Snowfall (Thorndike Press Large Print Romance Series)

Rating:
Summary: Don't Bother!
Review: I got this book from the library (thank goodness!) expecting it to have a good romance intertwined with a good suspense story. What I got instead was a terrible romance that got in the way of a decent suspense. I have read more than 200 romance novels from historical to contemporary by a huge variety of authors and this was absolutely the worst romantic paring I have ever run into.

My major dislike of this novel had to do with the two lead characters. With Mac, the reader never got any sense of who he was. We never learned who he was, what he really looked like other than being big and tall, or why he was supposedly in love with Caitlin. He was nothing more than "Caitlin's bodyguard" through the whole book, he never had an identity of his own. Mac was about the worst developed main character of any novel I have ever read and I have read hundreds.

Caitlin was a better developed character, but that wasn't really a good thing. The entire novel seemed to just go on and on about how Caitlin was just a poor little lonely, misunderstood rich girl. I prefer my lead heroines to care about people other than themselves, have strong personalities, and to show some spine. Caitlin was too self-centered, self-pitying, and helpless for my tastes. She ended up turning into a hysterical mess more times than I cared to count and Mac was always having to take care of her and save her. She didn't seem to be able to do much for herself. She also wasn't what I would call a nice person. For example, she was constantly treating her agent very badly. Yes, he was a very annoying character, but she had no reason to be as mean to him as she was. I found myself disliking Caitlin early on and finished the book still disliking her.

The romance itself was bad. I had no idea through the whole book why these characters would like each other, let alone love each other. The author never really gave us any reason why they loved each other, they just somehow suddenly did. They somehow went from disliking each other one day to proclaiming their love for each other a couple days later. It just wasn't believable for me. Also the heat between the two was just about non-existent.

The suspense story was better, although it was pretty easy to figure out who the villain was early on. There were a few surprises there, but I would say that the suspense would only be worth about a 3 star rating. If you're looking for romantic suspense, there are many better choices out there.

This was my first book by Sharon Sala and it will be my last. I'm surprised at the number of 4 and 5 star ratings this lackluster book received.

Rating:
Summary: it could have been better
Review: I have only read about two of Sharon Sala's books and I liked what I read, but I expected more out of this then I got. I was really into it until I got toward the middle and I found myself frowning more then anything. The Catilin character started to get on my nerves and the romance felt forced. I usually don't care for mysteries but the way the romance was written I felt that it should have been left out of the story.
Caitlin Bennett is a mystery author who also happens to be rich from her late father's estate. Caitlin has been receiving threating letters and the police doesn't take her seriously so she decides that it must not be that big of a deal. She then start's to take it seriously when she is pushed infront of a moving truck. Then comes in Connor "Mac" McKee. Mac is an ex-cop who is asked to bodyguard Caitlin. Of course we all know what follows soon after. They later find out that the "serial killer" who has been killing woman and slashing their faces might be connected to Caitlin's stalker.

Rating:
Summary: Scary, Romantic, but not perfect.
Review: I read books by Sharon Sala many years ago. Then she disappeared from the local book shelves. Having recently redicovered her books, I am having a ball! "Snowfall" is romantic and scary, both trademarks of Sala. There are some cliches, also Sala trademarks. However, the story line makes me want to forgive her minor faults. The stalking and rescue of the heiress is good reading. The heroine is not a wimp. Of course, neither is the hero. The villian is suitably creepy. All in all, I enjoyed it quite a bit.