Monday, December 18, 2017

ARC Review: A Deep Dark Call by Rose Vane

Pub. Date:Dec. 4, 2017
Publisher:Carina Press
Length:133 pages
Source:NetGalley

I'm not quite sure what to say about this one. This is my first read from this author, so I can't compare A Deep Dark Call to her other works. But this one didn't work for me for several reasons.

I did like the setting of Wallachia/Romania, as that is still somewhat unique when it comes to the staging for romance and paranormal stories. And given the release date, I was happy that this was set around Christmastime with lots of snow. But that is about where it ended for me.

Lucy traveled alone from England to Wallachia to act as a governess for Ioan Marcu's young daughter, Alexandra. It's clear that she is leaving England in disgrace and is determined to make this new employment work, but she wasn't expecting to fall in instant lust with her dark and mysterious employer. Ioan suffered from the same problem on his first whiff of Lucy. There is a quite a bit of earthy lusty thoughts happening, and things move very quickly from there. Unfortunately, despite the instant lust, Ioan and Lucy never seemed to like each other. Even when they were together, there was a coldness to their interaction that I did not like.

In addition to the hot and cold relationship, things moved too fast. I know this is a novella, but I felt like it was all tell and no show. I wanted more character development, more details, and more emotional involvement. Much of the dialogue was strange and confusing and I was left scratching my head as to the author's meaning. The prose was too earthy to be purple, but it was no less unappealing. The plot conflicts were also weak and too easily resolved. The whole story just left me feeling cranky and unsatisfied.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book from the publisher, Carina Press.

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