1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
Synopsis (back of book) and a Review, August 19, 2007
This review is from: His Cousin'S Wife (Forbidden!) (Harlequin Presents, Forbidden! No 1891) (Paperback)
Harlequin Presents #1891 June 1997 (copyright 1996)
From back of book:
"I asked you to wait for me. But you married my cousin...."
Shea had been devastated when her childhood sweetheart had left to pursue a high-flying career. Alex Finlay had been her life--how could he blame her for turning to his cousin for comfort?
For ten years, Shea's marriage has haunted Alex. Now he returns to find Shea a widow, with a young son. His son. All Alex wants is a second chance to make a family with Shea. If only it didn't feel like Shea still belonged to another man....If only he could stop thinking of her as his cousin's wife!
Forbidden!--when passion knows no reason....
This book is part of the FORBIDDEN series.
Inside of book:
"In His Cousin's Wife, Lynsey gives a moving insight into the poignancy of forbidden passion...when two people have been in love with each other for years, but circumstances keep them apart!
REVIEW:
First of all, I should say that I was in the middle of a lengthy review when my information got deleted when I accidentally clicked on a link. So, I don't think I can re-write everything I wrote, but I'll try my best to sum it up.
Basically, I think the story idea was ok, but the characters were severly underdeveloped. There wasn't enough story that included the cousin character, and the reader doesn't discover anything significant about him until near the very end of the book when his mother (Shea's mother-in-law) reveals she knew Shea's child was Alex's.
The romance was flat, with not enough sexual tension to believe there was a great passion (love at first sight) between the hero and heroine. I was also annoyed by the inconsistent flashback scenes. Instead of revealing chemistry between the characters, there was only one not very romantic love scene, a breakup scene, and a childhood scene that didn't take the opportunity to reveal much about any of the characters, including the "cardboard" cousin. I felt as if the flashback scenes were just thrown in there as filler. I didn't feel as if Shea was overwhelmed with longing or sadness when she had these flashbacks. Other Harlequin authors are almost always good at these scenes (Lynne Graham, Sandra Marton, etc.).
I enjoy reading about misunderstandings or great conflicts in a book, especially in a romance, as long as the it's done with skill by a talented writer (good dialogue, good descriptions that aren't over-the-top/purple, good pacing, etc.). However, this book's "conflict" could have been resolved in a short conversation. There was no reason for Shea not to have told Alex about being pregnant. Especially, since the reader discovers, she knew she was pregnant before Alex left. It would have been a bit more believable for her to marry out of desperation, if she had found out she was pregnant after Alex had already gone.
*Since this story is flat, the so-called conflict is too weak to be considered a spoiler.*
And I also thought it was stupid that Alex married his mentor's daughter Patti after feeling depressed about Shea marrying his cousin. The reason he gives is just stupid. Although this Patti character is introduced in one of the flashback scenes, I didn't see her as a threat as Shea believed when Alex left her for an opportunity to study in the US. Even though Alex's mentor and daughter were traveling with him, Alex never indicated he was interested in this other woman (and he wasn't). No matter how hurt she was, there wasn't enough conflict to make Shea THAT insecure not to tell Alex she was pregnant.
I thought the pacing was slow (reminiscent of Cathy Williams' books), the conflict weak, and not enough romance or sexual tension between the characters. Overall flat. I recommend passing on this one.
I'm pretty sure this is the only book I've read (or skimmed in this case) by this author. I'm not sure I want to read any more of her books, but if I find one with an interesting premise like this one, I may buy a secondhand copy.
I tend to collect books by Lynne Graham, Sandra Marton, Diana Hamilton and a few others because I love their writing style. There are only a few themes here and there (Sheiks-who look more Mediterranean-Persian,Greek,Italian than Arab) in their collections that I have, but don't really enjoy.
However, like Cathy Williams' books, I won't be collecting this author's works, because I find the writing style to be somewhat dull. But I've discovered a couple of Ms. Williams' books that have good romance, love scenes and chemistry between the characters to put them on my keeper shelf. Perhaps I'll give Lyndsey Stevens another try.
Lynsey Stevens has a website, which can be found using a search engine. It's under her full name. URLs are not allowed when posting a review. Thanks!
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