Let me preface this review by saying I like Katie MacAlister. I've never been able to get into her Dark Ones or Dragons series, but I have all of her 1-shot books. She usually makes me laugh out loud at least once, and her characters are quirky.
In this book, she just tried too hard. The main characters are SO quirky, I really think the book would've been better if they came down with a mysterious disease and died.
Case in point: the lead female is a grown woman who had been living with her fiancee for two years. And she's had some sort of job, so she's not a complete moron. I don't expect or necessarily have a craving for grown people to use swear words, but I expect an adult to speak like an adult. Not refer to sex as "rompy time" or refer to a back pain as an "ouchie back" -- keep in mind, this is still the phase where she's NOT trying to make the guy run screaming for the hills because he thinks she has some unsettling daddy issues.
She apparently DOES know real words, she's just completely incapable of using them in any way that makes sense. For example, when apologizing to a foreign person who obviously does not speak completely fluent English (it's why she's apologizing), she says, "Sorry, that was too colloquial." Riiiiight. Because "colloquial" is one of those words that every non-native person knows.
The language is only one of her issues. By page 150 she's become incapable of using common logic and jumps to conclusions faster than a caffeinated cheetah at a trampoline store. At that point, I just stopped reading the book -- and I very, very rarely stop reading a book once I start. I can (sort of) take main characters who use creepy baby talk, incredibly implausible romance, situations that are beyond ridiculous, and other oddities (I enjoy all of the aforementioned when it's done well, by the way -- well, maybe not the baby talk), but having my pet rock be smarter than the heroine that I'm supposed to root for on top of all the rest? Pass. Hopefully, someone else will enjoy the book.
The first few times you read one of MacAlister's books, the non-language "nnrrg" or "foowah" is rather cute. After a while, you being to wonder just how lazy of a writer she is. I suppose, as long as she keeps selling the books with the same formula, she'll keep writing the same book. This book was not particularly funny, definitely not clever, and having people bang each other within a couple of days of meeting is not romantic. This type of story has been done much, much better before -- by MacAlister herself.
In this book, she just tried too hard. The main characters are SO quirky, I really think the book would've been better if they came down with a mysterious disease and died.
Case in point: the lead female is a grown woman who had been living with her fiancee for two years. And she's had some sort of job, so she's not a complete moron. I don't expect or necessarily have a craving for grown people to use swear words, but I expect an adult to speak like an adult. Not refer to sex as "rompy time" or refer to a back pain as an "ouchie back" -- keep in mind, this is still the phase where she's NOT trying to make the guy run screaming for the hills because he thinks she has some unsettling daddy issues.
She apparently DOES know real words, she's just completely incapable of using them in any way that makes sense. For example, when apologizing to a foreign person who obviously does not speak completely fluent English (it's why she's apologizing), she says, "Sorry, that was too colloquial." Riiiiight. Because "colloquial" is one of those words that every non-native person knows.
The language is only one of her issues. By page 150 she's become incapable of using common logic and jumps to conclusions faster than a caffeinated cheetah at a trampoline store. At that point, I just stopped reading the book -- and I very, very rarely stop reading a book once I start. I can (sort of) take main characters who use creepy baby talk, incredibly implausible romance, situations that are beyond ridiculous, and other oddities (I enjoy all of the aforementioned when it's done well, by the way -- well, maybe not the baby talk), but having my pet rock be smarter than the heroine that I'm supposed to root for on top of all the rest? Pass. Hopefully, someone else will enjoy the book.
The first few times you read one of MacAlister's books, the non-language "nnrrg" or "foowah" is rather cute. After a while, you being to wonder just how lazy of a writer she is. I suppose, as long as she keeps selling the books with the same formula, she'll keep writing the same book. This book was not particularly funny, definitely not clever, and having people bang each other within a couple of days of meeting is not romantic. This type of story has been done much, much better before -- by MacAlister herself.
Fun book. Alice has been dumped by her boyfriend of two years, right before they were to go on a European river cruise. She decides to go ahead and take the trip anyway, only to find out that her ex gave his ticket to a friend. So she is stuck sharing her cabin with stuffy, slightly mysterious British aristocrat.
Elliott is just looking for some peace and quiet to finish his book. As the oldest of twelve, and the heir to a crumbling castle, he is in charge of the family finances. The income from his spy novels provide a large part of the income that keeps everything going. He's not pleased to be sharing a cabin with a talkative American.
From the moment they met there was a connection between Alice and Elliott. I loved their first meeting as his seriousness ran into her intent to have fun. He does a good job of making his requirements clear, but Alice convinces him to take a break from his writing for a meal. From there he is lured into going on one of the tours, and the next thing he knows he is hooked on Alice. I loved seeing how the two of them balanced each other. She is enthusiastic and spontaneous and he is cautious and methodical, and together they are just right. Within two days they have fallen in love, which both admit is ridiculously fast, but are so certain it is real they go ahead and get married.
Things don't go smoothly, as Alice's ex shows up, determined to win her back. He is initially oblivious to the fact that she wants nothing to do with him, and I loved seeing her make the point. There's also a female passenger that has her sights set on Elliott, and it was fun to see them fight her off. Then Elliott gets an emergency call from home, and rather than explain what has happened, tells Alice to go on with the cruise without him. He has his reasons for not telling her, important to him, but not really good in the long run. It doesn't take long for Alice to miss him and want to join him.
Elliott ends up in the hospital and when Alice tries to find out what's happening she keeps running into walls. Seems Elliott hadn't had time to tell anyone in his family he was married and no one believes her when she shows up. Her trials and tribulations of getting to him were pretty epic. I loved her reaction to his family and theirs to her. There is some strain between Elliott and Alice as he's recovering from his injury, leading her to believe that he's fallen out of love with her, something that would have been avoided if they had talked to each other about their feelings.
Alice has put her mind to helping Elliott find ways to make the castle profitable and one such venture brings her ex and Elliott's sister and two fellow passengers to the castle for the "Ainslie Experience". But things are not quite what they seem and there are several surprises in store for Alice and Elliott. I loved how they overcame them and were finally able to move forward.
The book is full of quirky characters, from Elliott's siblings to his overly dramatic mother, and some interesting fellow passengers on the cruise. Alice and Elliott also get into some hilarious situations, including their dinner in an Amsterdam coffeehouse and their adventures in a German sex bar. There were a lot of places that had me laughing out loud. I can't wait to read Gunner's story.
Elliott is just looking for some peace and quiet to finish his book. As the oldest of twelve, and the heir to a crumbling castle, he is in charge of the family finances. The income from his spy novels provide a large part of the income that keeps everything going. He's not pleased to be sharing a cabin with a talkative American.
From the moment they met there was a connection between Alice and Elliott. I loved their first meeting as his seriousness ran into her intent to have fun. He does a good job of making his requirements clear, but Alice convinces him to take a break from his writing for a meal. From there he is lured into going on one of the tours, and the next thing he knows he is hooked on Alice. I loved seeing how the two of them balanced each other. She is enthusiastic and spontaneous and he is cautious and methodical, and together they are just right. Within two days they have fallen in love, which both admit is ridiculously fast, but are so certain it is real they go ahead and get married.
Things don't go smoothly, as Alice's ex shows up, determined to win her back. He is initially oblivious to the fact that she wants nothing to do with him, and I loved seeing her make the point. There's also a female passenger that has her sights set on Elliott, and it was fun to see them fight her off. Then Elliott gets an emergency call from home, and rather than explain what has happened, tells Alice to go on with the cruise without him. He has his reasons for not telling her, important to him, but not really good in the long run. It doesn't take long for Alice to miss him and want to join him.
Elliott ends up in the hospital and when Alice tries to find out what's happening she keeps running into walls. Seems Elliott hadn't had time to tell anyone in his family he was married and no one believes her when she shows up. Her trials and tribulations of getting to him were pretty epic. I loved her reaction to his family and theirs to her. There is some strain between Elliott and Alice as he's recovering from his injury, leading her to believe that he's fallen out of love with her, something that would have been avoided if they had talked to each other about their feelings.
Alice has put her mind to helping Elliott find ways to make the castle profitable and one such venture brings her ex and Elliott's sister and two fellow passengers to the castle for the "Ainslie Experience". But things are not quite what they seem and there are several surprises in store for Alice and Elliott. I loved how they overcame them and were finally able to move forward.
The book is full of quirky characters, from Elliott's siblings to his overly dramatic mother, and some interesting fellow passengers on the cruise. Alice and Elliott also get into some hilarious situations, including their dinner in an Amsterdam coffeehouse and their adventures in a German sex bar. There were a lot of places that had me laughing out loud. I can't wait to read Gunner's story.
chick lit with totally unrealistic premise, totally unrealistic story and characters. I thought it would be a fun quick and easy read but was just bad.
