TEST
A contemporary romance set on a Greek island? Oh, yes, I jumped at the chance to review this one. But while there are touches that definitely bring the Greek islands to mind, the setting wasn’t enough. The heroine was initially interesting, but soon became tiring. Factor in minimal character development and non-stop, over-the-top humor and this is a no go for me.
Eglantine “Harry” Knight has just flown to a private Greek island to be a stand-in manager for a teenage rock group. Within hours of getting to the island, Harry is embroiled in a major problem. One of the girls in the band has accused the brother of the island’s owner of raping her. Harry and seemingly everyone else on the island end up in the bedroom where the girl hysterically accuses the clearly drunk brother of attacking her. So you’re thinking, “ah, this is a serious contemporary romance involving a potential date rate.” Nope. Everything in this book is played for laughs – lots of laughs.
Harry fights with Iakovos Papaioannou, the island’s owner, the minute she meets him. Soon everyone heads to another island to have the girl examined in a hospital. While waiting to see if the girl is okay, Harry and Iakovos get hot and bothered and decide to head back to Iakovos’ island to have sex. This is key to the plot as Harry and Iakovos have lots and lots of hot sex. That’s about it.
I initially liked Harry. She’s tough, has a really smart mouth, and is irreverent. We’re told repeatedly that she’s not the typical woman that Iakovos dates. Iakovos, in addition to being sexy and gorgeous, is a billionaire and in the top five on the world’s “most eligible” bachelor list. He typically dates petite, blonde, slender, models (although how petite women can be models is beyond me). Harry’s tall, really tall. Iakovos alternately thinks of her as an Amazon or an Earth Goddess, but is intrigued from the first.
Everything happens too fast for me. Harry and Iakovos have sex within hours of meeting. Harry decides she wants to stay with Iakovos forever after the first time. She also decides that she likes his mind. I wasn’t sure how she knew anything about his mind as they didn’t seem to have any real conversations.
I initially found Harry interesting, but soon tired of her. She talks in endless, run-on sentences which were funny at first but eventually tiresome. And the jokes became stale. There are several non-stop, continuous jokes including Harry’s inability to spell or say Iakovos’ last name. A lot of this read as if the author was trying too hard for slapstick comedy. The book would be improved with fewer jokes and more character development.
Bottom Line? If you prefer character development and a romance with substance, I’d take a pass on this one. So why wasn’t my grade lower? Well, I did love the Greek setting, and as annoying as she could be at times, I did find Harry amusing now and then.
Grade: D
Book Type: Contemporary Romance
Sensuality: Hot
Review Date: 12/12/11
Publication Date: 2011/12
My first memory is sitting with my mother on a blanket in our backyard surrounded by books and she is reading one of them to me. My love of reading was encouraged by my parents and it continues to today. I’ve gone through a lot of different genres over the years, but I currently primarily read mysteries (historical mysteries are my favorites) and romances (focusing on contemporaries, categories, and steampunk). When I’m not reading or working, I love to travel, knit, and work on various community projects.
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Recent Comments …
Yep
This sounds delightful! I’m grabbing it, thanks
excellent book: interesting, funny dialogs, deep understanding of each character, interesting secondary characters, and also sexy.
I don’t think anyone expects you to post UK prices – it’s just a shame that such a great sale…
I’m sorry about that. We don’t have any way to post British prices as an American based site.
I have several of her books on my TBR and after reading this am moving them up the pile.