Customer Reviews

Jamesville: Discovering Dani (Book 1)

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

I found myself wishing that I liked this book, because I sensed that the author had a good heart (just a feeling that came through), but it really isn't well written or emotionally compelling.

There's rule in writing: show don't tell. This books tells us a lot about these characters and shows very little. To make things worse, it tells us over and over and over again. So many paragraphs had three sentences that said the same thing in slightly different ways.

I never felt an emotionally real reason that these characters were together. I had the strangest feeling that the heroine, a saintly twenty-five-year-old virgin, was a cross between a dreamy teenager and a sheltered octogenarian.

I wanted to like Discovering Dani, I really did. Unfortunately, the lack of depth in plot and one dimensional characterization made that impossible. The romance between Dani O'Rourke and Burke Black was actually painful at times, with the dialogue and action wavering between stilted and cliched through the whole of it. And don't get me started on Dani's inability to even function when the first of the inevitable issues crop up with Burke. I'm sorry, but some backbone would be appreciated. And any twenty-five year old woman who'd lost both parents, dropped out of High School to raise her brothers alone, and started her own cleaning business to make ends meet has all sorts of backbone. It's a true pity that she was such a damsel when her heart gets dinged. There were a couple of scenes that were just off-putting - like Dani getting hurt (again) and when she gets home, she collapses on the kitchen floor and curls up into a nearly catatonic ball without even shedding her winter coat until her brother comes home to take care of her. And that was my biggest problem with Dani. I couldn't respect her. I respected her past achievements, but as soon as Burke sets up in her heart, she becomes a needy, emotionally naive cliche of 80's style romance novels.

And then there were the aspects that just flat out didn't make sense. There's a scene towards the end (and it's just not important enough to be considered a spoiler) where Dani asks Burke about whether the snooty rich-bitch spoiled brat that vies for Burke's affections and causes all sorts of trouble will continue to be a threat...and then proceeds to provide evidence of her own (including a conversation with the woman) that answers that question...and by then I didn't even care enough to wonder why she bothered asking if she already knew the answer. That's just...weak storytelling by the author who, I can only assume, wanted some closure on that thread.

I DID like Dani's relationship with her brothers, and while they were no more fleshed out than Dani and Burke, they were pleasant enough despite the lack of anything resembling layers. Beyond that, the book just wasn't everything I hoped it would be. I don't believe I'll be reading any more about Jamesville.

This book was a Kindle freebie that I had sitting around for a while and finally got around to reading. I liked the idea behind the romance, but it wasn't written very well. It wasn't bad for a freebie but I would've been upset if I had paid for this. This author has quite a few books published so she's probably gotten better in the last 4 years.

This was a decent weekend read. I liked the conflict development within the story, but overall it fits to typical romance format. If you want something fun and mindless to read in a day or two, this is a good choice.

This was a wrenching experience from letter one.

Shallow and insipid, the characters made me want to drink myself to oblivion, just to forget the part where the wounded millionaire insults the main female character -- a housekeeper whom he mistook for a man at first; romantic, n'est-ce pas? -- by offering her money to sleep with him. This after she'd invited him -- a stranger who manhandled her and accused her of theft -- home for Christmas dinner and bought him presents -- a SWEATER WITH A HAND-KNITTED SNOW SCENE THAT HE CLAIMS TO LOVE, thus proving he is not like any man I've ever seen, met, or heard of -- on two days' acquaintance.

Please.

I wish I'd never started this book. I'm only glad I didn't pay for it! I didn't finish it.

N.J. Walters gives us a wonderfully charming contemporary with Discovering Dani: Book 1 in the Jamesville series. Dani O'Rourke is your typical girl next door from the small town of Jamesville. Here, snuggled amidst the bosom of America, she leads an average life: works diligently to support her younger brothers and spends no time on herself. Thus she hasn't really considered a romance.

Burke Black is anything but average. A high-powered man with the success and money that comes with it, suffers a near fatal car crash and decides it's time to relax in America's Heartland and reflect. What he sees is an incomplete life without that special someone. Does anyone not see where this is going? There is a twist, however, as the two don't hit it off from their first meeting. Burke thinks Dani is a man -- not the best way to win a woman's heart. It does get better -- the next time they meet, Burke is accusing Dani of a serious crime.

So this relationship doesn't seem to have the typical fairy tale entrance -- and it shouldn't. That is not what this book is about. It is a tale of simplistic bliss. Reading this book really transports you back to when life wasn't so complicated. An old fashioned story that won't overwhelm you with complicated relationships or graphic courting rituals *wink wink * (this is Amazon) instead, it offers you details into the lives of the people you will be spending the next few days getting to know.

It really reminded me of JoAnna Wylde's masterful novel: Price of Pleasure Price of Pleasure a popular book that is the epicenter of depth and romance and suspense. And that is a great compliment -- fully earning its five stars.

This is a sweet romance. I really enjoyed the fact that no one's life was in danger, just their hearts. The strength of Dani impressed me. I was a little bothered by her level of innocence. I'm all for saving yourself for you husband, but a 25 yr. old should have some knowledge of sex. The wedding night was sweet and just how it should of gone.
I liked Burke, then I hated him, and then I loved him. I recommend this for anyone looking for a story about two people learning to love and trust.

Dani owns her own cleaning business in the small town of Jamesville and when she goes to clean a rental unit at a local lodge (?) she's surprised to find it isn't empty as she expected, but she cleans it anyway since the occupant is not in. Enter Burke, he walks in on Dani as she is picking up some papers she knocked on the floor and immediately thinks she's stealing from him. Once he realizes he's wrong he tries to make amends and their feelings for each other grow, but the path of true love never did run smooth, and since Burke is the cause of 99.8% of their road blocks it isn't something that's easy to fix.

This book is hard to review because my dislike of Burke was deep and lasting, heck, I still dislike the man. I simply could not get over the way he acted when he walked in on Dani cleaning his cabin. Either because he thinks he's gods gift or he thinks all women are whores, he offered and physically tried to get Dani to sleep with him in exchange for not calling the cops on her. That is one of, if not the most exploitive things I have seen a "hero" do in a romance novel since some 1980's bodice ripper. The fact that he later on goes on to tell her he will pay for his pleasure with her with cash and nothing else confirmed he is a massive ass who only thinks women are whores. But, I could almost forgive those comments, but the fact he it even crosses his mind to strong arm some random stranger, who he has power over, into sleeping with him makes me feel quite sick.

Dani is a sweet character, and even though I didn't care much for Burke I can see why she liked him. When he isn't being a total Neanderthal ass monkey clown he's actually quite sweet and considerate of her. Even though the book is called Discovering Dani, all the character growth is on Burke's part as he realized, "Hey, some women aren't whores and if you are nice to them they are nice back and with no money involved. Wow!" There were a lot of missed opportunities with her character. She was a 25 year old virgin who had never been in a relationship before and had been raising her two younger brothers but it was never mentioned how these things affected her.

At the heart this is actually rather sweet, with Burke being a very loving and supportive hero, but the random bouts of anger he spews really turned me off. Hopefully one day Ms Walters will rewrite this because I have read a few other of her books and she's very talented, but in the few of the Jamesville books I've read the men are such jerks who the women have to put up with, rather than anything I would consider a hero. A hero with rough edges is sexy, but if all he is is rough edges it's too much for me.

2 stars.

I wanted to rip this book apart! It reminded me of 'Not Another Teen Movie'. They even had a clapping scene as the couple exited after defeating the evil b#%*th! I hated it. It was ridiculously dramatic. And the heroine had no respect for herself or backbone. Everytime they had a fight she realized how she was wrong and apologized, realizing that men will be men and she should know to be respectful of their pride! What about her damn pride?! Why the hell did she always have to give in to a male's fragile ego?! What the hell happened to the femenist movement?! (Sigh) You can see why I hated this book. Modern woman my [...].

This was a free kindle book that I got a couple of months ago. When I read the product description it seemed like an interesting concept - it gives you a descent overview.

I love to read different authors and genres, and this was my first book my NJ Walters. While I was not really impressed by this book - I do feel that the author had good intentions and I will probably eventually read the rest of the series.

This series has seven books in it.

Jamesville: Discovering Dani (Book 1)
Jamesville: The Way Home (Book 2)
The Return of Patrick O'Rourke
The Seduction of Shamus O'Rourke (Jamesville)
A Legal Affair: Book 5 of the Jamesville series.
By the Book: Jamesville, Book 6
Past Promises: Jamesville, Book 7