Title: Talk Me Down
Author: Victoria Dahl
Publishing Date: January 2009
Genre: Contemporary
Rating: B-
Sensuality: Hot
Molly Jennings finds herself back in her home town of Tumble Creek, Colorado after her Aunt leaves her an old farm house. Since Molly is a writer of erotic romance - which she keeps secret from everyone - she can live anywhere. She discovers after running into Ben Lawson in the grocery store, that maybe she just never got over the crush she had on him. Wouldn't it be fun to shore up with him for the winter? She sets about to rekindle an old flame, but Ben wants more than Molly is willing to give. He wants to know all about her and that means what she does for a living. The catch is Molly can't seem to trust anyone. Will she be able to trust Ben?
Talk Me Down is a witty, sexy contemporary with a delicious hero, Ben. He is smart, sexy and caring, but a rule follower and has a somewhat serious demeanor. Molly on the other hand, is all about fun and games. She seems to get the best of him with her flirtatious and outrageous manner. Sometimes I found this to be entertaining, but at a certain level I also found it irritating. I didn't like the fact that Molly wouldn't trust Ben with her secrets. She was constantly lying to him and it frustrated me. She holds out with these lies for three-quarters of the book. This was much too long in my opinion.
In addition to Molly and Ben's conflict with their relationship, there is also a stalker who has made Molly their target. There are a couple of suspects who seem rather obvious and there wasn't much suspense to the mystery. Although, it did take a little twist I didn't see coming. Yet, Talk Me Down is still primarily a contemporary romance and not romantic suspense. I felt that the author did a good job of making Ben and Molly work through their issues without using the stalker as a way to motivate them.
In summary, Talk Me Down was a better than average read, with a few minor problems. I enjoyed Ben's personality better than Molly's but found them to be complementary to each other. I look forward to reading more of Victoria Dahl's work.
Here is what others had to say:
Monkey Bear Reviews
Reading, Etc.
Breezing Through
Tracy's Place
A Hoyden's Look at Literature
CupK8's Kitchen
The Book Girl
Nonsensical Ravings of an Aspiring Writer
Book Binge
The Good, The Bad, The Unread
This book can be purchased in print or kindle format from Amazon
.
10 comments:
Thanks for the link to my review! I got a bit frustrated with Molly for keeping her secrets so long, too. But I agree that the two seemed well suited.
Are you planning on reading Start Me Up?
Great review Jill!
I haven't read anything by Ms. Dahl but I do have a couple of her books in my TBR. Thank goodness I don't have this one. I can tell already from your thoughts that it would be a mediocre read for me as well.
Thanks for sharing!
;) VFG
I found Molly frustrating too, both in her relationship with her parents and Ben. I also don't like rom suspense all that much, no fault of the author, obviously, but I was disgruntled when I saw how big a role the stalker would play. I guess a B- would be where I am on the grading as well.
I did buy a Dahl historical which I am looking forward to reading.
Thanks for the review, Jill. Many readers had issues with Molly. I seem to be one of the very few who didn't! My reservations with 'Talk Me Down' lay with the suspense plot, which I thought weak. Lori Love, the heroine of the next book 'Start Me Up', is very different to Molly. I think you might prefer her.
I think that everyone had a few problems with Molly. Ben was simply the perfect hero, but Molly did some errors of judgement. Ah well, this one was still pretty good in my opinion :D
Lana - You are very welcome! It is my goal also to review every book I read. So far, I have done pretty well with that. I do plan on reading Start Me Up. I may even enjoy the characters more. Lori seems more my speed.
VFG - Your welcome! Will you be trying any of her other books?
Jessica - Nice to see we agree on a book. That doesn't happen to often :) I'll keep my eye open on your thoughts on her historical. I have been wondering about her historicals, as well.
Sarah - LOL, I am beginning to think we have very different hot buttons in our reading, :) I am very glad that this book was marketed as a contemporary. If it had been marketed as romantic suspense I would have been disappointed. I agree the suspense was weak, but since it wasn't the focal point of the story, I was okay with that. I am going to give Start Me Up a try.
Nath - I am glad you enjoyed it. Have you read the second one or tried any of her historicals? I am curious as to what you think about those.
I have yet to pick up a Victoria Dahl book, and I keep saying I need to try one. Wasn't there one before this? About a romance writer? You don't have to read in order, do you?
Great review :)
I picked up the second book, but haven't cracked it open yet... ^_^;
Stacy - This was the one about the romance writer. She keeps it hidden from her family and friends. I think you would be okay reading out of order. Characters are in multiple books, but the plots are stand alone.
Nath - Yeah, I am not sure when I will get to Start Me Up. I have Hunting Ground burning a hole in my shelf! I will be reading that one next.
I really liked this one and bought one of her historicals to read (read the review on The Book Smugglers). I haven't read it yet but I'm looking forward to it.
This one was great!
Post a Comment