Customer Reviews

Proof: An Athena Force Adventure (Silhouette Bombshell)

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2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I am a complete Justine Davis fan. I've read almost everything she's written. Hers is a name I look for when scanning new titles in the bookstores every month, and when I go to the used bookstores, I try and find old books I haven't read yet. I will grab a new book off the shelf, barely scanning the synopsis on the back cover, based totally on my love for her as an author.

This book, quite frankly, disappointed me. Alot. Maybe it was because I found it in the romance section of my bookstore. Maybe it was because I'm used to her main characters developing their relationship while dealing with a series of problems. That's what I'm used to expecting from her work.

This book was nothing like that. It really wasn't a romance in the sense that it was about a relationship between a man and a woman. It was a romance between a woman and her school and the ideals set forth from that environment. And the school was, quite frankly, too good to be true ... populated with strong women students, idealistic teachers, forward-thinking financial and spiritual backers, etc., etc., all practically perfect in every way. There were moments that I felt preached to.

Don't get me wrong ... it's not a bad thing, nor am I against such ideals, although she could have scaled the fervor back alot and still gotten the whole point of the school across. It's that I thought I was buying a romance. I was expecting a relationship to develop between the heroine and her guy of choice. That didn't happen. Outside of one truly significant conversation between Alex and said guy, which happened 3/4 of the way through the book mind you, there was next to no development of the relationship at all. All the emotional investment was put into Alex and her love for her school and her old classmates. Big deal.

Maybe it's my own fault for taking Ms. Davis' previous works, along with the book's placement in my bookstore, and having expectations that were quite different than what was delivered. As a book about empowering strong women, it was quite a zealous attempt. As a romance, it failed utterly for me.

I'd been looking forward to Silhouette releasing the first of these action-adventure novels. I was primed to love them, because I love Alias and have been reading what action-adventure I could find since I was 12. Unlike the other reveiwers, I didn't expect a lot of romance, because I knew the premise of the line: action and adventure.

I know that if an author is participating in a series, she may not have a lot of latitude where the plot is concerned, so I won't blame her for the dismal lack of action or adventure in this story or the pages and pages of exposition and flashbacks, presumably needed to set up the series for the other authors.

I would, however, have liked some sort of climax and closure, even if the story does continue into other books. This just petered out, leaving me wondering why I'd bothered to read it all.

Clearly this is a talented author (based on the other comments on this site), so I can only conclude that something else went amiss with what could be a fun new line for Silhouette. I hope they can quickly figure out what it is they want to accomplish with the line. I'd like it to succeed, but for now will be holding onto my scarce cash....

For a Harlequin, this was okay. Yes, the heroine is a strong, martial-arts trained forensic scientist. Yes, the Athena Academy is intriguing, a school for women who will someday dominate the military, police, news, politics, etc.

However, the first half of the novel is very boring. Over and over again the heroine thinks about her ex-schoolmate's death, her years at the Academy, and asks herself lots of questons. Action wise, there is the occasional conversation with ex-schoolmates, and fleeting glimpses of a man following her. And this is the entire first half of the book.

The last half was better because that's when the hero actually appears and talks and you see their relationship.

This is the first book in a series (possibly 12 books?), and it looks like the ex-schoolmate's death is the unifying concept. SO, except the mystery to drag on and on until the last book. In other words, there is no grand climax or mystery solved at the end of the individual Athena books, you'll have to wait for the last Athena book (June 2005, I understand).

I'm reading Get Blondie right now, another Bombshell title, and so far, the action and relationships are going splendidly, with tension and a good plot.

I agree with "Disappointed". I too found this title in the romance section, only to find very little in the way of romance in the book. Also, eharlequin.com had a prequel to this story for several weeks before "Proof" was released, and the main character featured in the online prequel was not the same main character featured in the book (but will be featured in a later title). I felt that my time was wasted reading the prequel, as there was no cohesiveness between the online prequel and the first book in the series. I hope the other titles in the series prove to be more entertaining.

I have read the other reviews, and while I agree that the book continued to stress the friend's death/murder almost endlessly, the characters were well-written. This was the first of the series so was basically just setting the stage for what was/is to come. There was no romance until the very end of the book. In fact, the book ENDED with their first kiss. I found that quite refreshing. I have read several in the series and have found the action quite enjoyable. If you are looking for tons of romance, this series may not be for you. But, if you are looking for books involving strong relationships, the building of relationships between heroine/hero, then the Athena series is for you. Each book builds upon the others but you still can enjoy them on their own, if for nothing other than the action and strong relationships between the graduates. It was disappointing to not find out what happened to Rainy but only because I didn't have the next in line(in the mail as we speak...:). Folks that read on the regular will enjoy them, for the most part.

I just had to wiite a review. When I read the back, the book showed potential, so I bought it. I NOW REGRET IT,THIS BOOK IS BOOOORING TO A CAPITAL T. If someone wanted to start reading a series book this is definitely not the one to start with, because it can give the preconception that if this is bad, I dread to read the others. I had a hard time completely reading this book, I was jumping all over the initial chapters till I got fustrated and read the last chapter and even that was booring. This is the first time I have read this author's book and I have no intention of reading her past,present or future novels. Goodbye Athena Force.