Christianna Thomas only wanted a break from her boring life…
But when she wakes up in a strange hotel room with absolutely no memories of what transpired, she has no other choice but to return to her writing career, plagued by dreams of an enigmatic, silver-eyed man.
Nicholas Prescotti is haunted by flashes of a breathtaking beauty he can’t believe is real…
He tries to force her from his mind and focus on his obligations to his powerful family, but when he crosses paths with his mystery woman again, he is driven to uncover the truth about that night.
They find something they never anticipated…and much more than they bargained for.
As a result of their first forgotten meeting and Nico’s determination to seize the reins of his own life, family ties are severed and allies become rivals. When trust is betrayed and events are set in motion, Nico and Christianna find themselves in grave danger just when they should be happiest.
When confronted with secrets and deadly agendas threatening the lives of those she loves most, will Christianna leave Nico?
Or will she discover she can’t walk away…
But when she wakes up in a strange hotel room with absolutely no memories of what transpired, she has no other choice but to return to her writing career, plagued by dreams of an enigmatic, silver-eyed man.
Nicholas Prescotti is haunted by flashes of a breathtaking beauty he can’t believe is real…
He tries to force her from his mind and focus on his obligations to his powerful family, but when he crosses paths with his mystery woman again, he is driven to uncover the truth about that night.
They find something they never anticipated…and much more than they bargained for.
As a result of their first forgotten meeting and Nico’s determination to seize the reins of his own life, family ties are severed and allies become rivals. When trust is betrayed and events are set in motion, Nico and Christianna find themselves in grave danger just when they should be happiest.
When confronted with secrets and deadly agendas threatening the lives of those she loves most, will Christianna leave Nico?
Or will she discover she can’t walk away…
I haven't had the opportunity to read anything by Ashlee Taylor before and I probably won't after finishing Can't Walk Away. Unfortunately, I just had too many issues with the book to pursue this author again. Dammit. I just hate it when this happens. I want to love everything that I get my hands on but that just doesn't always happen.
I think that the first thing that really bothered me was the switching of the POV. Just alternating between characters doesn't bother me. I frequently enjoy reading both sides of a story. But only when the switches are seamless and it doesn't get in the way of the story-line. This time it did. In a massive way. At least for me. So what the author has done is when she switches between Christianna and Nico, sometimes there is a bit of a rewind and you're rereading what has already happened but from the other point of view. Again, the rewinding isn't really an issue, I enjoy that. But it didn't happen every single time and it became confusing because you didn't know if you were reading about some new situation or reliving one that has already happened. Basically, it was unnecessarily muddy. As if that wasn't enough, it didn't switch POV with each chapter, it was multiple times within a chapter and it is a bit difficult to turn off one person's inner dialogue and then switch to the next so frequently. I've read so many books with alternating POV that I was surprised when this one just irritated me. I think that it just goes back to not being seamless.
The story itself was pretty interesting. You've got this mob dude and an unsuspecting lady ... the story should have been just amazing. I think that the bones of the novel were great but the way that it was put together just didn't really flow and make sense to me. Maybe it was because things were dragged out when I don't think that they needed to be or maybe it was because of the POV issue or maybe it was because the entire novel read very unrealistically.
The story didn't feel authentic. I mean, how many of us readers know how the inner workings of a mob works? Probably a very small percentage but even not being super familiar with a concept shouldn't make the book feel like an impostor but that is exactly how it felt. I don't want to give away any massive details but there is this one situation where someone is being held at gunpoint and then they calmly ask to give a child a bath and then that's okay with the guys holding the guns? Give me a break. I just don't see that as something that would actually happen. There were tons of situations like that were I was just left thinking what was going on was ridiculous.
At times, the dialogue was reading almost ... juvenile. That's not what I want to encounter when I'm reading a romantic suspense novel. These are adults. They shouldn't sound like children. And holy shit balls. The sex dialogue. O. M. G. Do people really say some of this shit to each other?!? I would hope not. Because instead of reading as this sexy thing, it was a massive turn off. Telling someone something about lapping up everything they give you. Gross. Maybe I'm a prude or something, I don't know. I've never had an issue reading raunchy stuff ... is it my cup of tea? Well, no. But people pick up books to escape their normal lives and live vicariously through someone else, even if it is a fictional character. But this was just too damn much. Again, it didn't read as authentic or realistic or anything close to being something that would happen in real life. Maybe if this book was listed in the genre of erotic suspense ... maybe it would work. But in no way were the sexual encounters in this book romantic. Juvenile, sure.
This one just wasn't for me. It's just too bad. But it has received a bunch of high ratings, so there are a lot of people who have enjoyed it. You should just pick it up and see what you think. I'd be interested to see if others feel the same way that I do.
* I received this novel in exchange for an honest review *
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