My Love Grows In The Dark by SSION
"The song was written about a sex club - everything is completely dark, you have to feel your way around. No one really sees me in the video, and if they do they're indifferent. I walk through this house where everyone is completely self-obsessed."
- Cody Critcheloe [SSION]
The video might be pretty ridiculous at first look, but if you relate it to his quote, it actually makes sense. Then again, you can always continue scrolling down and start perusing my book review while listening to it... Hahahaha
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I hadn't exactly grasped the essential idea of what the Harlequin logo entailed when I bought this book. (Hey, I was twelve.) Many great benefits come along in reading when you're (slightly) older and have a well, less innocent mind. I like to imagine the characters' appearance and play the events like a movie in my head as I read. You can call it fantasizing. Anyway, it's especially rewarding when you get to the fun parts of a book, such as, copulation.
Alright, enough nonsense from me...
[Synopsis]
Jacob "Jake" McBride is a self-made millionaire, brilliant at business, talented in bed -- and cynical about women. Emily Taylor is his personal assistant, terrific in the office...and a complete innocent when it comes to the opposite sex!
But when Jake teaches Emily how to transform herself from shy secretary into sexy siren, he loses his grip on his legendary cool. If she's going to lose her virginity, it has to be to him!
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Oh, and one more thing. I've decided to change the rating system so the score will be over 10 instead of 5 (x/10, x/5). This way I can give 0.5 marks more easily if I feel like it (lol). I'm quite sure I'd feel weird too if I were reading a book review with a score like 2.75/5.
Rating: 7 / 10
-- Nothing outstanding, clichéd, overused formulas, but generally good and funny enough to keep me addicted. A Harlequin I enjoyed.
The cover's rather awful. I can't see the girl's face properly, and when I flipped the picture over to get a better view of the guy's face (yes, I'll admit it), I thought he looked pretty darn average. Hahaha.
I liked the story's introduction. It jumped straight into Jake's situation with his latest girl, and BAM! All of his information including his height, history, and facial features such as his crooked nose were there. It was particularly effective for a reader like me because I could quickly visualise a suave tall handsome to picture in my head as I read the book. Yum yum ;D
Jake McBride's 6"3 (190.5cm). For a vertically challenged person like yours truly (151cm), HE IS SUCH A DREAMBOAT. He's tall. He's handsome. He's successful. He has a huge ego. No painful scars emotionally or physically -- his past wasn't exactly a very happy one either, but the author glossed over that very quickly. I don't mind though. I'm sick and tired of those broody and troubled males that authors try to make mysterious to us readers with the hero's deep past of great tragedy and sadness. I like fun boys. A lot.
Well, to be fair, he's not the alpha male type that goes "I am the man so I expect my woman/possession/trophy to follow my every word and be submissive all the time" but it's subtly implied anyway. He's not unkind -- he doesn't abuse them in any way, and even actually bothers to try to minimise the impact of the break up on the women. He's a good boyfriend. However, scratch the surface and you'll still find a guy that views women as disposable objects.
Emily is average from top to toe, in every aspect possible. I don't even know what to write about her except for the fact that she is very average. If it helps, I picture her looking like this --
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| yes, i'm an avid fan of manga too. |
Jake himself knows the fact: he repeatedly tells himself this again and again. Even the narrative emphasises it. Of course, she's a generic character too. Virgin? Check. No experience with men? Check. Plain Jane (before makeover, of course)? Score! And yet he remains inexplicably attracted to her despite all this. (He doesn't know the first fact.)
It never is addressed in the story, but I'm assuming he's been wanting her even before he knew it. All he needed for that longing to explode in full force was a little push that also leads to an exciting chain of events including a lot of possessiveness from the man.
I loved their repartee (the witty exchange of words). There are probably only three main points I look out for in a book:
1) the repartee between the characters,
2) sexual tension/the acts themselves (not a secret there), and
3) character-relationship development.
It doesn't matter (much) if it's clichéd. Many books and movies are generic but good ones still wring my heart upside down.
Their conversations made me laugh. It's probably because I have a good sense of humour (I laugh at the smallest things) but I liked the way they interacted with each other.
Emily hides her loathing for Jake under a very thin façade of secretary-like-respect-for-my-great-boss type of thing. Well, loathe, yes, until they get all chummy. She's quietly defiant, mild outside but not quite so inside. She can rebut her boss quickly but politely, and she isn't hesitant to do so. Her character is actually pretty realistic as a secretary/assistant, and I appreciate that. Her adventures aren't though. (Lol.)
Women are generally depicted in this story as big-boobed, beautiful, sometimes blonde, and many lacking in brain matter -- and all want Jacob, because it just works that way. Emily even names another girl that matches the description above Brandi #2 (Brandi is the one he dumps at the start of the story), which really shows a lot. Emily is the 'average' one -- in fact, she actually isn't average at the end thanks to being surrounded by idiots. Like I always say, everything is relative.
The story is a little indecisive. Same for the characters: they're very fickle. So, he finds out he's attracted to her. It all goes downward from there. One moment, it's oh, do me, baby! and the next, no, this shouldn't be happening. There isn't much relationship development. Nothing substantial actually happens to make them realise they love each other, unless you think sex causes love. Which I don't agree much with. Unfortunately, that's how it works here. Most of the attraction is pretty much based on a physical level. But you could always argue he does have feelings for her, because he wants her to be his and not anyone else's, though he keeps denying it. He's pretty much over his head for her too.
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| yaaaaaaaaaaay |
The sexual tension and acts are managed pretty well. Just the right amount (problem here is, I prefer it to be in excess). It isn't too descriptive though, just briefly brushing through the acts and what roughly happens. No curls and folds and stuff. Cough. Sandra Marton generally did a good job in expressing the characters' trains of thought and how they felt, both during the sexual encounters and normal interaction.
The ending was mediocre. Sadly, I didn't really get my heart warmed up or something along those lines, because it was too expected, and fairytale-like. And so the princess and prince lived happily ever after, in their modern castle located somewhere in USA. Then again, it's a Harlequin..... forgive my bias. Hahaha...
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