Eli, notorious playboy and New York City high roller, is the founder of the newzine where I work. He's been MIA for three years. But I think I can find him. If I do, and I get his story, I can keep my job.
What could go wrong?
Ask me when I’m tangled in my lies—and his bed sheets.
Ask me when we’re running for our lives.
I thought the writing was strong, well edited and with a narrative that was tightly constructed. The plot actually flowed rather quickly. I was concerned that there was going to be a lot of time spent looking for Eli, and not a lot of time with them together, which is not the formula for an erotic romance. But, the author got Eli and Tara into the same place fairly quickly, so that worry was settled.
Unfortunately, while I was able to suspend disbelief on some of the situations, such as how easily she was able to find Eli when no one else seemed to be able to (I ignored this, as it is erotic, the couple needs to be in the same room quickly, so you have to make it happen) and thugs in Ubers...I was not able to get past the logic and thought process of Eli in one particular area.
Just the one...but unfortunately, when you are not able to totally buy in to the start of the romantic relationship, there isn't a lot of room to go up from that.
Eli's thought process. Well. It went something like this..."I think she might have been sent by the people I am hiding from (I will not spoil why he is hiding or who he is hiding from) but, I really want to fuck her...so I am going to ignore this. And, since she can't do what she might have been sent to do to me while we are naked, it is all good. And, while I am at it, I am not going to ask her if she was sent by them, because 1. She could lie and 2. If I ask, she is honest, and says yes, well, then I am not going to be able to fuck her. So, I won't ask until later. Cool."
I was not able to get past this.
And, this is a shame, as the writing was strong, there was a lot of potential for the story, and up until that point, I was willing to go with the whole idea of it being an erotic romance, so some disbelief needs to be suspended because that is often required of the genre.
In this case, I got the feeling that the author decided to go big with the reason Eli needed to go into hiding, therefore leading to him needing to be found, and by doing such, put himself into a position where almost any resolution that got them in bed quickly (a requirement in erotic, a must in an erotic novella) was just going to have to work even if it stretched logic a bit. And, I get that. I really, really, do. I just wasn't able to get past it.
Writing is highly subjective, as are reviews, and I am sure this is just my opinion and that it is one that others are not going to share. That said, I am planning to read the conclusion of the book, as while this one did not work for me, I do want to see how it is going to end, and where it is going to go from here.
It am not able to recommend this book, but I reserve high hopes for the next one.
