Product Details:
The surest way to ruin a relationship is to marry the man you love. At least that's what Vanella Morris believes. So when Alton, her longtime boyfriend and the love of her life, proposes, Vanella is faced with a dilemma: Unable to convince Alton to skip the vows and just live together, does she walk away from happiness because of her fears, or ignore her commitment concerns and risk the possibility of marital hell on earth?
Review:
This was a charming book. It took off fairly slow. Taking me two days to get through the first 80 pages. By chapter 8, the novel had sprouted legs and took off to a full sprint. After that, it took me 3 solid hours to finish reading the rest of the novel. The main character, Vanella Morris, often seemed irrational to me. At times I wanted to thump her upside the head. I found myself sighing out loud, thinking you can't be that naive and immature. Vanella had been with her boyfriend for several years and then he proposes but she's too scared to accept because they might get a divorce? Ummm...you're not married yet and you're afraid of divorcing? So she'd rather not get married and risk losing the man of her life to avoid getting divorced. Breaking up is essentially getting a divorce without legalities. It seemed pointless. And Alton, her lovable boyfriend, was too perfect. I don't remember him having one single flaw.
I didn't quite understand the relationship between Vanella's parents. They were a disjointed family because of some family secrets. But instead of dealing with them, the husband instead carries contempt for his wife and the wife tries to appease him. Then when the secret is reveal, the characters initial traits and personalities rapidly change, it was like watching two drastically different characters. The abrupt transformation was not to my liking.
This was a delightful read, not as engrossing as I prefer. But it did pique my interest once it started moving along. The ending was especially gratifying and I could feel myself smiling. I would recommend this book. I give it....
3 STARS
***
Logging you in...
Fiction or non-fiction, reading is just sooo much fun!! Allows your imagination to take you places where you probably would not otherwise go!
ReplyDeleteI like the way you reviewed this one. It sounds like you were trying to be fair. Even still, I don't think I'd read this book. I do NOT like books with characters that are unbelievable. I also need to be able to care about my protagonist. If this woman is naive and irrational, I won't be able to relate to her and therefore won't give a hoot about how her story ends.
ReplyDeleteAuthors really need to remember that when they are developing their characters, those characters need to appeal to reader. Not having that (and poor editing and grammar) are two things that will stop me in my tracks. Even if the storyline is good, I'll never know because I won't read it.
I hate when characters begin when one and then drastcially change without a feasible explanation. Besides, most change is gradual anyway, it's jut unrealistsic. Anyways, good honest review!
ReplyDeleteThanks Letha and Jade for your comments. I try my best to be fair. :-)
ReplyDeleteI love that you're honest. It's so important.
ReplyDeleteGreat review. I'm reading a book right now (YA) lots of people seem to love and it took me 2 weeks to get through the first 100 pages. I finally picked it up again yesterday, but so far...not my cup of tea.
The blurb of this book sounds interesting. Afraid to get married, but as you said...a "naive" heroine isn't what I'd call a good time lol. I'm about to read "Lucky Girl" by Cate Lord. Loved the sample... You might like it, too :-)
_yay_ @ BookthatThing!