I struggled with this one. Not only in the reading of it, but in the writing of this review. So let me get this out of the way before I dive in: I did not enjoy this book, and I don't think that's my fault.
There are some books I read that aren't for me, but I can see the good work being done in them and know they'd be grand for others. I base a lot of my reviews on the principle of "good for her, not from me", which is egregiously stolen from Amy Poehler. I try to read widely and therefore know some things are going to be misses. Not a problem.
What bothers me beyond reason, and I have to put on my ranty pants for, is when I, as the reader, am not given the adequate information to enjoy the book. If your book is in a series and I need to read the whole thing, be honest with me, please. Put it on the cover, put it in a letter to me in the first part of the book, something. Tell me I can't enter this world at this place. So many Regency authors are fabulous at building the world because they know we don't know the world they're writing in as well as they do. Well, contemporary authors, let me tell you, your world isn't automatically known either!
I'm not talking about the situations where someone writes about, say, a whole hockey team or a whole town and each book can be read independently, but your experience is richer for starting from the beginning. Those, in my mind, are book series. NAUTI SEDUCTRESS is, in my opinion, a chapter in a serialized story. It's the difference between watching Big Bang Theory where the episodes are basically interchangeable and Jane the Virgin where you best start from the beginning or ain't nothing gonna make sense.
Feel me?
NAUTI SEDUCTRESS is in the Jane the Virgin camp. Grand, so. I'm sure those who have been in this world since the beginning love it. There's cliffhangers all over the shop and call backs to other chapters in her story. Fabulous! So glad this world is so rich. My issue remains: because I felt lost and confused for the majority of the book, I was not able to enjoy it. It didn't make me want to go back and start at the beginning as I felt, in a way, not wanted here. It was almost like a clubhouse with a sign out front, keeping newcomers out. I needed secret handshakes and wasn't given them.
From what I can glean from the 'ol Interwebs, this current series about the sisters goes on the back of a series about dudes. If you're someone who has read them all, can you comment below and tell me about them? What makes you keep coming back? What I read didn't make me want to read them all, but am I wrong? Is it simply my ranty pants that made me see red and not understand? Comment below!
No excerpt available.