Wednesday 17 September 2014

Promised By Jodi Ellen Malpas


Let's remove the fact that I spent the better part of the last 4 weeks planning a 5K. When I did get the time, today included, I settled down and tried to read 'One Night: Promised'. At one point, I thought to review 'This man' to find similarities in the writing styles, because I don't wanna believe that this was a JEM novel. What happened? Am I really in the minority here?

'One Night: Promised' did nothing for me as novel neither did Olivia and Miller as characters or as a couple. I was bored and struggled to get to the end. By the time I got to the end, I wanted answers but the story still didn't increase it's pace or my interest. There were so many unnecessary conversations and the continuous loop of pimps and prostitutes did nothing for the story line. Actually, there is no story line. It read like and unedited manuscript and it's more than my expectations. This was just bad, especially for an author of this caliber.

I understand Olivia's character was to be flat, boring and careful in the initial stages but even when she got out of her shell, with little difficulty might I add, she did nothing for me as an individual. I know her struggles, but she remains a contradiction to her brief time in the underworld and her lack of faculties around Miller reminds me of a bad 90's romance novel.

Miller doesn't intrigue me unless he's shifting cutlery and ironing suits in his office. There were Miller moments that had me chuckling, but for the most part, he came off as cheesy and from another century. Though he did teach me something valuable about wines, that I will take into consideration.

There was so much pointless and talkative sex! I hate when people have full on conversations during sex. It can't possibly be that nice if you find the time to speak this much -_-

For a period of time, I found myself more interested in Ben and Greg's story, than I was Miller and Olivia's. I actually wondered if we could get theirs instead, as the main story lacked real drama or clarity and where "wow factor" is concerned, that could use some work. There are pieces, they're just not cohesive.

The main story line/occupation in this story is not dramatic and the reveal left me wanting more. For a moment, I thought Miller was a mob boss, then a DOM, only to find out his real occupation and then the story ends. Will I read the next? Yes. Would I judge Ms. Malpas based on this novel? No. I just wish book 2 is better because I hold Jodi Ellen Malpas to a standard, after all, I get all my Brit romance from her, but this wasn't her best work and I struggled to understand and appreciate the story line and the characters.

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/21964864-promised

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