Customer Reviews

Something More (Zebra Contemporary Romance)

5 star:		(0)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

I really enjoy romance and westerns, so I was really looking forward to this book. The back has the promise of a good story. The hero Luke has a very tragic past. The heroine's ancestor stole some gold. Set in a small Wyoming town with the potential for great supporting characters. They're hunting for gold that was hidden on Luke's ranch. How Janet Dailey could write such a boring, predictable novel based on such a decent premise is beyond me.

First of all, it barely qualifies as romance. Luke and Angie kiss twice. And both kisses happen in the same scene. All the comments about them being attracted to one another seem forced and awkward. This is really frustrating because the premise is good for romance. Angie hires Luke to help her find the gold. This means they could be camping alone in the Wyoming wilderness, far from civilization. I've been to Wyoming, and it is beautiful and romantic in a rugged way. Plenty of potential for something more than a chaste kiss. Seriously--this book could be rated G. And the kiss doesn't happen until more than half-way through the book. What kind of self-respecting romance novelist writes like this?! I have never read a romance where a kiss happened this late. In fact, I don't think I've ever read a romance where sex wasn't at least implied. It wasn't even IMPLIED in this book. Seriously--the ending was totally open-ended. Not that the characters are interesting enough to warrant the purchase of a sequel. Which leads to complaint two---

The characters are boring. Granted, at first they don't seem boring. Luke has SOOOO much potential. Dailey should be ashamed of wasting him. He owns a ranch that's been in the family for generations. His wife and young son died in a fire that burned the ranch house down. He's tormented. And that's as far as you get. Until the big "reveal" all we get are veiled references to the ruins of the ranch house. Sure, Luke drinks to wash away the pain, but the descriptions of this are so boring. Honestly, there could be more about his memories of the event, bad dreams, etc. And why does he stay on the ranch? A love of the land? He feels connected to it because of his family? Does he love being a cowboy? Is it because of a sense of guilt? None of these questions are answered. NONE. Which begs the question--why does the heroine even like this guy? All we see is a rather mean guy who drinks a lot. Really attractive. He's not even nice to the little girl who lives with her brother on the ranch. He's kind of mean to her. I could see him ignoring her because of the pain it caused him to see a child, but nope. He just kind of acts like a dick.
The heroine is also boring. She's from Iowa, grew up on a farm. Her grandfather went looking for the gold and never came back (before her mother was born). She's a school teacher. That's it. Nothing more. I suppose she's honest and trusting, but unless one of the characters commented on it, I wouldn't have thought about it. Why doesn't Dailey make her think about her past? Angie says shes looking for the gold because of her family history and that she misses her grandma. How does she feel about her grandpa abandoning her grandma? How does her MOTHER feel about it? How did it effect her childhood? Did she study history to learn how to fix the problems this created in her family? What is her romantic history? Bad ex-boyfriends? No relationships? WHAT? There is NO substance to this character. Honestly, everything you need to know about her is on the back of the book.

Thirdly--the plot is boring and predictable. If it was at least a decent story I would have been less bugged by the lack of romance. Looking for lost gold may not be the most original plot, but it could be interesting. Angie has a letter from her ancestor that supposedly says where the gold is hidden. It's in code and Angie breaks the code. Or thinks she does. Once the main key is revealed, it is frustrating how STUPID these characters are. I wanted to shout at them. And the other big secret regarding the dead body that is supposedly Angie's grandpa--yeah, the "mystery" behind that is a real shocker.

All in all, this book is a TOTAL waste of time. I have never read a more boring "romance" novel in my LIFE. When you get a quarter of a way through a romance novel and the couple haven't kissed, you wonder. When you get HALF way through, be wary. Very wary. You could end up wasting hours of your LIFE.

This was the first Janet Dailey I've ever read and I won't waste my money on any more of her books again.

This modern day fast-paced western gave the reader a taste of the west. The abrupt ending left the reader feeling as if a segment of the story was missing. ~Affaire de Coeur

I've been reading Janet Daily for over 25 years - since I was a teenager. Something More was delightful. The characters were from a western movie with twists and turns along the way. Daily wrote the plot wide open for a sequel. It will surely come.

Ten pages into this book, I could already predict almost everything that happened except the complete lack of romance between the hero & heroine. Everyone in the book basically gets stupid and tries to find some gold that the heroine's bandit ancestor hid on the hero's ranch. The heroine also miraculously solves the mystery of her long-missing grandfather. This book was one long yawn from the beginning to the end. I've read Janet Dailey before and never found her so boring and predictable. I was THRILLED to come to the last page, even though I was just skimming by that point. Although the library pasted a big red heart on the side, the hero & heroine kiss maybe two times and base a future relationship on that. Ugh.

OK story, but the ending left a lot to be desired! Story just stopped, absolutely no character wrap-up! Agree with others not sure how this can be classified as a romance! Glad I purchased this at a used bookstore!

Was feeling in a mood for a little romance but this did not deliver, the protagonists only kissed once, twice, and that's it! Ugh, don't waste your time.

What a shame! This book started off well with an interesting idea but it just never kept up the momentum. I was so irritated that the love story I expected never even got off the ground. This book ended up being a real waste of money. Sorry, folks, but I can't really think of really good things to say about this one.

Don't waste your time as I did. I pushed through till the end hoping for 'something more' and I never got it. It was also a very boring read. The plot is predictable (I "figured" it out way too early in the story) and there's basically no romance in it at all. This is one of the few books that I plan to give away to the local library freebie section. Blah!

After reading other Janet Dailey romances, and especially after the Calder Series, this was a very disappointing novel. It hardly counts as a romance, and makes a pretty weak mystery. There was so much potential in the character of Luke and his tragic past, but for most of the book, he hardly speaks. It was difficult to connect with him. Then suddenly, at the end of the book, he makes a long philosophical speech that seems to come from nowhere and turns the story into a morality play. In fact, the only relationship that truly resonated with me was the one between Angie and Dulcie. It almost seems like the outline of a romance still waiting for the main characters and their relationship to be fleshed out. I found myself skimming toward the end, which was a bit of a letdown. I wish I had passed this one up.

Although it sounded promising, it ended with a whimper. There was very little emotional connection with the characters and it felt like this was Part 1 of a continuing story. I mean no conclusion, just a big fat "maybe" between the two main characters. Boo to this book.