Visions of Her by Cachline Etienne
How do you choose between a dream job and a dream romance?
Sarah Noir wasn’t looking for love, but when she meets prideful artist James Martins at a bar after fruitless months of job-hunting, sparks fly.
Soon, the lovers are thrown into a whirlwind romance that neither is prepared for. What happens when a job offer crosses the threshold of their affair? Do they fight for their relationship? Do they compromise? Torn, Sarah and James are forced to make one of the hardest decisions of their lives.
Elkin Hardcoves’ Review: 4.8-Stars
When it comes to romance, I am incredibly picky. I’m a guy after all, and not, according to some genre editors and writers, the intended audience of typical romance. Fine: I get that, so when I come across one I do like, we can possibly add ‘romance a guy could like’ to the work.
Ladies, you are free to smile and nod at this, and to be frank, I hope you do, since I’ve loaded this up with lots of tongue and cheek humor. But wait, you might be thinking, there’s no alien invasion; no government conspiracy; no mystery. In fact, it’s contemporary. I know, the whole thing is completely believable; kind of refreshing.
The male lead isn’t even a jerk. It’s this believability that really helps to carry the novel, which leads me to my only complaint. The reason why this review doesn’t have five stars. Are you ready? Frankly, it wasn’t long enough. A bit longer and I could have connected more with the characters. A bit longer and their problems would have meant more. A bit longer and my curiosity about the pair would have been that more sated. For this reason, I give the work 4.8 out of five.
Diane Andersen’s Review: 4.7-Stars
When Sarah Noir meets a proud struggling artist at a bar one night, it’s a recipe for a lighthearted and engaging romance novel. That is pretty much what the reader will find in this recently published novel by C. Etienne. Ultimately, the characters are forced to choose between a dream job and a dream romance.
While that wouldn’t be such an issue in the real world, this is a romance novel where the point of a happily ever after is to side with the romance, if not find ultimately both by the end of a few hundred pages or so. This novel does not disappoint on that score, although the writing comes across like a teenager’s first attempt at fiction writing.
There is some slang that set me back (i.e. “dope” as in something good looking or fashionable; kids are still using that phrase these days?) Perhaps that was the point, as the heroine, Sarah, obsesses about her looks, fashion and interior design right on the first page, and stares into a mirror in order to show the reader what she looks like. This novel fits perfectly into that genre still floating out there dubbed New Adult. And it does include some twists and turns before wrapping into a satisfying conclusion.
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