Reviewed by Leigha on
The first book I read by Zapata was From Lukov with Love earlier this year. I enjoyed it despite some issue I had with the writing style. I could get over it because I enjoyed the characters and story. This book? This book, those quirks came roaring to the forefront – and not in a good way.
Zapata is known for slow burn romances. While I enjoy the occasional slow burn romance, I don’t enjoy it when the plot is forced into slow burn too. Not much happens in the story other than the two leads trying not to get together. The very insubstantial plot wasn’t all that interesting, nor was the romance between the two characters. I didn’t think Luna and Rip had an interesting connection, nor was I interested in seeing it develop.
My other big issue with the writing – the repetitive word choices and phrases. If I were to take a shot for the number of times Rip is defined as “big,” “boss,” and “massive,” I’d be in the hospital with alcohol poisoning. Honestly, I think to take those adjectives out of the book would reduce it by a third. I don’t have a problem when a character’s appearance is referenced occasionally, but I do when it is referenced over and over again ad nauseum.
There’s a lot to like about this book. Luna is a positive person, learning to live and love with PTSD. She’s a successful career woman without a higher education degree, which is so so SO important to read about when society is screaming everyone should get a degree. The relationships she builds with others, particularly her coworkers, is a wonderful display of platonic, loving, and built families. But the writing just did not work for me, and I don’t think I’ll be picking up a Zapata novel for a long while.
tl;dr A positive, caring, and career-driven protagonist did not pull me from disliking the insubstantial plot or quirky writing style.
Reading updates
- Started reading
- Finished reading
- 21 December, 2018: Reviewed