Reading is like breathing...

3.5 stars.***Review completed November 10, 2013


Pic approved by GR September 19, 2013.

Javier opened her makeup kit, held it edge to edge with the dressing table, and swept everything--every vial, brush, tube, and bottle--into the kit with his forearm.
Laura gaped at him. "That stuff is worth hundreds of dollars."
He shrugged, then shut the kit. "That's how SEALs pack makeup."

"My fault?" Hey, you started it." He followed her. "Don't get me wrong. I'm happy to be your morning lollipop, but I need to eat, too."

Favorite "quote":

She turned to find him standing there, one dark eyebrow arched, her blue jelly vibrator buzzing and rotating at high speed in his hand. Heat flooded her face. "Oh, my God! Where--"
"You left one of the bathroom drawers open."
Helvete! Damn!
She reached for it.
He angled his upper body away from her and held it out of her reach. "Hold on. I've got a right to check out my competition. Are you blushing? You are."
She pressed her palms to her cheeks. "I don't blush."
He leaned in, still holding the vibrator out of reach. "The hell you don't. Look--your cheeks are all pink."(…)

I'd be lying if I said I wasn't disappointed because I sure am. Striking Distance didn't live up to my extremely high expectations. Now that I've had time to think about it for a little while, I'd go so far and say that SD is one of my biggest reading disappointments this year. 

Many of you know how much I love to add quotes to my reviews. In fact, it’s an essential part of my reviews. When I’m digging through a story looking for memorable quotes, that’s the equivalent to breathing—at least to me. Great quotes render a story unforgettable. Having said this, I’ve sorely missed a compelling dialogue and narrative in SD that would have provided more than a few fabulous quotes. Based on the outstanding and truly fantastic prologue which deserves easily five stars, I would have expected to be completely blown away. Yet it truly pains me to say that I feel anything but impressed. Funnily enough, the same happened to me when I was reading Breaking Point. After a fabulous prologue, the story and its characters didn’t achieve to captivate me and somewhere along the way my interest just petered out. I feel so extremely bummed at the moment because I wanted to love this book and I feel bad for voicing my negative feelings. I’m really sorry because I don’t intend to hurt anyone’s feelings but honesty is still the best policy and I want to give you my sincere opinion.

I don’t want to minimize or disrespect Laura’s ordeal in any way, but there was so much despair, sorrow, self-loathing and self-reproaches that I felt I could have done with less drama because it kinda suffocated the entire story. Striking Distance is a rather massive weep fest and that's exactly one of my main issues. Believe me, I love emotional reads but I don't think that so much crying will sensitize or heighten my reading experience in any way, shape or form. The (emotional) connection between a reader and the main protagonists doesn't happen solely based on dramatic events or tragedies. I guess that's where this story failed big time for me personally. Somewhere along the way Javier and Laura really lost me. My heart wasn't engaged anymore.

Besides, the writing felt too clichéd and even corny at times and another main issue of mine was the fact that the overall atmosphere of the story was too soapy for my taste. Javier calling Laura bella all the time got on my very last nerve. Also, while I'm a huge sucker for badass AND tender alpha males, Javier came across as too schmaltzy for my liking and I never fell in love with him. Since I was never able to emotionally bond with the characters, it's safe to say that compromised the entire book for me. 

(view spoiler) I'd like to point out that my spoiler didn't influence my rating.

The (view spoiler) part was way too sappy and fell totally flat for me. Plus, I would go so far and say it was superfluous. When Laura confessed to (view spoiler) I couldn't believe that something so incredibly vital and important could have been treated within a timeframe of a few minutes. Also, I felt that basically the ending including both epilogues felt too rushed. It's difficult to put a finger on it but I didn't feel satisfied, I just needed more. Maybe it's due to the fact that the story as a whole didn't do it for me. Having said this, I guess it was a lost cause to win me over at the last moment anyhow.

My favorite books of the series are:
Naked Edge
Unlawful Contact

Striking Distance is by no means a bad book. I liked it but didn't love it and overall it just didn't push the right buttons for me. Considering how many five-star ratings I've seen already, it's probably best to ignore my point of view and I'd say this book is a must read. I'm sure that a huge majority of readers will love it. Maybe I just didn't feel "it" and this might as well be another case of it's me and not the book. Happy reading!

If you'd like to read my spoilers then check out the GR link below.