Review - Lip Service

Title: Lip Service
Author: Susan Mallery
Publishing Date: June 2009
Genre: Contemporary
Rating: D
Sensuality: Hot

Skye Titan fell in love with the neighboring rancher's son when she was just 18 years old. Only her father put the kibosh on their budding romance and Skye was left with no choice but to leave her feelings for Mitch behind and marry the man chosen for her by her father. She had a daughter with him and they had a nice marriage, albeit a passionless one for several years until he died leaving Skye a young widow. Mitch did not take being dumped by Skye very well and left his Texas home to join the Navy. He became a SEAL and saved lives on a daily basis, until he lost his leg to an explosion. Now he is back on his ranch, bitter and angry with the world. He wants to make Skye pay for the hurt she has caused him only his passion for her still hasn't diminished over the years, nor hers for him.

Lip Service frustrated me dearly to no end. It has nothing to do with Mallery's talent as a writer. She is extremely competent, but if only her characters Skye and Mitch could be too, would this book have been a better reading experience. The first part of the book, Mitch is a complete and utter ass to everybody he encounters, his own family and of course Skye. He is bitter and angry and feels like he has nothing to live for. Skye is frustrating because she has no backbone when it comes to her father, Jed. She is constantly trying to prove herself to him, even though it is obvious to the reader that nothing Skye does will ever be good enough for Jed. She just needs to get away from him because he is a poison in her life. Skye needed to come to this conclusion much sooner than she did in the book.

The real kicker that made me want to throw the book at the wall came towards the end of the story. Skye finally manages to win Mitch's trust back and not two seconds later she is off repeating the same mistakes that she made eight years before. Once I could understand, but twice pushed me passed tolerance. I was extremely disappointed with Skye's growth in the story. On a positive note, I am curious to see how the plot with Skye's half-brother Garth will turn out. I am not sure I want to devote anymore time to this series, as the first two books have been less than stellar reads. Maybe I'll wait and see what the word on the web is about Izzy's book (#3).

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You can purchase this book in print or kindle format from Amazon.