The beautiful, but pale Laura Brenton is separated from her handsome and very wealthy husband. Michael writes romance novels, and Laura has lived lavishly on the money while having an affair with a 25-year old man (a little younger or "decades younger" than she is, depending on who is telling the story). Laura meets with Michael to collect his signed copies of their divorce papers, while plotting to have the entire estate all to herself. Michael, however, comes to the meeting with a rose, some champagne and the desire that they reconcile - though he remembers to bring along a little "insurance" just in case that doesn't happen. When any chance at reconciliation fails, both Laura and Michael are determined to come out of the relationship as the winner-takes-all.
What I liked about this book:
1)It had a nice cover;
2)It was short - it took about an hour to read, and I was happy not to have wasted any more of my time;
3)I learned how to work many of the features on my new Kindle as I made notes and highlights of all the typos, grammatical errors and editing mistakes - an impressive number given that the book was so short.
What I didn't like:
1)Sentences flowed poorly. "Laura took a few steps back and stopped in front of the looking glass. Laura turned around and she moved closer to the mirror while gazing at her reflection in the looking glass." As she examines herself, she notices a few lines around her eyes, which upsets her greatly. She then looks "at her pale nearly flawless yet pretty complexion with a smile." She "tosses back her hair" - not once but three times in two pages.
2)Commas are missing, typos abound ("No. Not not yet," Michael says at one point. Later, Laura says "It will all be mine off course.")
3)Word usage is downright strange in places. For example: "She closed her eyes and shook her head before taking a deep breath and opening her orbs" and "the young woman collapsed to the floor atop her spine."
4)Bad writing, no editing. She tells Michael "And I'm not your wife," but nine sentences later, she says "I am your real wife..." Michael is called "the handsome man" again and again through the book - we get it, ok? Michael "focused his sight on the large black door that lay embedded in the wall a few yards away from him." (aren't doors generally embedded in walls?) Michael always "snatches" the pen, usually while "gazing" at the rose. The writing style, overall, was immature and sloppy. Someone fell "with an audible crash." A "tiny vial" shatters into "thousands of tiny fragments" (must have been very tiny...)
5)Even if grammar and bad writing don't bother you, the lack of character development and any pretense of depth to the story should be enough to deter you from purchasing this book. The author gives us no reason at all to identify with either Laura or Michael, and the suspense is so poorly developed that it evokes nothing in the reader. Without writing a spoiler, I'll just say that the ending is totally unrealistic and unnecessarily gruesome.
Don't waste your time with this one.
I was given a copy of this book by LibraryThing in exchange for writing a fair and honest review.
