The Romanceaholic

Expected Release Date: July 13, 2010
Publisher: Omnilit Publishing
Imprint: N/A
Author’s Website: http://jenniferlanebooks.com
My Source for This Book: Gift from the publisher
Part of a Series: Yes, Book 1, CONduct Series
Series Best Read In Order: N/A
Steam Level: Steamy

Official Blurb:

In a world gripped by organized crime, family dysfunction, and dim hopes of redemption, can true love persevere? For Sophie Taylor, a beautiful psychologist who lost everything when she violated an ethical boundary, and Grant Madsen, a handsome naval officer who sacrificed everything to protect a loved one, finding that love may carry an unbearable cost.

Starting their lives over in Chicago, both are fighting influences from their family and running as fast as they can to escape the past. When their paths cross outside the parole officer’s door, the attraction is instantaneous. But a hidden connection may not only shatter their fledgling love, but prove deadly to them both.

What Worked For Me:

• I’ve only ever read one book that I can recall off the top of my head that had an ex-con heroine trying to readjust to life on the “outside”, and that was a historical novel, so the simple fact that the premise was so unusual and new was enough to suck me in.
• Most people probably don’t realize this, but I actually have a B.S. in Psychology (for the record, that’s Bachelor of Science, not the other type of BS you might expect from me), so it was a lot of fun to not only immerse myself in Sophie’s therapy sessions, but also to witness the slippery slope she fell down before her conviction. I was also far more amused than I had a right to be when she started throwing out big fancy psychology terms to win an argument with her father.
• I loved the hard-as-nails parole officer, Jerry, softening towards both Sophie and Grant. He reminded me so much of a stern parent who knows he has to lay down the law to keep his charges on the straight and narrow, but also has the compassion and wisdom to let things slide when necessary.
• I was so glad that Sophie wasn’t some innocent perfect little paragon who’d been falsely accused. Granted, she was truly only guilty of an ethical violation, but I still found it refreshing that Ms. Lane didn’t try to paint her as a poor little innocent. She messed up, and she paid the price — a steeper price than most in her position might have paid, surely, but even so, she had to get up, dust herself off, and move on, or else she’d quickly find herself back behind the bars of the women’s prison.
• I was thankful that the instant connection between Sophie and Grant wasn’t just overwhelming lust.  Sure, they were attracted to each other, and even flirted pretty heavily a short time after having met, but they didn’t actually consummate their relationship until later in the book, and it helped their connection feel like so much more than just a physical one.
• For the most part, I really enjoyed the flashbacks. They helped not only to give insight to the very important histories of all of the characters, but also kept the story from being bogged down from too much dialogue in order to explain all of the backstory.
• I just devoured the angst of Grant’s “real” identity vs. Sophie’s history.  As a reader, we were privy to both Sophie’s and Grant’s histories and were able to greatly anticipate the moment when it all hit the proverbial fan, and when it does, oh man the angst and emotional devastation was just plain delicious.
• I really enjoyed how there weren’t really any “flat” characters in the book. From Uncle Joe, to Jerry, to Roger, all the way down to Ben and even Angelo, all of the side characters had distinctive personalities and character motivations, which added an entirely new level of depth and realism to the story.
• I also loved watching Sophie struggle with the realization that her “fall from grace” would continue even after she was out of prison.  Having trouble finding a job because of her felony conviction, she also quickly found that she was “overqualified” for many menial jobs.

What Didn’t Work For Me:

• I freely admit that the extent of my legal knowledge comes from watching far too many late night episodes of Law & Order and Criminal Minds and the like, but I found it hard to believe that a parole officer would encourage, or even tolerate two parolees moving in together.  Granted, there are halfway houses that do the same thing, but it just felt fishy to me, despite the fact that there may truly be nothing wrong with it from a legal standpoint.
• Grant cried. A lot.  Now, I understand he was more of a “beta-hero” than many popular male protagonists, and frankly he’d had an absolutely horrid childhood and went through a lot of crap in his life so it was certainly understandable to a certain extent, but there came a point when there was just a wee bit too much weeping going on for my tastes.
• The shifting POV’s, while adding a lot of varied perspectives to the story, were a bit disorienting at times. We get in the heads of not only Sophie and Grant, but family members, employers, parole officers, detectives, a therapist and even mafia dons, and sometimes it pulled me out of the action a bit when the shifts occurred.
• I also think there might have been just a few too many flashbacks. In general, I really liked the flashbacks, but there were a few occasions where they were a bit jarring and messed up the pacing for me.
• I didn’t care for the fact that every single “villain” in the story was sympathetic.  Sometimes you just want the bad guy to be a truly rotten apple, and not excuse him for his dirty deeds just because his Daddy didn’t love him enough as a kid.  While on one hand it adds depth and dimension to the characters, on the other, sometimes you just want to simply rejoice in the death or takedown of a bad guy and not kind of feel bad for him despite the fact he’s a truly a horrible person.
• A minor point, but the book was pretty high in wordcount. While I don’t have actual numbers on hand, I know that just from looking at the file in my Kindle, it was much longer than I’d expected at first.  I do think a bit of judicious editing could’ve pared it down a bit and made things flow a little better while trimming the wordcount to a more popular length.  As I said this was a minor point, but I felt it worth mentioning simply because the original length was a bit daunting when I first started the book.

Overall, despite its flaws, this book was highly entertaining. With romance, family drama, the struggle to reintegrate with society after spenigng time behind bars, and having to face tough personal issues in order to grow as a person, I found that I couldn’t put it down.

It’s unusual to have both the hero and heroine of a romance novel be ex-convicts, but Ms. Lane pulled it off beautifully. She illustrated not only the struggles that those with felony convictions face when reentering the “real world”, but also took two very broken people and allowed them an enormous amount of personal growth over the course of the novel.

Her ability to make the reader care for even the minor characters is what kept me turning the pages, despite the daunting word count, and I was practically cheering for Sophie and Grant by the time the closing chapter rolled around.

While certainly not without its issues, I am definitely looking forward to Bad Behavior, which continues the story of Sophie and Grant, and I would definitely recommend this book to fans of tortured heroes and heroines, of intense character building, and of fresh takes on contemporary romance novels.

A solid 4/5 Stars, and I’m looking forward to reading more about Grant and Sophie, as well as the rest of the characters I’ve grown to love.

About The Author…

After surviving the rigors of writing a psychology dissertation, the author known as Jennifer Lane has happily turned to writing fiction. She still maintains her psychology practice in Ohio, but please rest assured that she’s not psychoanalyzing you right now. The tales of healing and resilience from her career have inspired her to write her own stories: The Conduct Series. With Good Behavior began with two cons trying to make it on the outside: running from the Mafia, joking about sexy vegetables, and just maybe falling in love. Bad Behavior, the next in line, reveals that it’s not so easy to escape the past, but the plucky parolees once again strive to persevere. Jen is currently at work on the third and final installment of the series: On Best Behavior. She’s found that whether writing or reading, she loves stories that make her laugh and cry. In her spare time Jen enjoys competitive swimming, attending book club, and hanging out with her sisters and their families in Chicago.

Stalk The Author:

Website: http://jenniferlanebooks.com
Twitter: JenLanebooks
Facebook: Jennifer Lane, The Conduct Series
Goodreads: Jennifer Lane
Blog: http://jenniferlanebooks.blogspot.com

Does this series sound like something you’d enjoy? Enter to win your choice of an ebook copy of either With Good Behavior, or the sequel, Bad Behavior. JUST LEAVE A MEANINGFUL COMMENT ON THIS POST WITH A VALID EMAIL ADDRESS TO ENTER.

You do NOT need to be a blog follower to win, but as always, it is appreciated. As Google will soon stop supporting Google Friend Connect, I suggest Twitter, RSS, or Networked Blogs as the best way to keep up with the latest news from The Romanceaholic. Again, however, following is not required, nor does it increase your chances of winning. A huge Thank You goes out to Omnific Publishing, Jennifer Lane, and A Tale Of Many Reviews for sponsoring this giveaway.

Don’t forget to check out the rest of the hop — comment on every post, and you’ll be entered to win in the Grand Prize giveaway of a $25 Barnes & Noble Gift Card OR $25 Amazon Gift Card OR a print copy of With Good Behavior or Bad Behavior (winner’s choice)

 (Please note, due to the nature of this giveaway, it may take up to two weeks to contact all of the winners and distribute the prizes)

Powered by Linky Tools

Click here to view The Conduct Series Tour Schedule…

You may also enjoy: