Niall Chandler suffered the kind of tragedy that no one should ever have to live through and since then she's been struggling to rebuild her life. Her attempt to reenter the dating scene ends badly when her date won't take "no" for an answer. When her neighbor Vic Savian comes to her aid she ends up spending the night with him. Neither Niall or Vic intend for it to be more than a one night stand, but they're drawn to each other in a ways that neither can deny. Their relationship is still new and unsteady when the problems from Niall's past intervene and they're forced to figure out if what they have together is enough to build a future on.
This book went onto my TBR pile because it generated a lot of positive buzz when it was released. Then it was nominated for DABWAHA and did very well, making it to the Field of 16. This is further proof that tastes vary and one man's meat is another man's poison, because I really didn't like this book. The sex scenes were hot and well written, but the rest of the book didn't work for me. I spent large chunks of it annoyed with one or both of the main characters. Being annoyed with a character who suffered the way Niall did made me feel mean, which in turn made me wish I had never heard of this book. Worse, Niall's extreme suffering was part of what I found so frustrating.
The tragedy wasn't enough. Her husband's subsequent issues weren't enough either. No, she also had parents who are relentlessly selfish, awful and unsupportive. And of course it turns out that her husband was always sort of a self-centered jerk while Niall was wonderful and loving and good. Add in the fact that all the good people in the story love Niall and want to protect her and all the bad people are mean to her and you have a character that's more than a bit of a Mary Sue.
There were problems with Vic too. He has one of my least favorite Romance Hero Issues---one woman done me wrong so now I hate all of her kind. This almost always comes across as fairly ridiculous and this was no exception. Years have gone by but Vic still doesn't see his previous relationship clearly. Apparently the therapist he saw for a year after the break up wasn't exactly a credit to the profession.
I had even bigger problems with Vic & Niall's fight and their reconciliation. When Vic finds out that Niall is married and didn't tell him he gets upset. Niall's response to this is to comment that she didn't realize that he was religious. What? His former fiancee cheated on him in a very nasty way and Niall knows that. Why in the world would she think that his objection to being an unwitting party to infidelity must be based on religion?
I could understand why Niall needed some time to herself after the big blow up. However, I couldn't understand the plan she comes up with when, months later, she decides she wants Vic back. There were several times when I thought Vic behaved like an ass, but apparently he's still a nicer person than I am. If my sister had gone behind my back and cooked up a scheme with my ex to have her move onto my property for months without my permission the situation would not have turned out well.
The explanation that Niall gives Vic for both staying away and then scheming with his sister is that she wasn't ready before but she is now. When Vic points out that it isn't all about her and now he isn't ready she seems stunned. I'm not even going to go into everything I hated about the scene. Suffice to say that Vic soon realizes the error of his ways and grovels for Niall's forgiveness. Because of course she could not have been wrong because she has suffered so much.
I'm apparently the only person in the world who didn't like this book, but I'm still giving it---
Grade: D
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