Blush (in Vino Veritas) (Red Velvet)

by Lauren Jameson

[Cocktails and Books]

Blush is the story of Madeline "Maddy" Stone and Alex Fraser. An indicator of the slow pace of this story is that the author took the first 20 pages for a first encounter at the casino. The author seemed to have difficulty finding a balance between telling the story and including details. The details were so minute that it was painful to read. This continued throughout the book with no connection among the details to make it worth the reader's time to pay attention. By the middle of the story I was skimming pages because they were filled with information that had no influence on the story.

Madeline was supposed to have left her hometown after an accident that left her with panic attacks and other stress related disorders. She takes a waitressing job and begins seeing a therapist that advises her to step outside of her comfort zone. She enters into a casino to play Blackjack. She catches Alex's attention and they enjoy a glass of expensive wine and some very stilted dialogue. There is no chemistry between the two and for some reason this emotionally scarred woman becomes attracted to him and wants to lick him. The author tells the reader that Alex can't seem to stay away from Maddy, but it's never anything included in the dialogue. The reader never feels that internal conflict that Alex endures where his more noble self pulls against his selfish desires to have her in his life.

Alex has a secret love of BDSM and believes that Maddy is too innocent to enjoy it. He was apparently disowned by his family because of his lifestyle choices. He sought help with a therapist and his trust was broken. This left him with a dour attitude towards therapists. These are all things the reader is told about Alex. It would have helped me to make a connection with this character if the author had Alex to relive those moments in his life. I never connected with or cared about Alex's character. I felt the same way about Maddy's character. There was nothing about this story that pulled you in and made you want to continue to reading. It missed the mark by a wide margin in terms of being able to make the characters leap off the page and drawing you into the story.

It wasn't a terrible book, but it wasn't a good book either. It was just okay and I muddled my way through. There were a few steamy scenes between Alex and Maddy. There was a sense of intrigue with another character that sparked my interest for a moment. The character came to Maddy's workplace, and I expected him to abduct her or some other horrible thing to gain Alex's attention. Unfortunately his attempt at revenge was to tell Maddy that Alex had a child out of wedlock. Who cares is the first thought in my mind? This wasn't a historical romance. There are many people that have children out of wedlock and how is that some type of revenge? At this point I knew all was lost in my hope that this story would redeem itself.