I know the usual problems with KA's writing, the heroine is always whispering, people repeat themselves five or six times to convey emotion, family and friends seem way more intrusive than normal humans act in reality, but, I am addicted to the relationship between the protagonist and her over the top heroes. I actually liked the characters in this book, but there were a couple of ticks that drove me crazy. One, just because you like sci-fi TV shows (and I do), doesn't mean that you relate these shows to all human interaction in reality. When you are talking to your parents, you don't start calling them cylons (WTF) and you don't go off about Angel and Darth Vader to your boyfriend. For one, thats over the top annoying, and two, its really weird. Its not cute, its a sign of a mental disorder and not being able to separate a TV show from reality. I thought I would be able to relate to this heroine, I watch the same shows, am always reading, and am close to my family. But one, I do not hold thirteen year crushes on guys, I do not go off about Buffy the Vampire Slayer in normal conversation, and I do not use made up curse words from science fiction shows. Plus, no family is as intrusive as this one is, especially on first meeting a family member's significant other. The author made the characterization way over the top.
Another big problem I had with the book was the fact that Chase had stayed in town just so he could eventually marry Faye. Apparently he spotted her, knew she was made for him right away, and planned their whole future in a grocery store aisle. Now, in normal human land, he would logically ask her out, start dating, meet parents, etc. Instead, he decided he needed to get the "wild" out of his system by having sex with as many sluts as possible (ie Misty and others) before approaching Faye so he would only give her "sweet". Wow, so, you see the girl of your dreams, and instead of snatching her up (you know, before one of the hundreds of hot guys who apparently live in that town do) you put her on ice while you get a reputation for sexing it up around town. I can only guess that if Faye had gotten her "wild" out, Chace would have been okay with that. I mean, fairs fair. Instead, Chace's brilliant scheme of getting his "wild out", led to him being forced to marry Misty. Now, in his defense, Chace realizes how stupid this was and how instead of being married to the conniving Misty, he would have been with Faye this whole time. Of course, Faye being sweet and forgiving (unlike me) shuts this down and says its not a big deal. Um, yes it is. For one, he was married to Misty for six years; I'm not sure why Faye didn't have one good date this whole time, but she conceivably could have. Apparently, part of her attraction for Chase was her virginity, did he expect her to hold it while he was getting his wild out; even before the Misty fiasco. And two, that is terribly insulting. Chace felt that Faye was his for the taking once he got his whoring out of the way; most guys would see the woman of their dreams and do everything to grab her before some other guy did. Not manly-man Chace, apparently, when he decides he's ready for a woman, she jumps off her ice cube and runs to him. If I was Faye, I would have been appalled that he thought he could just grab me up when he was done having sex with every other woman in town. She decided to be flattered; to each their own, I guess.
And if you are reading this book for the suspense part, just stop. Most everything happens off screen, and I don't really see Chace doing much detective work. I'm not sure how good of cop he actually is, since the author never showed us.
This book had a lot of promise, but, it was a hard read. If you read Sweet Dreams and Lady Luck (which were actually really good), just grit your teeth and read this one to find out what happens with the town. If you haven't read those two, I would skip this one. Not worth it.
