Customer Reviews

No Reprieve

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4 star:		(1)
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2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This is a well-written issue novel. Unfortunately there is too little of the romance. And the issue around which the novel is based was dealt with too tritely.

The issue is 'child abduction.' Delivered to the reader purely for entertainment purposes. Because how can such a crime be dealt with seriously in a Harlequin romance? I have to say that I didn't approve of the outcome of the crime. I accept that in a Harlequin nothing nasty must happen to the child. However the idea that the birth father blithely allows the once childless couple to legally adopt his abducted child because she is happy in her new family is offensive and just wrong. Presumably Jake did this deed because he wanted to spare his abducted daughter further trauma. But as she grows up she could easily view his act as evidence of a lack of love. Also I don't believe that the daughter's original abduction by the druggie couple left her as mentally unscarred as the novel would have the reader believe. And why should the second couple who participated in an obvious black-market adoption be allowed to keep Jake's daughter? Totally wrong.

Apart from that the hero and heroine are fairly interesting people. However I did almost get bored during the first half of the book while Jake and Seven build their relationship because basically they just meet sporadically. One day he spends some time with Seven the rest of the week he's away working. There is one quite weird scene. The heroine who is psychic is taken over by the spirit of the hero's abducted daughter. And in front of the hero she behaves like a child. The next minute the heroine is herself again and the hero is making love to her. Just a bit dodgy. But its too weak to be really offensive.

Personally I prefer a flawed romance like 'Disturbing Stranger by Charlotte Lamb' to this story. Because the hero and heroine, Seven and Jake are such reasonable people. They don't allow misunderstandings to get in the way of their relationship nor do they behave in stupid manners. Both have suffered but do not allowed their difficult life experiences to warp their outlook on life. I wouldn't say they were boring...just too reasonable.

btw this is actually a romance where the virginal heroine feels no pain the first time she makes love with the hero. Basically because she's more than made up her mind much earlier in the story that she wants to experience intercourse with the hero. Which is how it should be imo.

The author is a talented writer. But I wish she'd set her stories somewhere other than New Zealand. And she should try to move away from being published by Harlequin.

Reserved librarian is troubled by her psychic abilities & tamped it down as best as she can since she was a teen by being careful, unobtrusive, & uninvolved with the world outside of her books. So she's shaken when tabloid newspaper owner Hero accuses her & her eccentric aunt of fraud by giving his mother false hopes re: his missing daughter's whereabouts in exchange for a good bit of money. Heroine apologizes for her aunt's machinations & avoids any further involvement with Hero & his family. But her aunt continues to update Hero's mother about the increasing impressions heroine's been having re: Hero's daughter. Hero is soon forced to face some new realities when her visions & dreams are confirmed by the police and his attraction to heroine proves stronger than he's ever felt with any other woman.

I wasn't planning on reading the entire book b/c of the paranormal element. It was better than I expected so I read the whole thing. This Napier book is like a mini-paranormal romance. It's not too out there in the paranormal scheme of things. Heroine has a gift of sensing dark memories & events when she touches or reads about a negative incident. Her major discomfort with it is more of the focus of this book than her using her powers. She thinks she's a freak & doesn't believe that Hero would want someone like her. Getting to know heroine & new evidence via her psychic powers re: his long-lost daughter is making cynical Hero question his views about life & romance. I felt his struggles & liked that Napier didn't make him change too much or it'd have been unbelievable. Heroine's character development was also linked with her r/s with Hero & her accepting her supernatural gifts more. I liked the resolution of Hero's missing daughter. It was handled sensitively & showcased Hero's emotional development.

Recommended.

The heroine (Seven) has supernatural powers so she gets feelings/vibrations/visions, but hides this "gift" by letting her Aunt Jane (Madame Zoe, who has a crystal ball if ya can believe it :) take the credit. Jake, who runs a tabloid newspaper and considers himself a crusader, confronts Seven about her Aunt's preying upon his mother, offering hope that his daughter, kidnapped 6 years ago when she was 2, is still alive.
Although he's not quite as arrogant and cruel as many romantic heroes, Jake doesn't seem to really be attracted to Seven, whom he ridicules for being a drab, mousy librarian. In fact, he calls her Mouse, even later in the story as they become romantically involved. I have no problem with pet names, but did he have to actually use a pet species instead of Honey, Sweetheart or Darling?
Turns out Seven has a twin sister, so I wonder if she has a story too?
It's not really bad, but it's not really good either and this author has spoiled us with much, much better books. None of the sexy banter, sizzling chemistry of Susan Napier's other books. Try "Honeymoon Baby" or "Secret Admirer' instead.