TEST
When reading the excerpt of Sabrina’s Destiny, I was quickly taken in by Selena Robins’ writing voice and the spirited heroine. I looked forward to a humorous Chick Lit/Paranormal blending but I didn’t care for the guardian angel concept and found the lead characters too-sweet-to-be-true.
Sabrina Monroe’s old Firebird is, once again, giving her trouble, and the small-town innkeeper loses it in a lonely spot of her hometown, Maple in Vermont. A nice pink-haired lady named Lucy appears out of the blue, chatting along and emitting confusing words of “wisdoms”. Lucy leaves a little snow globe in Sabrina’s car, with “Sabrina’s destiny” emblazoned on it. Sabrina rationalizes and soon forgets the incident – she’s got other things on her mind.
Sabrina’s going through a streak of bad luck. She suppressed her true dreams to hold on to the family’s legacy, and struggles to make ends meet. She realized her calculating fiancé Rodney – now ex-fiancé – only wanted to get his hands on her property, and now finds herself organizing Rodney’s engagement party with his new girlfriend so that she can get some much-needed business for the inn.
Shortly after dismissing the dratted drunk her employment agency sent her, Jason O’Neill shows up. She assumes he is the handyman promised by the agency. His good, well-groomed looks and expensive car don’t go unnoticed by her, but who is she to turn down a free-of-charge, at her disposal for a month replacement? Maybe her bad luck is turning for a change! Overly competent in his trade he is not, but his physique, his self-assuredness and humor just radiate sex-appeal, and he looks as if his broad shoulders are capable of carrying all kinds of loads. It’s too bad that, as written, Sabrina tends to splutter like a dimwit in his presence.
New Yorker Jason O’Neill, the “Acquisition King” of Colonial Golf Resort, was sent to little Maple in the Vermont by his bosses to persuade Sabrina Monroe, the stubborn, 26-year-old owner of Maple Inn, to sell her much sought-after property to his company. At only thirty, he’s a high achiever and already far along on his way to the top. When Jason realizes Sabrina’s mistake in his identity, he decides to use it to his advantage and plays along, waiting for a better moment to reveal his motives. In her recent mood, that cute but prickly, bad-tempered woman wouldn’t listen to him anyway. Little does Jason know that this assignment won’t be carried out as easily as he’d expected…
Maple in Vermont is a small village complete with gossipping neighbors who gather in the only local store. The locals fill Jason in on everything there is to know about Sabrina, but unlike the usual, tightly-knit small towns in Romanceland, Maple’s inhabitants are indifferent or avaricious. Other than her loyal employees, Sabrina can’t call a single soul in Maple her true friend. Instead there are the greedy director of the local bank, the new fianceé of Sabrina’s ex, and her arrogant, sexpot friend (who hits on Jason).
Sabrina, while an admirable character in that she was forced to shoulder a tremendous amount of responsibility at a relatively early age, comes across as somewhat dated. She feels already made up when wearing scented lip gloss and “adventurous” when wearing a short red dress with two-inch heels, for example. As for Jason, his easy-going nature is very much at odds with his image as a forceful “acquisition king.” He never rang completely true for me, but he is good romance hero material. When he unavoidably gets more insight in Sabrina’s situation, he tells himself to hold back from caring – but his actions show otherwise. In addition to his model good looks, he does not take himself too seriously, he is not above making fun of himself or see the lurking humor in certain circumstances.
Sabrina’s Destiny was predictable and dragged on in the second half – in my opinion its spiritual aspect was unnecessary and cloying. Many of guardian angel Lucy’s “wisdoms” made me think of the Oracle’s tell-nothing verdicts in Matrix III. The book bordered on the soppy – Lucy had pink hair because Sabrina’s favorite color as a child was pink – and reminded me of my few Jehovah’s Witness acquaintances whom I cherish but would not want to be stuck with in an elevator for any lengthy period of time.
While Jason and Sabrina find their happily-ever-after, I did not. Both leads were too perfect, too kind, and too likable instead of unique and interesting. They beat themselves up over things in their past that any person with some common sense would not have worried about. I prefer to read about people with rough edges and to cheer them on while they struggle – and curse and complain – throughout the ordeal the author puts them through. Instead, I got “nice,” which was essentially boring.
Grade: C
Book Type: Paranormal Romance
Sensuality: Warm
Review Date: 19/05/05
Publication Date: 2004
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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.