I bought this book because it was written by Christina Dodd and I have ALWAYS enjoyed her books...historical, comtemporary, romantic suspense, etc. So, I got the book and made the mistake of reading some customer reviews from Amazon.com. What a mistake. Here I has spent six smackeroo's on a book that people were saying wasn't worth what I paid for it. WOW! One reviewer's comments really had me doubt my purchase. Here is what she wrote:
This is not romantic suspense. This is a suspense book, with some romance sprinkled in almost as an afterthought. I bought this book based on the 7 previous glowing reviews, and because several of Christina Dodd's older books (across all her genres) are definitely on my "keeper" shelf. A long-time fan, I've noticed that her books are getting less and less wonderful--her "Darkness Chosen" series had some hits and misses, and I found the first couple of books in her "Chosen Ones" series so disappointing that I took Ms. Dodd off my "buy as soon as it's published" list. I won't give another synopsis of the book, since you can get it from other reviewers and from Ms. Dodd's website. What I WILL say is that, as a romance reader of over 20 years, I've noticed the worrying trend of stories, classified as romances, being focused on things other than the interactions between the hero and heroine. The preferred "romance" plot devices now seem to be breaking a spy ring, catching a killer, stopping a plot against the government, or any combination thereof.
In this book, for instance, it seemed like the primary story was the Di Luca family dynamics, the mystery of a missing wine bottle and the suspense of killers/saboteurs on the loose. The romance between Rafe and Brooke was definitely a secondary plot--I'd be surprised if Brooke and Rafe's relationship covered more than 50 of the 448 pages. That would be okay if I bought this book in the Mystery section of the bookstore, but if I go shopping in the Romance section then romance is what I want to read...for at least 350 of the pages. I also thought it was a bit of a cop-out to just say these two loved each other from before, so that the author didn't have to spend much time writing about these two characters re-discovering each other--come on, that's the best part (along with lusty scenes)!!!. I rarely say this but I really struggled to finish this book, because in the end I was not invested in whether Brooke and Rafe actually ended up together--seems like it wouldn't have made a difference either way, as long as the everyone kept trying to solve the mystery...
See what I mean? But I started reading this book anyway (because I had spent $6.00) and by page 50 I was wondering if the reviewer had experienced a "senior moment"...maybe? Then by page 300, I knew that something had to be wrong; the book I was reading was getting along OK. Good background on the Di Luca family, although some details are a bit vague (but there are two books left to clear things up) and the romance , it was definitely there. I liked knowing why Rafe and Brooke kept messing up with each other. And the reviewer's tangent about govt plot, huh? There was also another reviewer that mentioned something about Rafe flirting with other women while professing love to Brooke....I looked for it.........but I didn't find it.
This is the point: If you love an author and their work, buy the damned book. If it's not as good as some others, OK. Just go back and read your favorite and recapture the magic. Some reviews are going to be brutally honest, some will be of few words, and others with give Paula Abdul-type criticism but take them with a grain of salt. It's all up to you. You might miss out on a book that you love and will cherish. Example, One Day by David Nicholls: one of my fav reviewers said that it wasn't going to end up on her favorite list because it was romantic enough. WTH? I loved the book and thought it to be one of the most romantic novels I've read in a long time.
My opinion about Secrets of Bella Terra: great start to an awesome series. Now I have to go out and buy Revenge at Bella Terra, which released on 9/6/2011. Want to see what happened to Eli when he was kidnapped; why this old Italian guy knows so much about Bella Terra and what is up with this fabled bottle of wine.
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