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A review by tita_noir
The Owner of His Heart: 50 Loving States, Pennsylvania by Theodora Taylor
3.0
Layla is back in Pittsburgh cleaning up her gambling, wastrel, generally ass-hole of a father's debts. She is also there to track down the mystery of what happened to her ten years ago. She knows that something happened in Pittsburgh that caused her to lose a whole year of her life and she's tracking down the mystery of what it was.
This leads her to Nathan Sinclair, a man whose family her father received several thousands of dollars from. Their first meeting is full of hostility from Nathan which leads Layla to wonder if they had met before.
This author is new to me and one I discovered because her book was a freebie on Kindle because I am a Prime member.
The pros of this story are many. The writing is crisp, clean and polished, there are no data dumps (big pet peeve of mine), and the story unfolds well. There is a hook -- the mystery of what happened ten years ago -- that is well set and well developed. The author kept me on the hook throughout the story by revealing dribs of information in well placed, well thought-out points in the story. This, imo, was the real strength of the book. It was strongly and deliberately plotted.
But I am a character person before I am a plot person. And it was the characters, imo, where this book falls somewhat apart for me.
I have seen these characters countless times before and I wasn't completely captivated by them. Layla is a textbook nice heroine. Actually she is too nice. She's sweet, wonderful, always smiling and charming to everyone. She can make friends anywhere. She knows instinctively how to make you a better you! She's also (a another big pet peeve of mine) a Noble Martyr.
She tracks down Nathan because she knows he gave her father some money and wants to pay back the 'debt.' I was never sure why Layla was so convinced this was a debt. For all she knows that money was a pay-off of a legit gambling win by her dad. Nobody was coming after her for that money. No bill collectors were calling. The po-po wasn't showing up at her door with a warrant. Not a knee-breaker in sight. So why does she insist on paying back something that for all she knows wasn't necessarily required to be paid back? Why does she sell her car (thus requiring her to rise earlier and work later to accommodate the bus schedule? Why does she take on extra shifts? All to pay him back his money and....Because she's Noble.
Nathan is also a familiar trope. A rich, Alpha hero who uses blackmail, secrets and enigmatic silences to keep a woman. You know, your typical, everyday Harlequin hero.
They end up with a HEA, of course, but I never understood why they fell in love with each other. I was also a bit put off by the abruptness of their sexual encounters. One minute they are strangers arguing and they next they're kissing & boinking.
There was potentially a great book here. As it is was, it was good. But I did like this author's voice and would be on the look out for other works of hers.
This leads her to Nathan Sinclair, a man whose family her father received several thousands of dollars from. Their first meeting is full of hostility from Nathan which leads Layla to wonder if they had met before.
This author is new to me and one I discovered because her book was a freebie on Kindle because I am a Prime member.
The pros of this story are many. The writing is crisp, clean and polished, there are no data dumps (big pet peeve of mine), and the story unfolds well. There is a hook -- the mystery of what happened ten years ago -- that is well set and well developed. The author kept me on the hook throughout the story by revealing dribs of information in well placed, well thought-out points in the story. This, imo, was the real strength of the book. It was strongly and deliberately plotted.
But I am a character person before I am a plot person. And it was the characters, imo, where this book falls somewhat apart for me.
I have seen these characters countless times before and I wasn't completely captivated by them. Layla is a textbook nice heroine. Actually she is too nice. She's sweet, wonderful, always smiling and charming to everyone. She can make friends anywhere. She knows instinctively how to make you a better you! She's also (a another big pet peeve of mine) a Noble Martyr.
She tracks down Nathan because she knows he gave her father some money and wants to pay back the 'debt.' I was never sure why Layla was so convinced this was a debt. For all she knows that money was a pay-off of a legit gambling win by her dad. Nobody was coming after her for that money. No bill collectors were calling. The po-po wasn't showing up at her door with a warrant. Not a knee-breaker in sight. So why does she insist on paying back something that for all she knows wasn't necessarily required to be paid back? Why does she sell her car (thus requiring her to rise earlier and work later to accommodate the bus schedule? Why does she take on extra shifts? All to pay him back his money and....Because she's Noble.
Nathan is also a familiar trope. A rich, Alpha hero who uses blackmail, secrets and enigmatic silences to keep a woman. You know, your typical, everyday Harlequin hero.
They end up with a HEA, of course, but I never understood why they fell in love with each other. I was also a bit put off by the abruptness of their sexual encounters. One minute they are strangers arguing and they next they're kissing & boinking.
There was potentially a great book here. As it is was, it was good. But I did like this author's voice and would be on the look out for other works of hers.