When I was approached by this author to read his book in exchange for an honest review, he mentioned that he wrote it on the dare that "men can't write romance." I do know for a fact that it is possible for a man to write a romance book, however, the way that this book was written...it just wasn't for me.I don't think that I would have ever picked up this book had I not been asked to review it. Both the title and the book cover were not appealing for me. When I read the synopsis, I was a little confused as it seemed all over the place. But I needed to see if this man could write romance...so I jumped into the book anyway.
The story line was okay but the book could have been 30% shorter had it not included fluff details that didn't add much to the plot. I found myself skimming in some areas (and I am not usually a skimmer) just to get to something that kept the book moving forward.
I think what bothered me the most were in the details (or possibly what was lacking in the details.) Things like...
1. The "hero" took his 3 year old son to Chuck E. Cheese twice in the book. Both times all they did was eat. I don't know anyone that goes to CEC just for the food, as the food is not that good. And what 3 year old wouldn't beg and throw a fit to play games before you left?
2. I'm not sure if the author has stock in Starbucks, but I lost count on the number of times the coffee chain was mentioned.
3. I started to get annoyed at all the similes.
"Holding the coffees like bombs about to detonate"
"A waiter appeared like a pop-up window"
"His stomach flared like a brick oven"
"her backside tingled like a funny bone"
"Chase darted toward the door like an antelope"
There were so many in this novel that it became a game for me to start highlighting them on my Kindle.
4. The blatant self-promotion of the authors other book, The Bliss List.
5. The sudden changes in POV, sometimes multiples times on one page.
Based on all the 4 and 5 star reviews on this book, it is possible that it has its audience that it appeals to but it wasn't for me and I can honestly say that I wouldn't recommend it to anyone in the form that it is in now. I commend this author for giving it a shot to write in a genre that he is unfamiliar with. However, I do suggest he should get a good editor that is used to this genre the next time around.