2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
Little Benefit Here, November 18, 2010
~* 1.5 Stars *~
Yoga instructor and business owner Kerri Harris and divorce attorney Mitch MacAuley have been best friends for years. Only friends. But when Kerri and Mitch are out one night sharing a friendly drink, she tells him she wants to marry and asks Mitch to introduce her to some single, eligible men. There's nothing Mitch wouldn't do for Kerri, but her request bothers him. A lot.
As she starts to date the guys he reluctantly introduces her to, he gets more and more uncomfortable and tension rises in their friendship. Soon the friendly quips between them that used to be teasing fun take on more bite and a decade long friendship goes from smooth to rocky. Tensions and tempers rise between them. Pushed to the brink, a fight between them ends in a kiss - a wild, tempestuous kiss that changes everything...but solves nothing. Can two friends accept the fact that they're made for each other or will the differences between them kill their friendship and destroy the chance for love?
Despite the fact that the friends-turned-lovers theme is one of my favorites in contemporary romance, I had way too many problems with this book to be charmed. The plot was two dimensional and predictable, the narrative lacked sophistication, the dialogue lacked conversational flow, and the characters lacked charm.
The characters were the biggest problem. More specifically, Kerri. Mitch had little to recommend him as a romantic lead, but he wasn't overly objectionable, despite an unhealthy anger management issue or two. Kerri, on the other hand, I found to be utterly contemptible. She blames Mitch for everything that goes wrong in their relationship, takes no responsibility for her own actions or feelings on any matter, flits between wildly contradictory emotions at a blink, is pathologically immature, and is grievously self involved. I may not have warmed up to Mitch, but I actively disliked Kerri.
The romance started to improve towards the end, but ended up floundering when the dialogue took a turn for the worse. Two comments in particular stick in my mind, at the turning point for the relationship between Mitch and Kerri, Mitch says the following:
"I want to be with you, and most of all, I don't want anyone else to be with you.You think you need a husband? Fine, then - it's going to be me.
"You want kids and I want them to be mine. Nobody else's."
Neither one of those comments come anywhere near my idea of romance, nor do they inspire a lot of confidence in the relationship. Mitch comes off seeming less interested in being with Kerri because he loves her and more interested in making sure that she's not with anyone else. Admittedly, these comments are taken out of context, but they provide examples of the problems I had with the dialogue.
On the positive side, Jamieson writes very sensual, erotic sex scenes. The naked yoga in particular was a sultry, seductive delight, and as a whole the sex was very well done and provided the best written scenes in the book. The rest, unfortunately, didn't work for me.
Reviewed for One Good Book Deserves Another.
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Amazing Chemistry..., August 21, 2011
My Review:
Again, my favorite trope...friends to lovers, but OMG, this one was done so well. I really, really LOVED this book!!! The book description above is really well-done so I am not going to add anything about the setup of the story and get right to the review part of this review.
I love the way that these two characters were written so realistically. Yes, they are absolutely best friends, but when things heat up between them sexually, everything becomes REALLY awkward and tense for Mitch & Kerri. All of a sudden, they are fighting constantly and sniping at each other about everything. That's one of those things that only works with really good friends...they may be there for each other, but OMG, they know how to push each others buttons too.
Kelly wrote this really well...you can see that the sexual chemistry between the two is sizzling, but they are using aggression to fight it. But when that aggression becomes too much and they do give into the sexual tension...OMG, it is so incredibly HOT. I think that I can honestly say that the sexual scenes in this book are absolutely the hottest and most erotic that I have ever read. There is so much emotion written into and woven throughout them...OMG, really amazing writing!!!
The real issue with this relationship long-term is that Mitch truly does not believe in marriage. He had a horrible home-life growing up and now he's a divorce attorney. All he has ever seen is the destruction wrought by the institution of marriage. But for Kerri, she is 30 years old. She wants a family with all that it entails...a husband and kids. As these two realize that they are in love, they don't know how to get past that huge difference in ideals, without giving up their love. There is a fabulous character arc for both of them that is so sweet and truly beautiful. It's amazing writing. I loved both of these characters and watching them connect...LOVED IT!!
Really just a fabulous book. You will definitely be seeing more of Kelly Jamieson's books in my coming TBR piles!!
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