Christmas In Magnolia Cove - A Contemporary Romance (New Beginnings) [Kindle Edition]

Wow, so many 5 stars for this book. Many will probably will disagree with me but goodness gracious, this novella is so sophomoric with all the cliche thrown in, I am even surprised with myself that I finished it. Alright, I always try to finish a book. I always figure that the author spent a lot of time writing it that I try to give respect to that effort by finishing the book. The only good thing about this book is that it is an easy read. And that is the only good thing I can say.

For those who like a synopsis - here it is. For those who do not, skip this part and just to the area I designated ***CRITIQUE*** but I have to warn everyone that there will be lots of spoilers here:

Synopsis - Finding out that her fiance Connor was cheating on her, Madison Carter went home to Magnolia Cove to lick her wounds only to find out that she needed to stay home. Buying a fixer-upper real estate, Madison meets Wyatt Reed, one of the boys who bullied her in high school. Yet no matter how much she tries to hate him, she just find him too attractive for her own good. In fact, And surprisingly, the feeling was mutual.

***CRITIQUE***

1. Goodness gracious, how many cliches can you put into a story (1)a boyfriend in high school who turns out to be gay (2)a parent dying early (3) the other parent with a debilitating disease (4) a fight with a sibling due to a misunderstanding (5) hometown friends who are doing well (6) a cheating current boyfriend... I can list many more. And quite frankly, finding the first three cliches in the first three chapters of the book, I had to take away one star.

2)Alright, bullying is bad but NOT GROWING UP is bad also. Madison it the typical B****H in high school who did not even know she was being one and thought that she was the one being bullied. A red head with blue eyes? C'mon! Be realistic. Fat kids and geeks get it, but not the beauties like Madison. So, either she was so self-absorbed, which she was by the way, or she was clueless. I have seen girls like that in high school and they always left alone not because they are being bullied but because they are so self-centered, it was just easier to be out of their circle. Look at the way she treated Brooks, which was truly horrible and then she had the audacity to say that she was bullied. Blah!

3) I already said that the heroine was clueless, so that's another star taken out, and of course the UNREALISTIC portrayal of who are the true bullying victims in school is another star taken out. So, we are down to two stars at this point in time.

4) Wyatt Reed could have been salvageable as a character. In fact, he was the one who showed some depth. But, the author overdid the knight in shining armor characterization that the alpha male quality just went out the window. He just became too metrosexual, which again is an unrealistic characterization for a high school star athlete turned contractor as an adult. Usually, they turn out to be alpha males. For, this, another one star taken, so we are down to one star.

5) And the worst of all is the voice that the book was written. It feels as if this was a 10th grader trying to write an adult novel. The characters though supposedly all grown up (in their late twenties) still talk as if they were in high school. And if the dialogue was not enough to give you that conclusion, the sex scenes was so pathetic!

6) The author should have not even written any sex scenes at all. This book could have gotten away as an easy read romance which is "clean". It would have been more enjoyable. Sad to say, it gives the term "erotica" a bad name which is ironic, isn't it?

I'll probably get lambasted by the fans of this author, but I am really sorry. In good conscience, I would have given this book NEGATIVE TWO STARS.

Rated PG 15 due to sex scenes (though like what I said, it was flat, so please skip that part if you are going to read the book)

It is really hard for me not to finish a book once I have started it. This one is one that I will not be finishing. I am wondering why this has so many good 5 star reviews? Sentence structure is basic at best, with adjectives that are used by fifth graders.
Sorry so harsh, but I am really getting tired of the quality of books being offered on the "best sellers" lists.

While the basic story of this book was okay, the dialogue was horrific, and the lack of detail and description was simply awful.

I have one word for this author: contractions...and no, I don't mean labor pains. I mean people speak in contractions in normal conversation. Example: "I won't go back home" as opposed to "I will not go back home." The lack of contractions made the dialogue seem unnatural.

And what's up with the main character, some high-powered Atlanta designer, then suddenly she's sticking some guy's keys down her shirt? No...