Title: The Retrieval Duet
Author: Aly Martinez
Shelves: Contemporary; Romance
Format: eBook
Overall Rating: ★★★☆☆ 3 stars
One story. Two couples.
I proposed on our first date.
She laughed and told me I was insane. Less than a day later, she said yes.
It was a whirlwind, but we were happy…
Until we got greedy and wanted a family.
It was a life I couldn’t give her, not for lack of trying. Fertility just wasn’t on our side. We sought out doctors and treatments. Spent money we didn’t have. Lied to our families. Smiled for our friends. Put on a brave face for a world that didn’t understand.
Finally, we were successful…
Until we were forced to bury our son.
We were left broken, battered, and destroyed.
They say love is in the details, but it was the details that ruined us.
This is the story of how I took back what had always been mine.
The retrieval of my wife and our family.
Following the death of their newborn son, Elisabeth and Roman’s marriage fell apart. Two years after their divorce, a phone-call from the police station brings them together, as they receive some life-changing news about their child.
This novel has been on my TBR for what feels like a very long time! The topic of infertility is a tough one for me, but I heard good things about this novel and I really wanted to push myself and read something out of my comfort zone. And I did!
Sadly, I can’t help but feel slightly underwhelmed by this book. I was expecting a lot more than what I got. More romance, more angst, more heartache. I didn’t really get much of any of that.
I really liked Elisabeth but I wasn’t a massive fan of Roman. They reconciled quickly and almost too easily considering all they’d been through, and how long they’d been apart for. I’m still unsure on how I feel about that. Having said that, I liked that you understood why they both made the decisions they made following their son’s death, even if their opinions and actions clashed. I loved the numerous flashbacks to early on in their relationship. Their romance was such a whirlwind and it was so cute! The contrast from their adorable early days to post-divorce was very angsty too, I was loving it.
What’s interesting is that there’s three POVs in this novel. Roman and Elisabeth (the couple), and a woman named Clare, who is in an abusive relationship with a wanted man. Claire’s POV was interesting (it’s what made me read part two), but I thought that it’s presence was really unusual. But more on her in the second review…
A small complaint I have is that one character was introduced early in the novel and then was completely dropped and never mentioned again (like, why introduce them in the first place?)
But my main gripe about this novel was that it wasn’t as in depth as I’d hoped. Their relationship was remedied quite quickly, Clare’s POV slightly detracted from Roman and Elisabeth, not to mention the seriously annoying cliffhanger! To me it almost felt that this novel was just leading up to the second novel. Because other than the reconciliation of the main couple, not much was solved in this novel (and there really was a lot going on!).
Novel Two: The Transfer (Published September 27th, 2016)
One story. Two couples.
I fell in love with a man who didn’t exist.
What started out as romance ended in hell.
His words turned to razor blades.
His kisses converted to fists.
His embrace became my cage.
His body transformed into a weapon, stealing parts of me until ultimately….
I broke.
I hated him.
My sole job in life became to protect our daughter.
I wasn’t sure I’d ever escape the prison he’d skillfully crafted from my fears.
Until the day our savior arrived.
This is the story of how I escaped the man who thought he owned me.
The transfer of my life and my family.
The Transfer begins where The Retrieval ends, but the focus shifts from Elisabeth and Roman, to Clare and Detective Heath Light, as they attempt to save Clare and her daughter from Walt Noir, a man well-known to the police for his criminal activity.
I have the opposite feelings about this novel compared to the first one, in that, while the plot actually went somewhere this time, I just didn’t care much for Clare and Heath’s romance. I actually liked both characters a lot, but their romance didn’t interest me. I found myself more interested in everything else going on than I was about their growing relationship.
The first novel has three POVs, and this novel has four (Heath, Clare, Roman, and Elisabeth). What bothered me slightly was that the chapters were pretty short, so there was regular switching between character’s POVs. So you’re just getting into one POV and it changes to someone else. It worked for me in the first book but not so much this one.
As mentioned, the plot was definitely better in this one. Lots of drama and action which was fun, and questions raised in the first novel are finally answered. Even though I did originally pick this duology up for the romance, I was very much invested by the end of the first book in the dodgy goings on surrounding Clare’s husband.
Overall, this duet was a pretty fun read. I’m glad to have finally gotten around to reading it, but I do still feel slightly underwhelmed by it.
Would you read this series again? Probably not
Who would I recommend this novel to? NA readers wanting a quick, angsty read
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