Publisher:
CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform
Date published: June 1, 2012
ISBN:
978-1477481486
Contemporary Romance
E-Book
Reviewed by Lynne
Obtained via author.
Thirty-something Helen Hayes, a seemingly
uptight Manhattan literary agent, shares an apartment with Marleen Walker and
has a boyfriend, Mark, she rarely sees since he travels a lot. When Marleen intends going away for awhile,
they decide to place an ad on Craigslist for a temporary roommate.
When Tiziano Conti from Florence, Italy
appears at their door, Marleen is quick to offer him the sublet, despite
Helen’s reservations. Helen has never
lived with a man and, due to her extremes regarding organization, scheduling,
and rule making, finds him totally unacceptable. Especially since her boyfriend may not like
the idea of her living with a complete stranger. And a sexy one at that.
Right away, Helen remains difficult,
imposing a rigid set of rules on her new roommate, fully expecting him to
comply with her way of doing things.
Fortunately, he maintains a resolute attitude about the whole thing.
After the first week, Helen decides to
establish some sort of rapport with Tiziano who, by all appearances, is
confident, charismatic, and very good looking.
Inviting him to join her and a friend for pizza one night soon opens the
door.
As time goes on, Helen learns more about
Tiziano than she had expected and soon finds herself growing enamored with
him. Time spent talking reveals how
intelligent and well-read the man is, and this impresses her since she is an
educated book worm herself.
When her infatuation with Tiziano grows
steamy, she soon begins questioning her relationship with her long-distance
boyfriend. Confused over her feelings
and behavior, she suddenly bolts to spend time with Mark, to sort everything
out.
Time away clears her mind, and she seeks out
her friend, Emily, to help deconstruct her infatuation with Tiziano. But when she decides what to do about her
relationship with him, she hurries home to tell him, only to find him gone from
her life.
DECONSTRUCTING INFATUATION by Mercè Cardús is
a sophisticated story that delves into the affairs of the heart, in a
fascinating, unique way.
Although I liked this romance, it is a bit
difficult to review. Ms. Cardús has a
knack for writing, yet I feel DECONSTRUCTING INFATUATION should have
been lengthened to include more details about some of the characters. I felt frustrated at the end of the story
because some of my questions were never answered. I wanted so much to learn more about Tiziano
but, other than the fact that he is kind, a good cook, and extremely well read,
there isn’t much else. Perhaps some
scenes from Tiziano’s point of view would help the reader to connect more with
him. As it stands, he seems to be only
someone standing in the background who steps into the picture when it is his
cue to do so. I did like him, however,
as a main character. I just feel that
something is lacking in order for him to be more real to me. Perhaps some aspect of how he spends his days
while Helen is at work or elsewhere and of how he feels about Helen’s treatment
of him and their living arrangements.
Helen, the main female in DECONSTRUCTING
INFATUATION, although educated and a bit uptight, perhaps because of
job-related stress, seems to jump too readily into bed with Tiziano, in my
opinion. I do understand why this
happens and why it is necessary for this story to play out, but considering how
rigid Helen is initially, it just seems odd that she would suddenly break all
the rules and do what she does. She
seems to barely consider her behavior as an act of unfaithfulness to Mark.
Regardless of the literary connection she
has with Tiziano, it still isn’t clear how Helen really feels. I feel that if her heart palpitated more or
her palms grew sweaty whenever she is around this Italian hunk, perhaps it
would give the reader more understanding of why she is so infatuated with
him. And of why she is willing to jump
ship in order to be with him later.
All of the characters in DECONSTRUCTING
INFATUATION are likeable. But I
believe deeper development and more descriptions of them would enhance the
story even more.
Ms. Cardús has some great dialogues in this
story, and I especially enjoyed reading the discussions on Italian cuisines and
on Dante’s Divine Comedy. Such an
original addition to this story.
I love the overall concept of DECONSTRUCTING
INFATUATION. The title is perfect,
in my opinion, and the story plays out well.
I just feel that with more editing, this story would become even better
than it is. It needs to be more
believable. Readers need to feel what
Helen is feeling for Tiziano at the moment things begin to really change
between them,
DECONSTRUCTING INFATUATION is fast-paced and
written with a skilled hand. Overall,
it is a great love story, and I would recommend it to anyone interested. A highly original plot causes the reader to think
more deeply about relationships, especially when deciding between infatuation
and true love. It is well worth a read.
This is an objective review and not an
endorsement of this book.
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