Sunday, October 14, 2007
A Man for Amanda
*** A Man for Amanda by Nora Roberts. Contemporary romance. Re-read.
This is the second book in the Calhoun sisters series. It was originally published as a Silhouette Desire, but I have the 2-in-1 reissue that came out 7 years later.
It's funny--the first time I read these, CC (from Courting Catherine) and Amanda were my favorites of the sisters. This time, their stories are my least favorite.
Amanda's the practical one of the sisters, and the brunette. Have I already complained that this series has four sisters, all tall and skinny, but one each with (in order) black, brown, red, and blonde hair? It drives me up the wall. I suppose, being raised by Aunt Coco, who changes her hair color frequently, they might all color their hair, but since they were children? How likely is that? *deep breath*
Anyway. Amanda's an assistant manager of a hotel, and will be managing the Towers once it's renovated. She literally runs into Sloan O'Riley (herself, not with a car) and gives him a piece of her mind. Then she finds out he's a friend of Trent's (hero from Courting Catherine), an architect who's there to work on the renovations.
But Amanda is a strong, independent woman, so she doesn't apologize--instead, she's even ruder--something she keeps up until she admits she's madly in love with him.
That doesn't bother Sloan, because he's of the old school of romance heroes who think it's cute when women are angry, and he delights in taunting Amanda every chance he gets. Topping off his charming character, he loathes Suzanna and doesn't bother to hide it...because Suzanna's ex-husband had an affair with his sister and abandoned her. But he doesn't mind living in her house, working for her, and sleeping with her sister.
I just flat out didn't like these two--they're rude and unpleasant to each other for no good reason, and then it's suddenly True Love™.
I did enjoy the ongoing story, the search for the necklace, and the unfolding of clues; and the other family members and their relationships were still interesting to read about.
But as in the previous book, I didn't like the flashback's to Bianca's story. It was even worse in this one, because they start searching through old documents, and much of her story gets repeated in the present.
I also hate the scenes from our villain's point of view--it adds his motivation and actions that happen out of view of the main characters, but it takes away the suspense, and removes the reader one more step from the story. That is, we're deprived of feeling the suspense along with the main characters, because we know who the villain is, what he wants, and what he's doing. So we're less immersed in the story than we could be (or I am, at any rate).
Still, if you're going to read this series, you really can't leave this one out.
...more
Categories: Books, 3stars, ContemporaryRomance
Labels: 3 stars, books, ContemporaryRomance
