This post was originally published at Novelicious.com and is now at WritingTipsOasis.com. WritingTipsOasis.com acquired Novelicious.com in June 2022.
Reviewed by Kay Brooks
Venetia Aston-Montagu is no stranger to heartache. Her first love disappeared without explanation leaving Venetia to deal with a difficult situation and a controlling father to deal with. After moving to Venice, she has built a barrier around her heart to stop any man hurting her again. But when she is rescued from having her handbag stolen by the enigmatic and mysterious Paulo, the fire in her heart is unexpectedly rekindled. Paulo, however, has his own demons to contend with. If they are to be together, they are both going to have to confront their pasts.
There is a lot of description in this novel, bringing the setting of Italy to life. Some seems unnecessary though. For example, Venetia’s bathroom, where one minute part of the story takes place, is described in extreme detail. I had to force myself not to skip over these parts just in case there should be something important hidden in there. The writing is also very repetitive, especially in terms of the characters’ appearances. The fact that Paulo is reminiscent of the devil is relayed many times. The author seems to have an obsession with the colour of their eyes as well, stating over and over again how Paulo has blues eyes and Venetia’s are specked with gold. I also felt as familiar with Venetia’s ever-fluctuating heartbeat as I would if I were her cardiologist.
Venetia is unfortunately not the most likeable of characters but I suspect she was intended to be. She is rude to her friend, Francesca, whenever she speaks to her and never shows any interest in how she is. In fact, she behaves like a petulant child whenever Francesca asks her anything even slightly personal. It was difficult to believe they actually were friends at all.
The first half of the book is spent with Paulo and Venetia blowing hot and cold with each other and the second half is full of them bonking like rabbits. The sex scenes are enough to satisfy any fan of cheesy erotica or enough to make any prude, like me, blush.
The action does pick up towards the end with their pasts catching up with them, near death experiences and fist fights. The final twist, which crossed my mind early on but was quickly dismissed due to being completely irrational, made me laugh rather than gasp in shock.
The main positive is that you don’t have to worry if you miss something because it will no doubt be repeated within the next few pages.
3/10
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