ASIN: B01N66I0CX
Publisher: Hartwood Publishing (December 1, 2016)
Publication Date: December 1, 2016
Sold by: Amazon Digital Services LLC
Blurb:
Elise Campbell wants to learn how to ice skate. It’s one of the many things—like biking and swimming—she never learned how to do in her screwed up childhood.
When she goes to the outdoor rink one brutally cold morning in January, she hopes no one will be there to see her fall all over the ice. Instead she meets Zach, who’s so sexy that looking at him makes her fall even more.
Zach Adams is trying to work off his anger over the tragic death of his best friend. He’s tired of punishing his body at the gym, so he goes to the rink instead, where he ends up helping a cute woman who’s never been skating before.
He continues to meet her every Sunday to teach her how to skate, even though he knows he’s no good for her. His best friend was the relationship man, the family man. Zach never wanted anything serious, and his lone relationship was a disaster. But he can’t ignore the way things have been heating up on the ice with Elise.
Review:
Novellas aren’t usually my first pick, but I’ve run across some really great ones (plus I’m always up for a good romance), so I decided to give this one a try.
Elise wants to scratch ice-skating – amongst other things – off her bucket list. She has no teacher or any other assistance. Just her determination. I’m all for that. I like strong characters. Characters that go after what they want. Who refuse to backdown from a challenge.
Unfortunately, there wasn’t enough backstory and the characters weren’t developed enough to grab a reader’s heart. I tried my best to be into the story, but before I understood what was going on (other than the fact that she simply just wanted to learn to ice-skate), they were unable to stop thinking about each other. There was nothing memorable about their first encounter, and it’s difficult for me to stay into a story with no real cause. There was nothing pushing the story forward.
I never understood why Zach was no good for Elise, other than the fact that he said so. Unanswered questions like “what had he done in the past to deem himself unworthy” and “Why was it such a big deal for Elise to learn to skate?”, “Why hadn’t she solicited help if learning was so important to her?”, “Why did Zach chose ice-skating as a substitute for the gym?”, and “What was the significance of ice-skating to him?” left the plot full of holes. The dialogue is rather bland and the flow is choppy. The relationship was too rushed even for a novella.
Unfortunately, I didn’t care for this one.
Rating system: Cups of Coffee (the less the better)
0: You won’t need any coffee to stay up for this one. It’s intriguing enough all on its own.
1: You’ll stay up late, but not all night. Brew one cup.
2: You’ll read as long as you’re not tired. If you are, two cups should do the trick.
3: I hope you got plenty of rest; you’ll need it, or at least 3 cups.
4: If the cable goes out, read the book. It’s better than nothing, I guess. Oh, don’t forget your brew!
5: Find anything else to do- it doesn’t matter what it is. Don’t waste your coffee. Too much caffeine is bad for you.
My rating: 5 cups of coffee