17 of 18 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
DID NOT GET TAKEN BY STORM, April 3, 2009
This review is from: Taken By Storm (Paperback)
I really wanted to enjoy this book and had been looking forward to reading it. Unfortunately, I did not enjoy this book, and it was really a chore to finish it. These are the some of the main reasons for my dissatisfaction:
1. Neither the heroine nor the hero are likable characters. Syleena, the heroine, was weak, timid as a mouse at times and quite immature for her age (26 or 27). There was no natural progression of personality growth from the time she was an 18 year old until the time the story took place, some 8 years later. At times Syleena did exhibit some backbone, but it wasn't a lasting attribute. I always had the urge to slap her silly--not good!
2. Storm Hyde is the hero. First off, I thought the name was stupid. I know it was supposed to be clever, but it failed IMHO. Storm is an Alpha male to the extreme--the kind I hate. Storm manhandled Syleena relentlessly throughout the book, and she did nothing to stop it the majority of the time. Storm was mean, cruel, vindictive and at times malicious. Storm had issues stemming from his childhood that he should have been intelligent enough to have worked out at this stage of his life. Storm was constantly yelling or shouting and rarely had anything civil to say. As a rich bank executive, one would think that Mr. Storm Hyde would know how to think carefully before speaking, and that he would not blurt out things that he would later regret; however, our Mr. Hyde is an exception. Also, Storm developed a habit of calling Syleena "my little vixen." Who says that in today's world? It isn't sexy, it's just intensely annoying!!!
3. Syleena's BIG SECRET---this was such a convoluted mess and not worth all the fuss. First, in contemporary society, I just can't imagine that this would be an issue. Vivian was blackmailing Syleena, and Syleena had been paying Vivian monthly for 8 years in order to keep her silence. But there is a fatal flaw in this--Vivian supposedly didn't know where Syleena was living--couldn't find her. Syleena mailed her hush money to Vivian at the post offices in the areas where she was residing. Even a poorly skilled PI wouldn't have had much trouble locating her, after all he wasn't in hiding.
4. Near the end of the story, Storm exposes Syleena's secret in a very public way and said things to her that should never, ever have been said to the woman whom he claimed to love--the woman to whom he was engaged to be married. Syleena's humiliation and complete devastation was palpable, and I felt her pain. Storm's actions and his words were not only unforgivable, but they were unconscionable. No matter what his issues were, I cannot think of any conceivable reason why he would have done this to Syleena, and in such a public way. I would never have rekindled any sort of relationship with Storm--EVER. The events that occurred after this public humiliation were just too bizarre and totally unbelievable. But there was that HEA ending we all crave, even if I did hate Storm's guts. I was secretly hoping that Syleena would heal from her hurt, forget about Storm and actually find a great man to fall in love with.
5. Last, but not least of all were all those #@!&%$@!! errors--- grammatical errors, wrong words, wrong tense, missing words, incorrect homophone (e.g., pair instead of pare) run-on sentences, etc. I just picked a couple of pages at random, scanned the pages and here goes:
a. ". . . Syleena was stunned by all the toys that covered the wall." [Shouldn't that be the FLOOR???].
b. [A child speaking to Syleena]-- "I like the color of you [sic] skin ...It's [sic] same color as the dinner table."
A few errors, even like these are understandable and can often be overlooked. What I cannot abide is when the errors are so numerous, they just overrun the story. I can't enjoy a book like that. I know that poor editing and proofing is often not the fault of the author, but ultimately, the work is judged in its entirety. Since this was a huge problem, coupled with the problems I saw with the story, I cannot, in good conscience, give this book a rave review.
While some of my comments might to some come under the heading of "pet peeves," I don't think they are misplaced here. All in all, I think Ms. Rochelle could have done much better than this--in fact, I know she could have because I've read other books she's authored. I will continue to buy Ms. Rochelle's books because I still think she is a talented author. Regrettably, I will have to give this book a C-, which I feel is very generous indeed.
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6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Storm....please come and take me over, November 23, 2008
This review is from: Taken By Storm (Paperback)
Storm is a man who doesn't believe in love...not in any way, shape or form. He only believes a woman has one purpose and after that is over he wants her gone from his life. He never thought he would want a forever after with a woman until....Syleena Webster comes into his life and then he pushes her away instead of telling his sister gorgeous roommate that he's attracted to her.
Syleena Webster is one of the best heroines that I have read about in a long time. She's trusting, loving and understanding. Despite that fact that Storm is practically mean to her everyttime she crosses his path after five years, she still tries to see the good in him. She slowly starts to fall in love with the moody rancher/banker.
After a lot of ups and downs in their relationship Storm finally gives into his feelings and does what his heart wants him to do. However, he ends up messing everything up with Syleena by insulting her in the most heartbreaking way. She leaves his life and he moves heaven and earth to get her back in his arms and his ring back on her finger.
Marie Rochelle has written a lot of books, but in my opinion this is the best. She had me drawn into from the first moment I got introduced to him. This story will have you turning the pages so fast because you can't wait to read what is going to happen next. I love these characters and I plan to read this book again and again.
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