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Si L'amour S'en Mêle (2013)

by Stephanie Bond(Favorite Author)

3.68 of 5 Votes: 2

ISBN

2280283824 (ISBN13: 9782280283823)

languge

English

genre

Romance

publisher

Harlequin

series

Southern Roads

review 1: 3.5 stars. Like me, this author had a non-writing career before this one. And I can say, I see that. In some ways, it's good. In others, now I know what my mentor's comments really meant when she was reviewing my first novel. Some parts of the writing lack emotional impact at times. Not always, but occasionally. And I get that. I really do. Having a science/engineering based career requires a different type of writing and I know mine has often reflected the more clinical nature of tech writing that doesn't have a place in fiction. I catch myself approaching scenes from a clinical POV and have to fix it in editing. I don't think it kills the story, but I did notice at times.The overall story is a good one. I hadn't read the first book, but I've got that in my to read pile r... moreight this moment. Other than spoiling that there is a HEA (and it's a romance, so you expect that), I don't think this gives anything away about Porter and Nicki's story. At the base of this book is the story about never really getting over your first love. On that front, it shines. I believe that Kendall and Amy are still very much in love with each other and the path their story takes is credible. I won't give away the big spoiler - that part was well done and doled out at just the right pace for the reader (though maybe not so much for Kendall or Amy).However, I guess where I had issues was with the rest of the story. Want to know why? Because I'm Amy. And Kendall. I mean, I'm a civil engineer by profession and training. A structural engineer. With a professional license. And, well, that part of the story just didn't work for me from the POV of someone who has actually done the job. Did Stephanie Bond do a better job than many other writers could have done in her shoes? Yes. Did she get it all right? No. If I was uneducated about the profession, I'd have glossed over that stuff and probably been in awe. But, well, I'm not. It took away from my enjoyment of the story. I bumped up to 3.5 stars to accommodate for the fact that my opinion on that part of the story is, admittedly, biased. But even without that, I can't push to 4 stars and so I'm rounding down for this one instead of up.That didn't deter me from wanting to read the other two stories in the series. I may or may not explore her other series, but this one has piqued my interest, at least.
review 2: I'm sitting here toggling from 1 to 2 stars because I was really, really disappointed in this book. I liked the first book, Baby Drive South, so much that this one was a huge let down. I intensely dislike the "secret child" plot device and this one was particularly annoying. I didn't like Amy at all and found her selfish, immature and deceitful. It's hard to like a book when you dislike the female "lead." I found Nick at least tolerable but I didn't feel his connection to Amy. Tony's character felt like a much younger child than 12 and the ending was too abrupt to be plausible. So...I'll go with 1 1/2 stars and leave the rating a 2 just because I liked the author's other books much, much better. less

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