Vidalia's reads

One Week Girlfriend just didn't work for me. The story was terribly predictable, the writing and the characters felt really immature, and in the end I really just couldn't give a shit about any it.

This ripped my heart out in a good way - my favorite kind of book. I loved this one so much. Why-oh-why are you not a real person, L?

Bottom line here: I've read 70-some books so far this year and I can't let go of this one. Read it!

http://fullbawdyreview.blogspot.com/2013/09/easy.html

Victoria Dahl's story 5/5

Jennifer Crusie's story 1/5

The other story...DNF

Free on amazon right now!

Good lord. What the hell was that? Was it a romance? Young adult? BDSM novel? I don't know. It was trying really hard to be a lot of things.

I'm really bummed I didn't like this novel. I thought Part I was really great - we got to know the characters, we felt the pain of her loss (not a spoiler, it's in the blurb!), and for the most part it was well-written.

Sadly, things tanked.

I have neither the time nor desire to catalog every single thing I felt was wrong with this book, but I'll list a few - aside from the over-used lip biting and the "Oh god, oh god...ohmigod!" that made me want to chuck my kindle across the room.

Serious spoliers ahead...

1. Insta-attraction. 2 days after the boyfriend she loves bleeds out in front of her, after she's practically catatonic at the funeral she meets Colt and "I felt an awful, powerful lightning bolt of energy zap through me at this touch." Seriously? It just gets worse from there with all the hand-zingers and electricity. I hate insta-attraction in every scenario, but this just felt inappropriate and unrealistic so soon after Kyle's death.

2. Douchebag Dan. I *loved* how Colt just happened to show up at her apartment at the same moment DD is attempting rape. Of COURSE he's wandering around miles away from home at 3 in the morning. With brass knuckles. After all, he is a certifiable bad ass. Right.

3. Him molesting her, her hand-raping him... So,they go back to Colt's place after the almost-rape and he proceeds to take her pants off and traces "a featherlight line across her thigh" WHILE she's asleep. Given the events earlier in the night, this just seems wrong. (At least he has the decency to be ashamed of himself.) And then, the morning after she's almost-raped, she gives him a hand job while he's asleep? Yeah, it's hard for someone to consent while they're sleeping. I know a lot of people believe that men cannot be raped, but they can. I don't care if he wanted it and was actually dreaming about it, I felt like it crossed the line of consent.

4. Boyfriend with anger issues. It's so much fun to be with someone who flips his shit for no apparent reason. Bonus points for boyfriends with anger issues who can also brutally beat the shit out of someone. But he loves her and would never hurt her - he's in total control of his rage at all times. Why is it always assumed that the heroine is never in any danger of being hurt by an angry hero because of love? I've never believed it when I've read it elsewhere, and definitely didn't buy it here.

5. Girlfriend depressed? Likes to self-harm? No problem! Just fuck it out of her! Colt said he wanted "Nelly-baby" to feel things, to grieve. (Yes, finally something healthy!) But after a lengthy crying jag, he just fucks her. Actually, no, he doesn't fuck her. He fingers her ass. Nice. He goes straight to butt sex. At some point, Colt also becomes a Dom and orders her to spread her legs and spanks her while she comes. In another book this would be hot. I pay good money to read books wherein this happens a LOT. In this book...just, no.

6. Who the hell WAS Colt? When he started sharing about his past he started talking like a stereotypical "street thug" ("don't know nothing"-esque grammar). But this didn't happen until, what, half way through the book? Why wasn't he talking like that before? And regardless of his learning disability, he himself said he was smart and always spoke properly, so what the fuck? It was like he was a completely different character sometimes.

7. The end. *Sigh.* Of COURSE she gets pregnant right after Colt tells her "the last thing we need right now is a pregnancy." And of COURSE we learn that Colt's dead girlfriend was pregnant when she was killed. It seemed like the whole thing was set up for max-drama and nothing else. It brought absolutely nothing to the plot.

Falling Into You actually reminded me a lot of Beautiful Disaster, which I also hated. Angry hero, fucked up heroine, one of them always thinks they can fix the other, but they can't. I just have a problem with books that make co-dependency seem healthy or desirable. It's not. Get yourself some therapy if you think so. That said, I did appreciate that things take a turn for the better at the very end.

Re-read this weekend, still 5-fucking-stars! I'm sure it will always be a favorite.

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The Sea of Tranquility is just fucking wonderful. It ripped my heart out and sewed it back together. It's beautiful.

I loved this book - everything about it.

Need the sequel NOW! ...sigh...

At least they're together!!!! But GAH.

Whether it's real, who knows? It definitely reads like a non-fiction, and though I would not be surprised to hear that some parts were embellished, it could very well be entirely truthful.

That said, this is not a romance novel. Not really. It's a journal of self-discovery and self-acceptance for sure...enlightening, yes...romantic, not so much.

If you plan to read it you should also know that she's a masochist and also gets off on humiliation, so a lot of the scenes in the book are violent and debasing. Probably not for the squeamish or for someone looking for a 50 Shades pick-me-up.

I just want to clarify that this rating does not reflect the quality of the author's work. It was very well-written and I enjoyed the actual experience of reading it, but I hated the story. Maybe someday I will like it, but not today.

I usually love RL Mathewson's books. Both the characters and the storylines are smart, sexy, sweet and funny. This book, however, was completely over the top! How much can happen in one book?! And why is it that everything that happens is so extreme? You're killing me with this, RL. :) Oh well...

It was still an entertaining read, but this is probably my least favorite of her non-paranormal books (I've read ALL of them).

This book is fucked up. FUCKED UP. There is nothing beautiful about this disaster. It's just a shit show.

I don't usually write reviews but I couldn't help myself this time (sound like anyone you know???). Plus, you CANNOT thaw a turkey the night before Thanksgiving! Unless you like your turkey damned-fucking-frozen!