Tina's Reading Books

So.....this book.

First, i must say I hate the cover.  It highlights what for me were the worst parts of the book.

And then there is the title.  I don't think the assassin, Jaden, laughs even once.  She barely cracks a smile.

Despite the cover and title, the sample was intriguing enough that I ignored them (and that little voice in my head telling me to by-pass).

The book starts off great!  Jaden is a free lance assassin who rids the world of terrible people.  When we first meet her she is saving a young girl from a murdering pedophile.  The scenes of Jaden's covert surveillance of the evil guy's compound, the sense of foreboding by one of his more observant guards, and the act of slipping into his house and killing him are all really well done.  I was very intrigued.

Later we are treated to Jaden's background and how she became so lethal. These scenes strongly reminded me of Kill Bill Vol. II when Uma Thurman was being trained by the martial arts master Pai Mei.  Lots of menial work and harsh conditions with some practical lessons thrown in until she's been broken down only to be built up into this disciplined killing machine.

Pretty soon the hero arrives on the scene.  He is Jonah,  the head of a covert ops team who has tracked down Jaden and wants to conscript her into joining their team.  They want to take out a human sex trafficking ring and think that Jaden's skill set will be invaluable in their operation.

Jonah of course becomes smitten with Jaden. What follows is a delicate dance where he is attempting to seduce her before revealing who he is and why he needs her.  But the seduction is very subtle and sexy. 

So to this point I am madly enjoying this book.  I love the danger, the intrigue and the UST.  There had been no sex.  Just a lot of smoldering between Jaden and Jonah.  And the smoldering was hot enough to really ratchet up the tension and let you enjoy the anticipation.

At exactly 50% of the book, it all goes downhill. 

So there am I am grooving on this book.  Really enjoying it and still lamenting that such a good book was saddled with a horrible title and cover.  And then.... <Record Scratch sound>..

We get our first love scene.  And it is terrible.  Just.....awful.

But that is just the start of my disappointment.  The once really cool book devolves into generic BDSM erotica.  Apparently the sex trafficking operation they plan to take down have these slave auctions and Jaden and Jonah are going in undercover as a Dom and his submissive slave.

But quick...they need to learn how to BDSM!  So they read books for research and take to it  like a couple of ducks to water.   Jonah is a natural Dom.  But Jaden...wow... she is the perfect submissive.  The two of them really get into it and realize they could really love this lifestyle.

And then a whole host of confusing stuff happens (including a sex-on-display show) and it ends on a ...not cliffhanger..but with the definite open end for a sequel.

I finished the book with a 'What the fuck was that?' look on my face.  I shit you not.  The second half of the story felt like it was tacked on from a completely different book.  The writing even felt different.  The first half the writing felt clean and easy.  The second half..staring with that execrable love scene...the words felt like...word salad.  Suddenly there were longer multi-syllabic words where smaller ones would do.  Or usage issues where I don't think the meaning of the word or context was quite right.

I was so mad at this book in the end.  If it had stayed the course and finished the way it began i would have been very happy.  But it simply fell spectacularly apart for me.