16 of 17 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
Not enough revenge (as the book jacket implies) and too much vague communication causing conflict., September 6, 2008
This review is from: Sweeter Than Revenge (Kimani Romance) (Mass Market Paperback)
It started out pretty good, but as the story progressed I found myself liking it less. The author relied on inaccurate assumptions and vague communication to create the major conflicts, which bothered me. There are other creative and intelligent ways to separate the couple. There was also a little too much pondering in the minds about prior and current feelings, fears and what if he/she hurts me again.
Story brief: Maria is a pampered rich girl. Her father Ellis hires David for the summer. He and Maria fall in love, but David leaves her to finish grad school, working on his MBA. A few months later, she marries George. Later, she and George divorce. Four years later, David returns to work full time for Ellis. Ellis cuts off Maria's funds and forces her to work at his firm for David, to teach her skills through work and responsibility. David was hurt by her marriage four years earlier and looks forward to getting revenge against Maria through work.
CAUTION SPOILERS:
The major plot event was revenge. I was hoping for a lot of good revenge events, but the revenge lasted less than 24 hours. Her first day at work was humiliating and painful for her, but by the second day, David had changed his tune and was supportive rather than revengeful.
A second major plot event was why they broke up four years earlier. David was supposed to have one last evening with Maria before he returned to school. He cancelled their date, saying he was going back earlier. She said she loved him. Although he loved her he never said so. He just said "I'll be back." He never said when he would return. He never called or emailed after he left. She assumed he didn't want her anymore. She wouldn't eat, lost weight, was miserable and married George. I didn't buy it. Lovers are open. They talk to each other. No phone calls or emails? He later explains to Maria that he went back to school a day earlier because "I needed to get away from you before I got so obsessed that I didn't care about school." What???? He knows she loves him, so why can't he say something like the following? "I'm desperate for you, and I'm afraid it might hurt my studies. I need to concentrate on school, and I fear phone calls will distract me from my studies and will be too painful because I'll want to be with you. Can you be patient and wait for me while I finish my schooling, and then I'll come back for you?" She would have said yes.
After one day of revenge and a few more days of working together, Maria and David have sex. She tells him she loves him. A few hours later, her father tells Maria that David is wealthy now. Maria breaks up with David, saying he should have told her he was wealthy immediately after they had sex. Because he didn't tell her right away, she felt he did not trust her. This was just a few hours after the beginning of their new relationship. She was mad that he didn't blurt out everything about him that she might not know right away? Then he proposes the next day, and she immediately says yes. This was no fun. I felt this was a cheap way of creating conflict and resolving it.
Lost opportunity: Ellis takes Maria's car away from her. She has limited funds and plans to buy an inexpensive car. David offers to help her, saying men can usually negotiate better deals then women, but she refuses his help. To David's and Ellis's surprise, she purchases a cool car, and they wished they knew how she did it. As a reader, I wanted to know the details as well. The author led me to believe she outmaneuvered and out-negotiated the salesman. The author told and didn't show it. This could have been a good scene.
Story length: 277 pages. Sexual language: moderate. Number of sex scenes: four. Total number of sex scene pages: 13. Setting: current day Cincinnati, Ohio. Copyright: 2008. Genre: African-American contemporary romance.
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