DNF at about 65%Let me tell you, I almost never DNF a book. As in, maybe once a year or so. But when I absolutely dreaded picking up my ipod to continue listening to this audiobook...uuuh, no. At some point my intense desire to finish had to stop.First of all, *head smack* I downloaded the book from my library without checking the reading order first. Who in their right mind (other than the master, Nora Roberts) writes a continuing series that numbers in the thirties and forties? Unless I'm a die hard fan of the author, there's no way I'm slogging through that many books. I'd have a hard time even if they're a favorite of mine. Point is, I expected that there would be some kind of set up for the series, a little insight into who secondary characters are or some such thing. And nope, nothing. There were previous life savers and rattlesnake bites and friend married to brother and on, and on and on....so MANY things that confused me. A new character (to me) would show up and just insert his/herself into the lives of Winnie and Kilraven and even at my DNF point, I still had no idea who they were or how they were involved with the story. It was a big, messy confusion.My first hint that this book wasn't working for me was the apparent "second sight" that half the town seems to have. Intuition and bad feelings are understandable and add a bit of mysticism to a story. But the uncanny ability of all of these random people was unbelievable. Must be something in the water. Winnie even paints Kilraven a picture of his daughter's favorite bird, complete with specific bead work colors. Wow.The big eye roller for me was the emotional and sexual innocence of the both Winnie and Kilraven. Winnie is a 22 year old virgin, which is sort of feasible; at least I can work with that. But her complete naivete about life and her response to passion reminded me of some medieval, sheltered Lord's daughter. While kissing, Kilraven's woody SCARED her! Poor wittle innocent girl's gonna get eaten by the BIG BAD BONER!! Come on! Kilraven is searching for his daughter's killer. And I must admit that the author writes despair very well. I literally can't imagine anything worse than losing a child, and teared up while listening to his conflicted emotions. He can't seem to move on with his life while the killer is on the loose. Understandable, right? Right.So when I came to the realization that not only is the heroine a virgin, but the hero has only had one lover in his 32 years...there was my second eye roll. Kilraven hasn't had sex with anyone other than his wife, who died seven years ago. So this man spent the majority of his twenties celibate. Right. I just kept envisioning their "coupling" as one big sloppy, clumsy, fumbling mess.When this obviously uber conservative author finally contrives a way for this couple to have sex, I started feeling this book inching it's way toward the Did Not Finish shelf. Kilraven needs to blah, blah, blah...get in good with a Senator's wife but needs Winnie to come along because the wife won't speak to a man. He wants to use Winnie's family beach house (which just happens to neighbor the Senator's?!?! Conveniently placed, hmmmm?), but they HAVE TO GET MARRIED FIRST! Kilraven is just so concerned for Winnie's reputation. Her innocence needs to be preserved and all that. Can't have the gossiping ladies of the ton...errr...the town...talking! What year is this? Oh, yeah...this book was written in 2010. This book, I think, is just written for someone very different than me. Maybe an older generation that is appalled by sinful behavior and thinks the fifties were the bomb. For me, the reason I read fiction is because I can escape to a place without rules and regulations, without actual consequences. So I suppose if you are a reader who likes little to no sensuality with your romance and dig romance in the most innocent sense of the word, you may enjoy this one.
