Ramblings from the Desert

The man who trades freedom for security does not deserve nor will he ever receive either. ~Benjamin Franklin

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Location: New Mexico

Author of the urban fantasy novel, The Music of Chaos, and the paranormal romance, The Canvas Thief.

Friday, July 01, 2005

Mission: Irresistible

by Lori Wilde

Cute, somewhat fun, but ultimately, I suspect this book was an example of what Tara Gelsomin called fluffy and silly romance. The series by the same author is selling well, so once again, I'm not the barometer of things female. For what it was meant to be, a means of purging the vile pretension of Tam Lin, it worked.

But...

The plot in a nutshell: ditzy heroine Cassie, a PR specialist for a museum, has to team up with uptight, brainy archeologist Harrison in order to find a stolen relic. Or lose her job. Sexual tension and zaniness happens.

It nearly got pitched early in the story. Before setting off to find the missing artifact, Cassie insists on stopping by her place to change clothes. Lo and behold, it's the iceberg of contrivance that sunk the Titanic. Whilst changing, she gets her panties caught in her zipper and Harrison has to use nail clippers to free her. No sex happens, but the zipper incident does nothing to further the plot and screams, "They're hot for each other, get it?" Normally, I'm pretty forgiving with the "Let's put the H/H in a close situation" contrivance. Stuff 'em in a closet to hide from the bad guys? Sure. At least it has something to do with the plot.

Frankly, the emphasis on the romance (apparently now the definition of romance according to RWA) is cloying. For instance, toward the end of the story, when Cassie is certain she's about to die, she mourns the fact that she won't ever make out again with Harrison. Sorry, but if I were stuffed in a trunk, on route to someplace unpleasant, I'd have other things on my mind. Like..."Will death be hurty?"

And then there's the dialogue. Some is okay. Some is cute. And some is downright playground. For example, Cassie's initially razzes Harrison, calling him Harry and Harry's Son, when he asks to be called Harrison. Over and over. Funny once. Twice? Three times? Not so much. That horse isn't simply dead. It's skeletal; quit beatin' it.

I believe opposites attract, but I don't buy that they usually stay together. The novel does such of a good job of convincing me that these two people are diametrically opposed, I didn't want them together.

Despite that, I actually read it from start to finish. Since I've given up on the last three out of four romances I've tried, that's a weak recommendation. If...you've just had the joy sucked out of you by some pretentious literary tome masquerading as a fairy tale, then Mission: Irresistible is just the ticket for enlivening your mojo.

TGIF
P.K.

 

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