W. I. P. (Work In Progress) by Ashantay Keys.
Cost* – $3.99
Book Blurb:
“Vanity Keys takes pride in her job as an editor. As hard as she works, she plays even harder. But one drunken night of pole dancing, lands her lips on a sexy random man.
Mystic Preston is a bestselling author. His writing covers a multitude of genres including his secret identity as an erotica writer. However, a chance meeting with a clumsy kisser causes him to slow down and show her his technique, all the while falling under her spell.
Will Mystic and Vanity be each other’s greatest works in progress? Or will they fan out the flames and focus on their careers?”
Pros:
This book was a quick and easy read. There were no passages I had to reread over and over again to try and grasp their meaning. Quite honestly I finished this book in only a few hours, and it was not an unhappy experience. If you are looking for a quick easy romance book to read, here it is. If more time had been devoted to the characters and really fleshing out their characteristics, they would have been very charismatic strong characters.
Cons:
Even though this book was quick and easy to read, I doubt I would ever pick it up and reread it. Honestly, if I could get the $3.99 refunded I most likely would. Imagine my surprise when I looked up this author on amazon and saw tons of books, most of them widely received with a 4 or 5 star rating. The overall plot of this book, is that an editor and an author meet, and end up falling in love. It is an interesting idea, and one that I don’t know I would have ever come up with. Th main problem is honestly the believability of the timeline of the book. Let me be honest, when I finished this book, I was left with the impression that the two main characters, Vanity and Mystic, met and fell in love all within seven days. I understand it is a romance novel, however that seven days is a little bit of a stretch, and had me questioning the believability of this book.
In addition to the two main characters, you also have a slew of side characters. What is the problem with the side characters you ask? The fact that we don’t realistically get to see them. They don’t really have motives or ideas. They exist to simply push the plot forward and you do not get the sense that these side characters have a life outside of their main function. In addition, things happen involving these side characters that truly do not make sense. For instance, at one point Mystic makes a big deal about trusting Vanity with a key card to his house. However, he had given that key card to a side character (whose name I honestly do not remember) and she walked in on a pivotal moment of the book. Why did she have this key card, if it was such a big moment in trust for Mystic?
The last con for this book, is I don’t know if the author had an editor. If she did, that is great, but she should never use them again. There were a few sentences in this book that I would read, and then reread as they did not quite consistently flow with the rest of the story. These sentences succeeded in drawing me out of the book as I had to stop and wonder, “is that what I just read?”
Overall:
Overall, this is an ok book. If you are looking for a quick romance novel, that wraps up in a gushy way, then this book is for you. If you want a better developed plot, with characters that do not fall flat, and has a believable time line…. I don’t know if this is the book for you.
Overall Plot – 6/10
Believability – 2/10
Characters – 4/10
Overall Score – 12/30
*Cost is based upon what the book cost when book review is published
Alicia Jeanne 