Customer Reviews

A Taste for Speed (NASCAR Library Collection)

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

 

 

Here's the thing: a Taste for Speed has the usual NASCAR undertones but it's on the fringe since 50 year old Steve Clayton is retired from racing and is now a protege winemaker. 42 year old Sarah Stanton is a prim and proper college professor by day but more relaxed outside of the stifling classroom environment.

The chemistry between these two is VERY stilted. At times, I had to stop reading and drill it in my head that these two were actually suppose to be developing feelings for each other. Dorien Kelly really messed up with the character and romantic development in this book. She devoted more time on Patsy and Dean Grosso (and the never-ending Gina drama) and a ridiculously, annoying and bratty 30 YEAR OLD daughter. THIRTY! Mattie made me want to stop reading all together.


I had a speculation about a character in Steve's life that could have been connected to Sarah as the ominous "him" but that went bust and I think it should have happened because maybe it would have given this story energy.

It's just blah, slug dragging blah. No great chemistry, romance or plot. Just two blah characters and a blah storyline disguised as romance. It can't be blamed on the character's ages but Ms. Kelly's writing is to blame for having decent elements and not developing them into anything beyond a yawn.

Loved this story. It's a tiny bit different, because its not quite so submerged in the world of NASCAR, more like on the fringes, but I loved the characters, Steve Clayton and Sarah Stanton, and the storyline moved along. The wine-making industry of Sonoma was a key feature, and was a real nice backdrop to the story. A nice older hero that was very likable, a smart and sexy heroine who knew where she was going, but also wasn't so strong-minded to be overly willful. She sees it like it is, and doesn't get caught up in complex character traps. I was intrigued by the hero, and wondered at the use of his public image as a shield, so it seemed. It was a pretty good setup for a character's social versus personal mechanisms of behavior, if that makes sense. Their romantic chemistry was good. Secondary characters will later develop into their own stories. Should be good.