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A review by jacqueline1989
The Lord Next Door by Gayle Callen
2.0
This book was a weird one for me. While I did finish the novel and somewhat enjoyed it, I found numerous issues that made the reading of this story somewhat difficult.
For starters, the hero of the story, David, was a bit difficult to understand. Essentially, he is a very stoic man, extremely rigid in his demeanor and not at all expressive at large. While I do love diverse character types, to some degree, I find characters that are given this personality can sometimes seem one dimensional. This was the issue with The Lord Next Door. While I eventually found myself liking this character, he was very difficult to connect or engage with.
I also found the heroine of this story, Victoria, a bit bland. For all her creativity and alleged passion in the book, she came off as being a bit dry. This was only accentuated by her "I-Must-Be-The-Perfect-Wife" syndrome/mentality throughout the book. Again, like with David, I found her to be somewhat one dimensional, and at times, dull.
My other issue with this novel deals with its structure. Aside from the fact that the ending was very obviously, and quite painfully, rushed, I also noticed the emotional scenes between any of the characters were very badly done. Sometimes they felt cliched and felt like hyperbole, and others they were rather rushed. The endearing words were used, but the phrasing occasionally felt awkward or stilted. This would not be so bad if this awkwardness were limited to just the main characters, for then it would be explained by their character types. Sadly, this occurred in several conversations among the book's sub-characters.
Ironically, after all the aforementioned criticisms, one would assume, especially after analyzing my track record with book's that disappoint, this book would have been tossed by the wayside 30 pages in. However, such was not the case, because I found myself rapidly interested in the developing relationship between Victoria and David. While sadly the book did not seem to satisfy my interest between these two individuals, it was not a complete waste of time.
I did enjoy a few aspects to this book. The fact that Callen decided to forgo the consummation of Victoria and David's wedding was an interesting change of pace. I find that sex is most definitely a very crucial turning point to a relationship, and by constructing the story in the manner Callen did, the book seemed to have more "meat," or content, to it.
Another facet I enjoyed was the unique spin this author took with such a story. I found myself rather interested in the fact that David was an industrialist, and this point did play a marginal (though forced) part to the plot. I do congratulate callen, though, for managing to maintain my interest in the novel to complete the story. Typically, when a book irritates me past a certain level, I don't waste my time finishing it, and when considering the issues I had with The Lord Next Door, it is very ironic that I completed this book.
Overall, it was not vastly enjoyable, but I did not walk away hating the book either.
For starters, the hero of the story, David, was a bit difficult to understand. Essentially, he is a very stoic man, extremely rigid in his demeanor and not at all expressive at large. While I do love diverse character types, to some degree, I find characters that are given this personality can sometimes seem one dimensional. This was the issue with The Lord Next Door. While I eventually found myself liking this character, he was very difficult to connect or engage with.
I also found the heroine of this story, Victoria, a bit bland. For all her creativity and alleged passion in the book, she came off as being a bit dry. This was only accentuated by her "I-Must-Be-The-Perfect-Wife" syndrome/mentality throughout the book. Again, like with David, I found her to be somewhat one dimensional, and at times, dull.
My other issue with this novel deals with its structure. Aside from the fact that the ending was very obviously, and quite painfully, rushed, I also noticed the emotional scenes between any of the characters were very badly done. Sometimes they felt cliched and felt like hyperbole, and others they were rather rushed. The endearing words were used, but the phrasing occasionally felt awkward or stilted. This would not be so bad if this awkwardness were limited to just the main characters, for then it would be explained by their character types. Sadly, this occurred in several conversations among the book's sub-characters.
Ironically, after all the aforementioned criticisms, one would assume, especially after analyzing my track record with book's that disappoint, this book would have been tossed by the wayside 30 pages in. However, such was not the case, because I found myself rapidly interested in the developing relationship between Victoria and David. While sadly the book did not seem to satisfy my interest between these two individuals, it was not a complete waste of time.
I did enjoy a few aspects to this book. The fact that Callen decided to forgo the consummation of Victoria and David's wedding was an interesting change of pace. I find that sex is most definitely a very crucial turning point to a relationship, and by constructing the story in the manner Callen did, the book seemed to have more "meat," or content, to it.
Another facet I enjoyed was the unique spin this author took with such a story. I found myself rather interested in the fact that David was an industrialist, and this point did play a marginal (though forced) part to the plot. I do congratulate callen, though, for managing to maintain my interest in the novel to complete the story. Typically, when a book irritates me past a certain level, I don't waste my time finishing it, and when considering the issues I had with The Lord Next Door, it is very ironic that I completed this book.
Overall, it was not vastly enjoyable, but I did not walk away hating the book either.