I’ll admit it. I got sucked into buying this book, because of its cover. Look at it: the 2 cover models depicting the book’s main characters are as hot as ghost peppers and as sexy as any two lovers can ever hope to be. Plus, the old-school embossed labeler font used to write the author’s name is freakin’ COOL. I haven’t seen that font in over 20 years, so I had to Google it.
Other than those 2 things, however, I couldn’t find anything else to salvage my review for my first Molly E. Lee romance novel.
I checked the other reviews on Goodreads, though, and found *gasp* I’m the only one who wanted to give it a 1-star review. The other reviewers were Ms. Lee’s contemporaries in the writing world (Micalea Smeltzer and Molly McAdams) and various winners of an ARC contest. Biased reviews, they probably aren’t, but I’m surprised I was the only one who didn’t like this at all. My reasons:
- It’s a book full of cliches and over-used themes. Connell, the über hot and sexy underwater welder, lost his brother and finds solace beneath the sea. He looks for the most dangerous underwater dive jobs and excels at them. He also has mommy issues, following his brother’s death. Sadie, the equally über hot and sexy marine preservationist, is a purist. She loves her preservation sites waaaaaaaayyyyyy too much, to a point where I think she’s obsessed. Don’t get me wrong, though: I think that war relics need to be preserved. Lives were lost in that ship that Sadie wanted to risk her own life and limb for, and if that ship were real, I’d whole-heartedly agree and start an online-revolution to save it from money-grubbing corporations. Sadie’s obsession about it – sorry, but I can’t relate; I thought she was too much, only to realize that her sacrificing Connell’s love was wrong in the last 10 pages of the book. Further, these 2 characters must have tons and tons and TONS of money to burn, as they scuba dive in the remotest and most dangerous of areas around the world. Scuba diving is NOT a cheap thrill, and Ms. Lee doesn’t explain how much these 2 earn in their jobs. Maybe I should consider switching careers… oh, then again, I know of some scuba addicts and they’re not as rich as Sadie and Connell.
- Its predictability aside, but the insta-love yet simultaneous slow-burn of the whole story are not anomalous, but are annoying to read. If one read’s the blurb on Vilma’s Book Blog, then you’ll get the whole story. You’ll save a buck, trust me.
1-sorry not sorry-star.
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