Thursday, September 26, 2013

Book Review: To Be With You (The Sunset Series)






To Be With You (The Sunset Series) - Kindle Edition
Author:  Opal Mellon
Publication Date:  April 27, 2013


***Note*** I didn't finish this book.  I tried to.  I wanted to, and I've kept it on my Kindle, just in case I want to give it another try.

To Be With You is the love story of Nicole Pierce and Sean Rollins.  Nicole and Sean were best friends as children.  Nicole moved away when Sean was eleven to live with her Aunt but they kept in contact through letters and eventually, with the evolving world of technology, through email and instant messaging.

Nicole has a disastrous dating history:  she always goes for the wrong man.  He starts out fine, but turns into a womanizer or abuser.  After a series of failed relationships, she decides to try her hand at a "host club"--a dating club, called Club Blue, where the men are charming, fashionable, and treat women with respect.  After all, it is part of their job description.

Nichole tells Sean during one of their chat sessions that she's going to check out "Club Blue" to find an escort for an event she has to attend.  She goes for an interview as a potential client and meets with Hope, the co-owner of the establishment and three male hosts, to decide which would suit her for her event.  After talking to Justin, Jason and "John," she senses something familiar with the man who calls himself "John."  He reminds her so much of her best friend Sean.  He should.  He is Sean.

Sean, as "John" knows that his facial features and body have changed over the years since Nicole last saw him, but to hide his identity during their initial meeting, he wears a mask over his eyes and tells her his name is John.  This causes the other two escorts to raise their eyebrows, but they don't give away his secret.

Nicole picks John/Sean as her date and soon realizes that he is her childhood friend Sean, but doesn't let on.  After a couple dates, Sean takes a stroll on the beach to clear his head about Nicole.  He's debating if he should come clean and admit who he is, knowing that he could ruin their longtime friendship by admitting that he lied to her about who he really was and knowing how she mistrusts men, he doesn't want her to end up hating him.

Nicole lives with her aunt who has a house across the street from the beach.  The very same beach that John/Sean has decided to walk around while hashing out his thoughts.  When she sees this strange figure sitting there at dark, pretty much "baying at the moon," she goes to see if the person is okay.  As she approaches the figure, she realizes it is John/Sean and confronts him and tells him she knows who he is.

After talking a little more, they each ask the other to try and help them find a suitable match.  Both secretly hoping to make the other jealous at the prospects of setting the other one up with a "perfect match."  As Sean has always loved Nicole, even when they were children, he knows he's the man for her.

Okay.  This is pretty much where I left off.  Honestly, I wanted to love this book.  When I read the book blurb I thought it sounded like a good premise and promising storyline.  I was wrong.  I don't like giving negative reviews because as a writer myself, I don't want to read them about my book that I've poured my heart and soul into.  No author wants a negative review of their "baby." But I just couldn't make it through this book.  I got a little over halfway through and gave up.  I really don't know what it was, but it didn't hold my interest.  The writing and grammar were pretty flawless.  I didn't find any errors that jarred me out of the story.  The story itself was just dry.  I love books where I jump into the story and can't put the book down.  Generally fly through them in a couple days (if I read non-stop, don't cook for my kids or clean the house) you know, pretty much don't do anything else.  LOL  It took me over a month just to get halfway and give up.  That's so disappointing.  Like I said above, it's still on my Kindle and I might try to finish it.  Some other time.

I'm not giving up on Ms. Mellon as a writer.  I will read more of her books.  But "To Be With You," I have to give a 1 star rating.  And this truly breaks my heart.

Read my review on Amazon:  http://www.amazon.com/review/R38OPMZKUN0O14/ref=cm_cr_pr_perm?ie=UTF8&ASIN=B00CKE1TSQ&linkCode=&nodeID=&tag=

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