.........blegh and hmmph.
I was a little charmed to start with. Which is good, the book needs to hook the reader. But then we get to the following morning, the one where Clark tries to get Riley fired and I just felt an automatic shutdown of interest in their story.
Their battle escalates from there and I just wanted to skim over everything because I do not support characters who not only fight, but fight dirty, in a romance.
The way I think of it is, if a person wants to go and get their cards read, that is THEIR business. I am not going to march into the shop and say the person is a fake and a charlatan for reading tarot cards or for conducting a séance or anything else. It is not MY business how someone else chooses to deal with anything unless it is a threat to themselves or others, as in it is going to result in bodily harm or worse.
So what if Riley said she could break curses? If they wanted to hire her, for the love of everything in the world, why the hell did Clark get himself all twisted out of shape and decide to get rid of her? And then we readers are supposed to see their tension as they struggle with their professional lives intersecting while working through an attraction to each other and I just called FOUL every time they made eyes at each other, or more like every time they were in the same room.
*sigh*
I'm going to take a moment and compare this to Fan Service, Danan's most recent release, which I just read. In that book, FMC Alex does not like MMC Devin because of a bad fan interaction from when she was a teenager. He made a comment that she overheard in which he states she's so weird and is going to die alone because of an elaborate costume she created for the fan convention. She's understandably heartbroken and has been sour on him ever since. When he needs her help, she keeps her distance. She's wary of his charm and measures everything he says against that experience with him.
When Devin sought out Alex's help, she made sure to get what she needed, money, so she could help her Dad with medical bills. She wanted to blow him off but she took the higher road, paid yes, but still willing to put it some hard work to help him out. When they eventually rehash the encounter, they are able to have a cathartic talk about both sides of what happened. It felt organic, and as a reader I was rooting for them, despite what had happened in the past.
This book did not have those moments of growth. The reflection needed to make the love story about true love and not lust that makes you blind and stupid. These two characters continually hurt each other, again and again, and I was not happy. I was more interested in the story about the curse and I wish there were more chapters to show a past timeline, just to give me a break from Clark and Riley.
I've decided to read Danan's books going forward, not backward, in releases. Danan knows what they are doing, they can make a charming book and characters. I just think I am better off reading from this point forward, where hopefully the growth of characters is par for the course, and not left at the wayside like this book did. I just can't support a love story where the fights are meant to draw blood to prove their points. It just makes me side eye their connection and think their story has an expiration date. It was not cute or fun, and if it's not that, what then do I have to root for?
Rating: 2.5 Stars
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