In Which I Review Explosive by Beth Kery

The first thing I said when I finally put this book down was “Hmmmmm.” And honestly, now, almost twenty-four hours after finishing, I’m still not quite sure what I think of it. I certainly think that the review that initially prompted me to read it (posted on DearAuthor.com) is fair. But I have a little more I would like to add.

I’m going to have to break this down, because it’s the only way I’m going to be able to fully articulate my feelings.

THINGS I LIKED ABOUT THIS BOOK:
I really, really like the heroine. The amount of trouble I have had recently, trying to find a heroine who is neither ridiculously dumb or fantastically annoying, Dr. Sophie Gable was a lovely change of pace. She was capable, smart, and reasonably resourceful. While she was definitely the submissive partner in her sexual exploits with Thomas Nicasio, she was in no way overpowered in other aspects of their interaction. There were plenty of moments where she could have gone all TSTL, but she resisted, and I really appreciate that.

I liked the plot. I liked that Thomas and Sophie had been exchanging covert glances and flirty exchanges for quite some time before he showed up on the dock of her lakeside vacation home with no memory of the preceding twenty-four hours.

I like that this memory lapse at once complicates their initial romantic encounters and is resolved reasonably and without heavy-handed, unlikely explanation.

THINGS I DISLIKED ABOUT THIS BOOK:
The advancement of the plot. The fact that Thomas’ adoptive father was under investigation for being the mafia ringleader in Chicago, Thomas’ actions and reactions to the events unfolding around him, and the reasons he shows up at Sophie’s to begin with are all very, very interesting and make for a compelling story.

My problem arises from the fact that the middle quarters of the book are painfully repetitive. Thomas wants Sophie. Sophie wants Thomas. Thomas and Sophie have kinky sex, after which Thomas starts to question the reasons he’s there, and he leaves on a walk (car ride, run, etc.) Thomas comes back. Thomas wants Sophie. Lather, rinse, repeat.

Jane at Dear Author compliments the author on the lack of repetitiveness in the sex scenes, and I have to say that I agree. There is a lot of sex, and none of it feels warmed over or boring (in fact, if nothing else, the sex is the exact opposite of boring). But at a certain point the sex starts to seriously impede the story, or at least gets in the way of what could have been a really excellent romantic suspense novel.

Also, I didn’t really like Thomas. He’s all head-trauma’d and tormented-with-good-reason, and so I totally understand and accept that he was kind of a douchebag. The lack of easement into or out of the story, though, meant that I didn’t really get to know him as a real-life person, which makes their abrupt HEA even abrupter.

Overall this was a good book, worth reading, but not worth keeping on The Shelf. I think I would have liked it better as a novella, but that is neither here nor there. Will certainly keep an eye out for Beth Kery in the future.