Saturday, January 10, 2015

A FRUITFUL INTIMACY by Donna Gallagher



Publisher: Totally Bound
Date published: 12th December 2014
ISBN: 9781784303532
Contemporary
E-book
Reviewed by Helen
Weblink: https://www.totallybound.com/a-fruitful-intimacy
Obtained via publisher.
Rating: 3



Ben has spent weeks planning a very special holiday for Beth. They’ve been married ten years, have three rambunctious boys and their lives have grown apart. Will the holiday bring them together again?


As you have just read I wrote the blurb for this book—the key opening points and the hook—in three sentences. The publisher and/or author took over three hundred words to do the same thing, giving (in my opinion) away too much detail and facts about the story. The blurb is supposed to be a hook, not a synopsis of the book.
Ben is a sweetie, a wonderful hero who loves his heroine and (mostly) understands her, although they seriously need to work together on teaching their kids some civilized behavior. (Yes I have reared boys. And girls. They all turned out okay.)
Beth’s worries, anxieties and pressures are also understandable. Her fears are normal and so is her reaction to the situation. I didn’t like her very much but I do understand her and where she’s coming from.

One of the reasons why the blurb spoiled the book for me, was because the first thirty-five pages (of fifty total) tell that story. There are a couple of sexy flashbacks and some family drama. Yet it had lost its punch because the blurb had basically told the reader what to expect.

I also wonder how much many non-Australian readers will appreciate the, at times, very ocker language in parts of the book. Even to me, an Australian, it grated, especially when interspersed with American bad grammar.
Sadly, even sweet Ben couldn’t redeem the book completely for me.



This is an objective review and not an endorsement of this book.



 

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