Review: The Marriage Betrayal

Title: The Marriage Betrayal
Author: Lynne Graham
Genre: Romance
Rating: R
Publisher: Harlequin Presents
Publication Date: July 26, 2011
Source: NetGalley
My Rating: 2**

[Goodreads | Amazon]

Synopsis
Careless passion, pregnancy surprise…

Sander Volakis goes his own way. He’s forged his reputation in business, rather than relying on the family fortune, and indulges his darkly passionate, wild streak – he has no intention of marrying… He doesn’t do country weekends, either. Pitching up at Westgrave Manor is a favour to his father and a bore…until he sees Tally Spencer, so pretty and voluptuous that he can’t resist her. Sander’s looking forward to casually seducing her…little knowing that one night with the innocent Tally could end his playboy existence… THE VOLAKIS VOW A marriage made of secrets…

Sander Volakis has no intention of marrying - until he sees Tally Spencer. He can't resist her . . . little knowing that one night with the innocent Tally could end his playboy existence...

My Thoughts

It has been a very long time since I read a straight up romance book.  After reading this one, I remember why I stopped.  The story is a familiar one.  Tally is self-reliant and from a broken home.  As a result she is looking for love, but holding out for the one.  Sander is a spoiled playboy who is not used to hearing the word no.  Sander likes the thrill of the challenge that Tally brings and wants to sleep with her, but doesn’t want to have a relationship.  Tally puts up half-hearted attempts to resist while still maintaining her secret identity.  Of course said resistance lasts all of a day under the overwhelming onslaught of Sander’s advances that come while he is trying to dodge his deceased brother’s fiancée.  This all happens in a 48-hour period.

Once back home in the real world, Tally tries to stay away from Sander but of course she is unable to resist.  Relationship, if you could call it that, continues and of course she ends up pregnant.  Include the stereotypical “you are trying to trap me and it’s your fault you are pregnant” argument and a blackmail plot that really wasn’t much of a plot but more an ultimatium and you pretty much have the whole story.  The love scenes were nothing spectacular and in all honesty, I found myself skipping over them entirely.  The main characters are both very annoying.  Tally manages to come across as having no backbone at all despite all of her posturing and Sander the playboy is so laughable it’s not even funny.

While the story idea sounds good in and of itself, the execution of it leaves a lot to be desired.  It is a relatively short book at 192 pages and is actually part one of a two part series.  Even though I really didn’t enjoy this book, I am going to read the second one.  It will be interesting to see if after reading the second one if I will like the first one better.

Disclosure: This review was done after reading an uncorrected ARC copy courtesy of NetGalley and Harlequin Presents. My priority is to you, and I honour that commitment by being honest! I don’t do reviews for payment, nor do I guarantee favourable reviews for any book/galley/ARC sent to me for review. I promise to stay truthful with you and all opinions represented here are my own. If you are uncertain what this all means, I urge you to read my Review Policy for further clarification. You can also contact me at contact@nicoleabouttown.com.

Review: Skinny

Title: Skinny
Author: Dian Spechler
Genre: Fiction & Literature
Age Restriction: PG
Pages: 368
Publisher: Harper Perennial
Publication Date: April 26, 2011
Source: Digital Galley from NetGalley
Rating: 2*

[Goodreads | Amazon]

Synopsis


After her father’s death, twenty-six-year-old Gray Lachmann finds herself compulsively eating. Desperate to stop bingeing, she abandons her life in New York City for a job at a southern weight-loss camp. There, caught among the warring egos of her devious co-counselor, Sheena; the self-aggrandizing camp director, Lewis; his attractive assistant, Bennett; and a throng of combative teenage campers, she is confronted by a captivating mystery: her teenage half-sister, Eden, whom Gray never knew existed. Now, while unraveling her father’s lies, Gray must tackle her own self-deceptions and take control of her body and her life. Visceral, poignant, and often wickedly funny, Skinny illuminates a young woman’s struggle to make sense of the link between hunger and emotion, and to make peace with her demons, her body, and herself.

My Thoughts

I received a digital copy for review from NetGalley. I really, really wanted to like this book, but was unable to find anything about the book that I liked personally which was very disappointing.  The premise sounded both interesting and witty and it was a topic that I have never really read about before.  From the moment we are introduced to the main character, she lacks any kind of personality and comes across as unbelievably whiny and self-absorbed.

It's not very often that after I have read a book that I find myself still asking what the point of the entire thing was.   Gray finds herself at as a counsellor at a Fat Camp for kids, ironically run by some fat people themselves.  From the descriptions Gray, she is about 15-20 pounds over weight and not really fat herself.  I will not spoil one of the other reasons about why she is at the camp. but needless to say, it is not an environment that she needs to be in.  She rather bizarrely blames herself for her father's death from a massive heart attack, even though he was morbidly obese by all descriptions.  Rather than deal with her grief, she begins binge eating and as such puts on those dreaded 15 pounds.

Rather than get professional help to get to the underlying reasons for her binge eating, she takes herself and her unhealthy mindset to the fat camp where she is supposed to be helping kids.   Then comes the casual sex, and cheating on the boyfriend who genuinely cares for her and is waiting for her at home.  I'm not really down with this skinny. shallow and unstable girl being put in a position of authority over children who need genuine help to make healthy changes to their lifestyle.  Gray would have been better off on a psychiatrist's couch getting much-needed help for inability to cope in a productive fashion when life doesn't go her way.