big plot holes in this one that Banks just runs over with no explanation. The biggest is the set up and it makes it hard to get into the story after that. Bethany is homeless. No car, living on the streets, no food for days, clothing falling apart homeless. But she’s supposedly working a huge catering gig at a high end hotel. Most hotels have their own staff for events. Luxury hotels have strict standards for dress & appearance. I can’t get over that there’s no way Bethany would be at this event as staff.
If I set that aside, Jace is a completely different character than he was in book 1. He went from sweet, protective older brother and fun loving business partner to raging, over-the-top, controlling jerk. I’m all for Pretty Woman/Cinderella, rich guy makes poor girl’s dreams come true. However, Jace just wanted to control every aspect of Bethany’s life and have sex all the time. I didn’t feel any *romance* here.
Bethany started off as one of Jace & Ash’s threesomes. Which didn’t bother me. But it definitely bothered Jace and he made everyone else pay for it with his attitude and spite. It wasn’t sexy possessiveness, it felt like cruel punishment. Especially given that Bethany is on such unequal footing given her lack of means/options.
While Jace came around at the end, it felt too easy and no different than many other apologies he gave throughout the book. There wasn’t really anything to solidify that he’d be better to Bethany in a week. Especially since the book only spanned a few weeks total. I did like how things were resolved with Bethany’s foster brother.
Banks’ writing was even more repetitive here than in the first book - a big factor in why this one was an hour and a half longer than Rush. Could have cut out at least 3 hours by not having internal dialogues and conversations belaboring points.
Narration:
I was OK with Adam Paul’s narration. He gives Gabe, Jace, & Ash unique voices that are consistent through the whole series.
There’s some pretty big plot holes in this one that Banks just runs over with no explanation. The biggest is the set up and it makes it hard to get into the story after that. Bethany is homeless. No car, living on the streets, no food for days, clothing falling apart homeless. But she’s supposedly working a huge catering gig at a high end hotel. Most hotels have their own staff for events. Luxury hotels have strict standards for dress & appearance. I can’t get over that there’s no way Bethany would be at this event as staff.
If I set that aside, Jace is a completely different character than he was in book 1. He went from sweet, protective older brother and fun loving business partner to raging, over-the-top, controlling jerk. I’m all for Pretty Woman/Cinderella, rich guy makes poor girl’s dreams come true. However, Jace just wanted to control every aspect of Bethany’s life and have sex all the time. I didn’t feel any *romance* here.
Bethany started off as one of Jace & Ash’s threesomes. Which didn’t bother me. But it definitely bothered Jace and he made everyone else pay for it with his attitude and spite. It wasn’t sexy possessiveness, it felt like cruel punishment. Especially given that Bethany is on such unequal footing given her lack of means/options.
While Jace came around at the end, it felt too easy and no different than many other apologies he gave throughout the book. There wasn’t really anything to solidify that he’d be better to Bethany in a week. Especially since the book only spanned a few weeks total. I did like how things were resolved with Bethany’s foster brother.
Banks’ writing was even more repetitive here than in the first book - a big factor in why this one was an hour and a half longer than Rush. Could have cut out at least 3 hours by not having internal dialogues and conversations belaboring points.
Narration:
I was OK with Adam Paul’s narration. He gives Gabe, Jace, & Ash unique voices that are consistent through the whole series.