ryannreads's review
3.0
I'm still debating between three and four stars! Classic debate between writing and story, I'd give the story four stars and the writing three. It kept me up way too late so overall 3.75! I also liked that there was a playlist created by the author. Would be a great movie!
sm_almon's review
4.0
I loved the fully realized world that the author created here - all the secondary characters around the two main characters are so lively and recognizable, it gives the story a lot of depth. Also, it was unusually long for a romance, which I enjoyed - it contributed to the strong sense of place created in this book.
katemarie929's review
5.0
Love love love, This is the 2nd book of Ainslie's I've read and I've loved both! I just want more!!!
schomj's review
2.0
2.5 stars
I mostly enjoyed this while I was reading it, but the more I think about it the less I liked it.
* It's very long, and condensing some of the scenes would have improved the book a lot. Sometimes there's such a thing as too much detail, especially when said detail shows up out of the blue and is never mentioned again. (Like the names of the hero's uncles in the hospital scene. They're mentioned as if they've shown up before and do nothing but leer and argue as if they're auditioning for roles as back-up scene-chewers at a community theatre production.)
* There's a ton of narrative head-hopping -- which I don't mind so long as I can follow the action, but the author would sometimes switch POV mid-paragraph, which caused me some confusion.
* The promiscuous hero... eh, I thought he was a total creep at the beginning and kind of an idiot throughout, but he grew on me eventually. I can sympathize with self-defeating behavior, less so with a golden-boy thug.
* The heroine was an odd mix of self-assured and assertive, but strangely wimpy when it came to putting up with bordering-on-abuse crap from her boyfriend (not the hero). (Which mostly just reminded me that she was only 24, and I'm at the point where that's starting to seem really young.)
* Then came the end and... it was a mess. Strangely rushed and jumbled, with a kitchen-sink approach to adding in last-minute obstacles that get resolved/glossed over with a couple of sentences and a dance scene. Pretty much the opposite of satisfying. (Unless it's scored by Gershwin and I get to see said dance scene.)
I mostly enjoyed this while I was reading it, but the more I think about it the less I liked it.
* It's very long, and condensing some of the scenes would have improved the book a lot. Sometimes there's such a thing as too much detail, especially when said detail shows up out of the blue and is never mentioned again. (Like the names of the hero's uncles in the hospital scene. They're mentioned as if they've shown up before and do nothing but leer and argue as if they're auditioning for roles as back-up scene-chewers at a community theatre production.)
* There's a ton of narrative head-hopping -- which I don't mind so long as I can follow the action, but the author would sometimes switch POV mid-paragraph, which caused me some confusion.
* The promiscuous hero... eh, I thought he was a total creep at the beginning and kind of an idiot throughout, but he grew on me eventually. I can sympathize with self-defeating behavior, less so with a golden-boy thug.
* The heroine was an odd mix of self-assured and assertive, but strangely wimpy when it came to putting up with bordering-on-abuse crap from her boyfriend (not the hero). (Which mostly just reminded me that she was only 24, and I'm at the point where that's starting to seem really young.)
* Then came the end and... it was a mess. Strangely rushed and jumbled, with a kitchen-sink approach to adding in last-minute obstacles that get resolved/glossed over with a couple of sentences and a dance scene. Pretty much the opposite of satisfying. (Unless it's scored by Gershwin and I get to see said dance scene.)
thepassionatereader's review
1.0
This was a chore for me. Ended up skimming through the whole thing. Not for me.
susanscribs's review
3.0
I'm a big Ainslie Paton fan and I know this book really jump-started her career, but it wasn't my favorite. Too much head-hopping and a long, drawn-out breakup that almost made me forget why Alex and Dan belonged together. Loved the dance scenes and the supporting characters (would love to see Paton write an M/M romance for Scott).
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