Scan barcode
A review by paulabrandon
Fully Committed by Janie Crouch
3.0
Jon Hatton is an agent assisting the local law authorities in Texas with a serial rapist case. Their forensic artist is insensitive with victims, so when Jon learns from his sources that another one is available nearby, he hunts her down. But this forensic artist is Sherry Mitchell, who is now suffering PTSD as a result of helping too many victims through their harrowing ordeals. Or something. She's reluctant to get involved, but Jon is very supportive, giving her the strength to get through it. Once she's involved, of course, the rapist delivers her a personal threat to stay out of his business!
I enjoyed reading this, but it fell somewhat short for me. Firstly, Sherry is just a bit too fragile for my liking. While I appreciate the book was doing a respectful job of portraying someone suffering this condition, it annoyed me that other characters who had suffered much worse atrocities than Sherry (actual rape, for instance) were much stronger in tackling their issues head on. It sounds insensitive, but Sherry occasionally came across as a bit of a precious petal!
Then we Sherry being a bit of a martyr about her PTSD and thinking Jon wouldn't want to "saddle" himself with a woman with such an affliction. Instead of talking with him about it like a rational adult, she creates distance between them. It was irritating. It kind of made me feel as if she would actually be a bit of high maintenance, always needing to be reassured by Jon that he still found her attractive and sexy.
I did like that both characters were compassionate people, and Crouch did a good job showing this, and not just telling us. All that "I'm here for you 100%" and "baby steps" talk got a little tiresome and repetitive, however.
Things were going along swimmingly until two of Jon's Omega Sector pals, Liam Goetz and Brandon Han, showed up. It was pure sequel/franchise bait. They weren't needed! This is a real pet peeve of mine in category romance. In particular, Liam's behaviour is borderline sexual harassment, but everybody just shakes it off, because they can apparently just instantly tell he's a good guy. Whatever. I wanted to smack him! His dialogue exchange with Sherry at the supermarket about Jon's feelings for her was just downright CRINGEWORTHY.
Faults aside, it was an entertaining read. The chapters were a decent length, so I was always telling myself "just one more chapter", which resulted me reading it all in one go. Generally, that's a good sign!
I enjoyed reading this, but it fell somewhat short for me. Firstly, Sherry is just a bit too fragile for my liking. While I appreciate the book was doing a respectful job of portraying someone suffering this condition, it annoyed me that other characters who had suffered much worse atrocities than Sherry (actual rape, for instance) were much stronger in tackling their issues head on. It sounds insensitive, but Sherry occasionally came across as a bit of a precious petal!
Then we Sherry being a bit of a martyr about her PTSD and thinking Jon wouldn't want to "saddle" himself with a woman with such an affliction. Instead of talking with him about it like a rational adult, she creates distance between them. It was irritating. It kind of made me feel as if she would actually be a bit of high maintenance, always needing to be reassured by Jon that he still found her attractive and sexy.
I did like that both characters were compassionate people, and Crouch did a good job showing this, and not just telling us. All that "I'm here for you 100%" and "baby steps" talk got a little tiresome and repetitive, however.
Things were going along swimmingly until two of Jon's Omega Sector pals, Liam Goetz and Brandon Han, showed up. It was pure sequel/franchise bait. They weren't needed! This is a real pet peeve of mine in category romance. In particular, Liam's behaviour is borderline sexual harassment, but everybody just shakes it off, because they can apparently just instantly tell he's a good guy. Whatever. I wanted to smack him! His dialogue exchange with Sherry at the supermarket about Jon's feelings for her was just downright CRINGEWORTHY.
Faults aside, it was an entertaining read. The chapters were a decent length, so I was always telling myself "just one more chapter", which resulted me reading it all in one go. Generally, that's a good sign!