Re: Irresistible
Dear Ms. Havlir,
I’ll keep this short and sour.
The title for your new release at EC has been mislabeled. I’d rename it: Predictable. I knew the plot before the end of the first chapter, and I have to admit, I continued reading it because I wanted to see how steamy the sex scenes could get. My verdict: they were pretty steamy! However, I found your dialogue trite, your characters one dimensional and your plot uninventive. I know you can do better.
Here is the general plot as I interpreted it:
Synopsis: Boy and girl meet, instant attraction, quick marriage, quicker divorce spurred by girl catching boy in a passionate embrace with another woman, long separation, snowstorm brings boy and girl back together again, boy and girl live happily ever after.
Conflict: Girl has bitter mother who has brainwashed her into believing that all men are lying cheaters and girl’s marriage is doomed because boy will cheat on her.
Boy’s response to conflict: Get mad at girl for not believing him, vow never to see girl again because if “she loves him she’d believe him”, make pithy and immature remarks to girl about her naivete and mistrust of him and thereby consent to a divorce.
How boy and girl overcome conflict: Boy fucks girl’s brains out while they are secluded in a cabin during a snowstorm. Girl then realizes that she made a rash decision in divorcing boy, and they live HEA.
It’s clear what makes this story erotic. Your sex scenes are good, and your characters’ chemistry is palpable. In fact, their quirky sex fetishes make them more interesting in bed than out of. However, I’m still looking for the romantic part of this story.
I was confused at how a newlywed couple, so passionately in love and lust that they rushed into a passionate marriage, wouldn’t sit down and begin to talk about a very tricky situation. They both ran, and a snow storm brought them back together again? I understand that many stories are fantasies, but this one seemed more like a contemporary novel to me. In contemporaries I expect some reality-like scenarios.
For instance, I had hoped that your hero would actually fight for the heroine instead of implying that she’s a ditsy bitch who can’t see beyond her childish insecurities. I have to admit that I agreed with him 100%, the quick way that Maddie was able to cut Gavin to the side was annoying and made it harder to sympathize with her, but I’m not the one who loved her and couldn’t imagine my life without her, Gavin is. And as her loving husband, it wouldn’t have killed him to show a little bit of romance before giving up. In fact, I wrote him off as a prick after he punished her by eating her out and stopping before she climaxed. For shame!
I haven’t given up on your titles, Ms. Havlir because I actually like your style of writing sex scenes. I’m just saying that I like a little romance with my erotic.
Regards, Solaine
May 9th, 2006 at 5:02 am
Hi Solaine, thanks for visiting my blog. I agree that Irresistible was predictable, but there aren’t that many romances that aren’t to be honest.
I liked Havlir’s voice, and I thought that her characters behaved how most people would under the circumstances.
I’m stubborn enough to behave exactly the same way as Gavin did, I’d say screw you to Maddie too for being so mistrusting, and if I was Maddie, I’d have taken the hammer to both of them first, then asked questions later.
It’s a shame you didn’t enjoy Irresistible, but that’s the great thing about books, one gal’s Harper Lee, can be somebody else’s Jackie Collins.. erm, you know what I’m trying to say right?
May 9th, 2006 at 7:48 am
Hi Karen,
Thanks for stopping by. I totally understand and that is a great analogy, haha.
May 10th, 2006 at 4:03 pm
Hello Solaine,
I’m sorry you didn’t enjoy Irresistible and thought it should’ve been called Predictable. *g* I’ve been a lifelong reader of romance, and I’ve rarely, if ever, read a book whose plot I hadn’t known before I finished it. As for trite dialogue, well, I respectfully differ…but then that’s the great thing about the world we live in. We all have the right to our own opinion. *g*
That said, thank you for your review. I invite you to read my other books in the hope that you’ll come across one you’ll like. There are authors who just don’t appeal to everyone. Maybe I’m one of those. *g* Take care.
May 22nd, 2006 at 8:46 am
Hi, Ms. Havlir. Thank you for reading my review! I’ve actually liked your previous titles, especially Taming Alex. Sometimes a story just doesn’t rub you the right way, even if you enjoy the author’s work or style.
Thank you for visiting, i appreciate it!