In true slacker form, I have neglected my duties to truly SPOTLIGHT this book, like it deserves. Thankfully, being friends with the author and knowing that she knows my crazy schedule (though I'm NOT a Hockey Mom or I'd be insane!!), I'm just going to pick up right here, on THIS day, and pretend like the last two days didn't slip by with no post from me. Ok?
If you have yet to read RIGHT IN FRONT OF YOU by Jennifer Talty, I just want to know what you're waiting for. I mean, you can buy it right here. All you have to do is click on the link that is right there, in front of your face. See, I even managed to sneak in a 'right in front of you' reference, so I can enter my own contest. And speaking of the contest...
Of COURSE I'm going to extend the contest until Friday. Of COURSE you can still enter even if you don't have your own blog. Of COURSE we appreciate your support. Of COURSE Jen has already purchased a copy of her own book, ESPECIALLY for the contest winner, and has it on a shiny CD, with a really cool cover, all SIGNED by Jennifer Talty the author. And Of COURSE she even sent me an e-mail saying she has OTHER goodies to send along to our lucky winner. So, tell me again why you haven't entered the contest yet. Really, there's no excuse. ENTER THE CONTEST!
You want to hear a bit more about the book now? Ok, here you go...
Book blurb (this is what you post on your site, along with the cover, to enter the contest HINT HINT!):
Restless and bored, NYS Trooper Jared Blake accepts a transfer from his current position in Lake George. Jared lives on the edge and his present post just isn't cutting the mustard. Just when he thinks his life is as it should be, his long time friend is threatened by an unknown source. Jared has exactly two weeks to find out who is behind these threats. And in two weeks, he will lose his heart forever.
Ryan O'Connor has the world at her fingertips. She's strong, feisty and has everything she's ever wanted, except the right man. Jared represents everything Ryan doesn't want. He's controlling, overbearing and now he's moving. Having had a crush on him for years, Ryan decides to seduce Jared. What harm can it do? But when Ryan's life is on the line, she realizes Jared might not be perfect, but he's the perfect man for her.
So that's accurate. I can't find any technical fault at all with this blurb. There are no glaring mis-truths, and no obvious omissions. So yeah, I can live with this one. Good job on the blurb.
Except... it doesn't give you any hints at how intriguing this book is going to be. There is a mystery going on, and it was actually pretty good. Ryan has a stalker. Of course, she doesn't take it too seriously at first. But Jared knows better. This leads to some fun fights, and some even better making up scenes. Am I going to tell you? Oh no... you need to read it for yourself. But the mystery was good enough to keep me guessing past the ten minutes it usually takes for me to figure things out. For a while, I actually was totally off course, thinking it was someone else. That rarely happens with me. So yeah, good mystery/suspense here.
About the heat level.... Yes, it has an "Ultra Sensual" label on the ordering sight, but don't let that deter you if you're not into heat. Honestly, I might have to purchase a few more books by them to figure out how they label their books. From their site: Ultra Sensual- Stories with this heat rating have consumated love scenes with graphic explicit language and adult themes. So technically, yeah, I guess it deserves that rating, because there are consummated love scenes, and there is graphic explicit language, and yes, there are even adult themes.
About the romance... I really enjoyed the main theme of this story, the whole idea that what you've always wanted might have always been "right in front of you" but you didn't recognize it until it was almost too late. Jared and Ryan have known each other for virtually their entire lives. They've been friends for that long, and Ryan has had a sort of 'big brother hero worship' crush on him for quite a few years. Jared has always adored Ryan, but in a 'little sister pain in the neck' sort of way. Kind of. I mean, the guy made some pretty HUGE life choices based on what Ryan needed. Now, however, he can't think of her as a kid anymore, because he wants her. And she can't help thinking that he's not what she wants, but may be just exactly what she needs. Really, if you take everything else in the story away, you've got a great romance between two people that have always loved each other but just haven't realized it yet.
Things that made me go "hmmm"... To be fair, I read this book a while back, and haven't read it in its finished and polished version. So I can't give any marks against it for editing or spelling or grammar. As you know those are my particular pet peeves, that's saying something. The only thing that really bothered me was Ryan's best friend's relationship. I liked her, but I really didn't like how fast she went with her guy. For some reason, her going from crazy party girl to steady girlfriend "in love" bugged me. I didn't see the change coming, so it just didn't feel all that right to me. Honestly though, that's the only thing that had me scratching my head.
Overall...The timeline was spot-on, the emotions were all well written, and the storyline flowed very well. For my first venture into the world of e-books, I'm thinking this was a great choice. Plus, you can actually surf the site, buy the book, and read the entire thing from the comfort of your very own bed if you want. This REALLY appeals to me, since I do most of my reviewing on my laptop in my bedroom, since it has a lock on the door and my office doesn't.
So go ahead, click THIS link and buy RIGHT IN FRONT OF YOU by Jennifer Talty. You won't be disappointed. Or, you can even enter THIS contest, and try to win a copy for yourself (along with some other cool prizes that Jen will send along to the lucky winner!). And be sure to check back here later this week for an interview with Jennifer Talty, author of the Spotlight of the month book - RIGHT IN FRONT OF YOU. You'll see, just from the interview, how much fun Jen is, and you'll want to be friends with her too, I promise!
Until then, Keep Turning Those Pages!
1 comment:
Dee - Wow - thank you for that wonderful review.
Interesting comments about Ryan's best freind. The idea behind that was to show how different love can be with different types of people. Ryan was always a planner and Penny just went with the flow and flow landed her in love with someone totally unexpected - kind of like Ryan, but the unexpected for her was that Jared ended up loving her back. Where with Penny, she ended up loving back. The relationships kind of mirrored each other, but in an opposite way.
Also, Penny is basically my alter ego. A lot of me went into her.
Thanks again for reveiwing my book. It really means a lot to me.
Post a Comment