The Sheikh Surgeon's Proposal, response the first

[coraa]

I confess: when rachelmanija first lent me the book, I was a little afraid that it wouldn't be bad enough to be enjoyable. But then I opened it, and on the first page—the first page, mind you!—I got this gem of internal monologue from Our Heroine:

Not even the breathtaking sights of man-engineered beauty of parades of lush palms, immaculate lawns and explosions of flowers and the nature-endowed magic of azure skies and golden sand-seas meeting at the horizon could ameliorate her irritation at having to succumb to this abuse of power.

And I thought, first, 'well, that clears up that!' and then 'Rachelllll what have you given me!'

After that, the driver of her car got run off the road by a sheik's entourage, she hauled the unconscious and hemorrhaging driver out of the driver's seat so she could drive 100+ miles an hour to catch up to the entourage so they could... help her get him to a hospital? Or maybe just so she could yell at them, I dunno. And then the entourage turns out to contain Our Hero (of course), who turns out to have basically an entire ER in the back of his limo (of course) so they can be all doctor-y together (with very specific terminology, although I have no idea if it's accurate at all).

Oh! And! They have incredible mutual passion for one another! Like this:

Eyes, the color of gold and the translucency of pure honey.

The captured hers, forbade her to see or sense anything else, even the person they belonged to. It was only when they finally released her in a sweep of thick black lashes to pour confusion over her that she was freed to take in everything about this man in one unmanageable gulp.

In her haste, she got glimpses of hair the deep glow of a raven's wing and the relaxed waves of a tranquil sea, skin of polished bronze, slashes and pains and hollows that were all assembled in a composition of -- of... wow.

If she'd ever had any concept of beauty, it had been before she'd seen this -- this... man?

Was he a man? Or a being right out of fable?

And this:

What was happening to her? She'd never reacted to a man, to anything, like that. The runaway reaction, suffocating in intensity, transporting in headiness.

And, from his POV, this:

He'd never known such attraction, so much so that at first he wondered if his exhausted mindhad been playing tricks on him. But not anymore. Not after the incredible experience of tending her injured driver with her, and everything that has come before and after it. Every word lashing him, every glance penetrating him, every breath singeing him. It was real. More than real.

The narrative has to remind me approximately every third paragraph that she thinks he's hot, and he thinks she's hot, because otherwise I MIGHT FORGET.

And despite all this, I'm still reading. Why? Well, given that they have unstoppable, undeniable, mutual OMGPASSION, of the kind that goes past hyperbole and on into the stratosphere, I am desperately curious what will drive them apart! Right now all there is is vague pride on her side and... uh, nothing on his side. Honestly, I am reading to find out why they don't just fall into bed in Chapter 3 and stay there through the end! Because there's got to be something to flesh this out to 187 pages, and I'm assuming it's not 153 pages of sex.

EDIT: I should probably also note for the record that I really like romance in books, both as subplots and in actual romance novels. Just... ones with a little bit more subtlety. ;)

Comments

[mswyrr]

ROTFL

Oh, Romance! Why can I quit you?

((head desk))

[coraa.livejournal.com]

The thing is, I actually do like romance! Just... not this one. ;)

[asakiyume.livejournal.com]

Laughing and laughing. just came in from a walk and read the description of his eyes and thought, mmm, I'm hungry!! Which is probably not the desired effect.

There's something about compound-word adjectives ("man-engineered" and "nature-endowed") that drives me nuts, though (not in the good way):

[coraa.livejournal.com]

Yeah, the compound adjectives are really something. I think the other thing that gets me is the way the sentences sort of go on... and on... until they run out of steam.

[meganbmoore.livejournal.com]

I'd say something about Rachel giving you bad romance novels (she sent me 2 a while back, but I haven't read them yet, so I'm not sure if they're good or bad-I SHOULD FIND OUT SOON!) but I can't, as I sent her the Abducted Nun book a while ago.

[coraa.livejournal.com]

OMG the abducted nun book!

[meganbmoore.livejournal.com]

It's the kind of book you never forget.

Though not in the good way.

[squirrel-monkey.livejournal.com]

It's stuff like this that makes me afraid to write romantic subplots.

[coraa.livejournal.com]

The funny thing is that I actually really like romance! Romantic subplots, but also some kinds of actual romance novels. Just... ones with a smidgeon more subtlety. :D

[ceph.livejournal.com]

the deep glow of a raven's wing and the relaxed waves of a tranquil sea, skin of polished bronze, slashes and plains and hollows that were all assembled in a composition of -- of... wow.

A composition of wow? Nice consistent tone there, Ms. Narrator.

it had been before she'd seen this -- this... man?

Now I am interested to know how many times the "a -- a... b" construction shows up at the ends of sentences in this book.

[rachelmanija.livejournal.com]

Ha ha ha! A composition of wow!

[artemis-lizzie.livejournal.com]

You can't hear me shrieking with laughter from there, but I totally am. :)

[buymeaclue.livejournal.com]

Wow, I...do not think some of those words mean what she thinks that they mean!

Also, if I were the driver, I would be pissed about the drooling when I was, y'know, dying!

[rowr.livejournal.com]

can you bring this book with you next week? :D