Saturday, June 26, 2010

Review - Everything I Ever Wanted



Title: Everything I Ever Wanted
Author: Jo Goodman
Publishing Date: 2003
Genre: Historical
Rating: B
Sensuality: Hot
Book Disclosure: I downloaded the audio book from by library.

Everything I Ever Wanted is the second book in Jo Goodman's Compass Club quartet. It features The Earl of Southerton, Matthew Forester as he investigates the actress India Parr and her ties to several men who have recently been murdered. South must determine if she had anything to do with these murders. The more he gets to know India, the more he realizes mystery surrounds her and that she is in great danger. India refuses his help and therefore South takes matters into his own hands by kidnapping her.

I love the way Jo Goodman tells a story. Everything I Ever Wanted has that Jo Goodman signature style where she never gives you the big picture. She trickles in little bits and pieces slowly, which eventually come cleverly together. In this story, the reader is trying to figure out India Parr's mysterious past. Who is her protector and what hold does he have over her? It really is ingenious how Goodman delivers the facts. She is completely in control over the reader's experience and she is a master in the driver's seat.

The characterization is amazing. Yet this could be to the detriment for this story because I didn't like India Parr. She seemed too weak willed for my tastes. It was as if she enjoyed playing the victim to an extent. I tend to like my heroines strong and Goodman usually writes them that way. So maybe I was expecting too much. Even aside from not really liking India, Everything I Ever Wanted was still a captivating story and one I can recommend, especially if you like a book that twists and turns and keeps you coming back for more.

2 comments:

Holly said...

How was the narrator? I was going to download this from my library as well, but I'm always nervous about the narrators.

Jill D. said...

I think the narrator does a fine job. She has an English accent so it fits with the way they talk in Regency style.