EricaO

I have to admit that when I see the cover art for this, all I can think about is Trixie at the vet, vomiting...I think I've seen a few too many movies this summer.

Halfway through book: So far, this is killing me. Or rather, I want to kill the book. I'm going to keep listening because I really want there to be consequences somewhere but I'm worried my eyes are going to get stuck in one of my constant eye-rolls.
For me, romances are like beets. They look so pretty and inviting, yet I know I loathe them. However, I keep trying because I always think that one day, maybe I will have developed a taste for them, though so far, it hasn't happened and I'm still left with an awful taste in my mouth.

--

Ok. I'm done with this book.
First off, I have to say I probably would have enjoyed it more had I read it rather than listened, as I think this is one of those cases in which my internal narrator would have done a better job. I just did not enjoy the reader at all (Barry Bostwick); his voice and inflections would have been better suited to a thriller or western, not a romance novel. I would have preferred a reader with a southern accent and more cadence to his speech. Also, I did not like the music that randomly played throughout the story. Not only was it not appropriate to the story but it was often placed at odd and sometimes distracting moments.

The story seemed overly-contrived to me. It plays so hard on the female fantasy of a simple, honest, hard-working, romantic nice guy who is appreciative, supportive, a good conversationalist and just happens to be great at sex, too. While there probably are plenty of neat guys out there that fit that description, I found Noah rather boring. He has no flaws. He's just one, big, perfect man who worships only one woman his entire life. There's nothing more to him.
And Allie (I read the book so don't know how her name is spelled) - she starts out as nearly detestable but it turns out, she's pretty boring, as well. The most intriguing aspect of her is that she has an incredibly frightening disease that keeps her from being the perfect wife to her perfect husband in their last years together. But she knew that would be the case, so she wrote him a loving letter so that he could remember how much she loved him even when she was lost to this disease.
I felt the book was rife with tedious description, always along the lines of "so beautiful" or "looks so good". Those same types of phrase continually come up in the dialogue, as well. I felt like I was ensconced in a haze of loveliness for much of the story and it wasn't a loveliness I wanted to be stuck within.

All in all, I was very bored with the book and that boredom was enhanced by the gritty reader and the poor choice of music. I'm glad I listened to it, though, as it serves as a strong reminder that I have no taste for romances.