JLC ~ Down The Rabbit Hole ~

This one ended up surprising me with how much I liked it.  

I'll just say that this book leaves room for improvement & leave it at that.  

1st, I find nothing wrong with this author nor her talent. In that aspect, she's alright. My low rating of this book is reflective of the book's content & a feeling of misguided betrayal by the book's blurb. Based on the blurb & genre categorization, I thought I was getting a "romance" book of a resilient heroine who leaves an abusive relationship & seeks refuge from a loving father & her childhood home. Whereas, she encounters a new healthy, romantical relationship - one of "her choosing". That is not what I got. In fact, according to the definition or "romance" fiction, this book shouldn't even be categorized in the "romance" genre & simple be categorized as "fiction". Period.

Romance Definition:
==============================================================
ROMANCE FICTION: A literary genre. Novels in this genre place their primary focus on the relationship and romantic love between two people, and must have an "emotionally satisfying and optimistic ending."
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-  As most already know, this book starts off with the badly abused heroine - abuse suffered at the hand of her husband - returning to her father's home with her 4 yr. old daughter after being away for 5 yrs.

-  The h's father is a vice president of a motorcyclist club/aka/MC - they are a gang of outlaws. The h grew up in this lifestyle & has decided that she wants a better life for herself than this. Thus, is the reason why she stayed away & was married to what she thought would be a respectable man. Little did she know that her husband was a wolf in sheep's clothing & turned out to be abusive rather than respectable.

*********** ~~ SPOILER ~~ Elements that made this a "non-romance" ************

The h left one abusive relationship & returned to the abusive lifestyle of her father's. She was treated abrasively & was threatened to stay & live this MC lifestyle "or else". Because of this, she was not given a 'free will' choice of what she wanted for her life, nor her daughter's. Since the h's free will is taken away by being threatened, coerced & told what she will or will not do "or else", there's no way she can freely choose her relationship with the H. Plus, the H was quite abusive toward the h. Thus, the 'romantical' aspect was eliminated. Examples:

SPOILER 1: The h had been so badly beaten & bruised by her husband that she finally collapses & passes out when she reached her father. As the h is being checked out & is regaining consciousnesses, the H clues in by the appearance of the 4 yr. old that she is actually his child - as a result of an 1-night encounter between the H&h. (Yes, I agree that secret baby plot is bad, bad, bad - I personally HATE it. But then again, the H lives his life as a criminal...) While she is still in bed after regaining consciousness, the H confronts the h. He is so mad, he grabs the ALREADY BEATEN UP h by the neck & slams her head against the headboard with a tight grip around her neck constricting her breathing. THIS IS NOT ROMANCE!!!! THIS IS FLUKING ABUSE!!!!

SPOILER 2: The h is UNJUSTIFIABLY treated like a bad person by ALL the gang members because she didn't want her child & her to live the lives of CRIMINALS when she left for those 5 yrs. She is treated as a "disgrace" for trying to live a normal, crime free life. It was NAUSEATING to read, to say the least. THIS IS NOT ROMANCE!!!! THIS IS FLUKING ABUSE!!!!

SPOILER 3: The president of the MC - supported by the h's father - tells the h: 1) She will NEVER, EVER leave the club again. 2) Her child will NEVER, EVER leave the club. 3) If the h does leave, it will not be with her child, & she will basically be walking into her grave due to her affiliation with her father's MC. The MC WILL NOT protect the h, & they will let the 'bad guys' do whatever they want with the h. This is really so nice since the h would be reaping the repercussion due her father & the MC's 'sins' in the 1st place! It wasn't like the h asked to be born into the criminal lifestyle & consequences of her father & his club. THIS IS NOT ROMANCE!!!! THIS IS FLUKING ABUSE!!!!

SPOILER 4: The women in this club are called "beotches". You know the 'real' word I'm talking about. The same word female dogs are called. That's what women are thought of in this book. THIS IS NOT ROMANCE!!!! THIS IS FLUKING ABUSE!!!!

SPOILER 5: When the H finds out the that h & he actually had twins & that the twin boy of his daughter died, he is so enraged with the h for not telling him, he SLAMS the h's face into the wall - hits her FACE causing an open door to slam back into her face as well. The h is left with a bruised, "hunchback" lump on her face. One to which even the abusive husband never gave her. The thing that so totally DISGUSTED me was that the author actually tried to justify the H's behavior. It was absolutely insulting leaving me with the desire to VOMIT!! THIS IS NOT ROMANCE!!!! THIS IS FLUKING ABUSE!!!!

********************************************************************************************

I cannot act like a character in "The Emperor's New Clothes" with this one. I will not woo & ahhh acting like the emperor is walking around in fine clothing when he is actually butt-azz naked. Likewise, I WILL NOT woo & ahhh acting like this a 'romance' story when it's not. This is plain out ABUSE!! I gotta call this one out. To call this "romance" is just plain out insulting to one's intelligence.

I admit that the beginning of this was a little slow going for me.  I had to do some skipping around until I reached the 50% mark.  There was a 2nd character's storyline that made me cry.  It was sad, but not to the point I'll be in an emotional coma for the next few days.  The main characters' story ended on a sweet note.  Overall, I felt this was a very touching book.  

I started this book & HAD to stop about 30% because the internal dialog going on inside ALL the characters' heads just became insufferable. There was absolutely no story progression. I was frustrated to infinity & beyond! It was bad enough having to read pages & pages of the main characters' thoughts, you also had to read pages & pages of the bad guys' thoughts. Then if that wasn't enough, you had to read pages & pages of the bad guys' minions thoughts! Yide'da!!! I wanted 'action' not to know what everybody was thinking!  I might go back later & try to finish this.  

Here I was on a Sunday afternoon with time to read a book & sip some tea, but I couldn't find a good book to read.  I started reading 4 different books before I settled on this one.  It was a nice way to spend my Sunday afternoon.

Must. Seek. Emotional. Support. IMMEDIATELY!!!  For I am now emotional damaged.  

Jeez!  Cheating H!  OW trauma!  Hidden prego plot!  Too much for this gal to handle.   

I felt this was a very immature read.  Umm....  I think I'm just going to leave it at that.  

This was an average ok read for me.  I had my doubt if I'd even be able to finish this at the beginning, but I stuck with it & did finish.  I admit that the 2nd half of the book worked better for me that the 1st half.  I wasn't the greatest fan of the heroine.  She got on my nerves for some reason, but then again, most heroines do.  (I really wish authors would write strong, likable heroines without making them obnoxious.)  Not that this book has a bunch of angst in it, but I have a feeling that those who like books with angst will like this one a lot better than I did.  As for me, I feel like I've read this type of hero & heroine so many times in so many contemporary romances, it didn't leave me all that excited.  I did appreciate that this read like a standalone, had no cheating, no multi-luv'n, no descriptive smex with OM or OW, and didn't end with a cliffhanger.  Personally, yikes I hate sounding like a cheapo here, but I don't really think this book was worth the $4 I paid for it.  I would have felt better if it was .99 cents.  I don't think there's anything wrong with this author nor her talent.  It was the content that didn't really suit my fancy, or like I stated, excite me.  I'd be willing to read other stuff of this author in the future if I come across anything of hers that peaks my interest.  

I so, so, so enjoyed this book & this author.  I now want to find everything written by this author & suck them up.  This book & its mentality is suited for my personality.  This is a no 'kiddie angst' book.  I felt like I read a good book about the relational development of two somewhat 'broken' but resilient characters - characters I actually liked & respected.  I was left feeling happy & satisfied after reading this - just what I hope to feel at the end of a book.  I highly recommend this one.  

I read this one based on the hoopla it received on the Amazon threads.  I was not disappointed.  

Things I didn't necessarily like about book:  There were things I liked & didn't like about the hero & heroine.  The hero was ultra alpha, but just a little too controlling.  The heroine was alright, but slightly immature acting resulting in her being annoying at times. I felt the bad-mommy climax was a bit too much.  I wish the author would have came up with a better bad guy plot for her added conflict.  However, these things were not enough to deter me from enjoying the book overall.  

Things I liked about the book & made it a winner for me:  The H&h were it for one another.  No OW or OM crap to deal with.  No cheating.  No multi-luv'n.  No cliffhanger - even though I'm eagerly anticipating 2nd characters from this book to get their own stories.  The biggest shiny star of this book for me was the H's & h's relationships with their families.  So many times authors kill off their main characters' families.  I guess it's suppose to add more angst or something.  To me, they just eliminate a valuable source they could be using to entertain their readers with.   This author took full advantage this source, & made this book a hit for me.  

I like this author.  I like this series.  I'm sticking with them.  I can't wait for Trevor & Liz's story next.

Links to various Booklikes tutorials around the site. Thanks to all the hardworking BL members and team who contributed. This is a work in progress. More links will be added as I find them.

Official Booklikes stuff:

http://blog.booklikes.com/post/198757/booklikes-community-guidelines

http://blog.booklikes.com/post/9074/dashboard-a-place-where-all-bookish-things-happen

http://blog.booklikes.com/post/64881/add-books-manually-add-missing-book-covers 

http://blog.booklikes.com/post/344083/make-your-wish-on-booklikes

http://blog.booklikes.com/post/100003/booklikes-goodreads-synchronization

http://blog.booklikes.com/post/107813/new-booklikes-giveaways

http://blog.booklikes.com/post/78484/batch-edit-on-your-shelf

http://blog.booklikes.com/post/63815/feature-for-authors-and-twitter-timeline-widget

http://blog.booklikes.com/post/551754/post (exclusive status for your books)

The Booklikes blog (new features added every week):

http://blog.booklikes.com/

The Goodreads Booklikes group:

http://www.goodreads.com/group/show/115105-everything-booklikes

Tutorials created by Booklike members:

Easy tips for customising your Booklikes blog:

http://litchick.booklikes.com/post/185420/post

How to customise your BL blog:

http://j4n3m3.booklikes.com/post/222397/post

Customising Booklikes Tutorials - parts 1 - 4:

http://silverthistle.booklikes.com/post/460791/customizing-booklikes-tutorial-part-1-back-to-basics-how-to-get-started-

http://silverthistle.booklikes.com/post/461046/customizing-booklikes-tutorial-part-2-back-to-basics-adding-a-new-header

http://silverthistle.booklikes.com/post/462371/customizing-booklikes-tutorial-part-3-back-to-basics-main-background-change

http://silverthistle.booklikes.com/post/469207/customizing-booklikes-tutorial-part-4-back-to-basics-moving-follower-buttons-

http://silverthistle.booklikes.com/post/544745/customizing-booklikes-tutorial-part-5-back-to-basics-changing-the-look-of-your-follower-buttons-

'Reactive' links (round links on a 'shelf' page)

http://anhec.booklikes.com/post/461024/-reactive-links-round-links-on-your-shelf-page-different-look-for-different-state-of-link-

Adding the Booklikes Reading Challenge to your blog:

http://silverthistle.booklikes.com/post/537457/booklikes-reading-challenge-ready-get-set-read-

How to change colour of text on your banner :

http://anhec.booklikes.com/post/423482/how-to-change-colour-of-text-on-your-banner

Added pages - I can't read it! My background is dark and font is black! And I want to have a comment section!

http://anhec.booklikes.com/post/367393/added-pages-i-can-t-read-it-my-background-is-dark-and-font-is-black-and-i-wan-t-to-have-a-comment-section-

How to make your comments icons a link:

http://j4n3m3.booklikes.com/post/542312/how-to-make-your-comments-icon-a-link

Customising shelf sort order:

http://smckinney.booklikes.com/post/537880/post

Changing appearance of followers/following counters and repositioning them:

http://anhec.booklikes.com/post/221446/omg-i-really-want-to-move-change-my-followers-following-counters-because-they-re-on-my-banner-and-that-s-not-pretty-

Adding a scrolling quotes marquee to your blog:

http://themisathena.booklikes.com/post/504828/adding-a-scrolling-quotes-marquee-to-your-blog

How to block followers on Booklikes:

http://brandi.booklikes.com/post/540817/-reblog-how-to-block-followers-on-booklikes

Setting up google analytics on your BL blog:

http://karlynp.booklikes.com/post/547843/blog-tutorial-setting-up-google-analytics

Changing font colour (text, links, comment section):

http://anhec.booklikes.com/post/227311/ffffff-get-it-no-nvm-pun-intended-how-to-change-font-colour-text-links-comment-section-the-whole-shebang-

Customising Booklikes tutorial - Adding bells and Whistles - blockquotes

blockquoteshttp://silverthistle.booklikes.com/post/495396/customizing-booklikes-tutorial-adding-bells-and-whistles-blockquotes

How to easily embed a font:

http://lyndi.booklikes.com/post/541633/post

A simple tip - everything is too big - zoom out: 

http://anhec.booklikes.com/post/538084/a-simple-tip-everything-is-too-big-zoom-out-

Background for a search bar (what to do when it's invisible on a dark background):

http://anhec.booklikes.com/post/227951/background-for-a-search-bar-what-to-do-when-your-background-is-dark-and-search-bar-in-your-menu-have-dissapeared-

Let's clean our designated comments pages regularly - no more notification floods:

http://anhec.booklikes.com/post/542208/a-tip-let-s-clean-our-designated-comments-pages-regurarly-no-more-notification-floods-

Reading Challenge - how to post it on your site and a few simple customization options:

http://anhec.booklikes.com/post/250271/-reading-challenge-widget-how-to-make-it-appeare-on-your-site-and-some-crude-customization-options-i-m-not-a-miracle-worker-don-t-judge-me-

Your book counter - make it fun and pretty:

http://anhec.booklikes.com/post/481197/your-book-counter-make-it-fun-and-pretty-

How to avoid losing the original source of a post:

http://aoife.booklikes.com/post/245008/post-how-to

Notifications:

http://anhec.booklikes.com/post/424188/not-a-tutorial-just-a-tip-about-notifications-

Woah baby; woah baby!  Did this book ever make my toes curl!  What a little hottie writer Grace Burrowes is!  This is my 1st GB read.  I read it off the encouragement of others.  I'm so glad I did because this book is a little gem.  There's intelligent, witty writing.  Enjoyable characters.  A sweet relational development between the H & h.    And HOT - I mean one of the best I've read in a LONG, LONG time  - luv'n.  I really felt like I saw a piece of romance heaven with this one.  Historical romances aren't usually my 1st choice, but I'm ready to devour the rest of the books in this series.  GB impressed me that much.  

Swhoo... it's good to know that there's a current romance writers out there that's GOT IT - even though her heroines' wear bloomers that go to their knees instead of a thong.   

I already posted how I felt about this book on an Amazon discussion thread.  Instead of writing something different here, I'm just going to paste what I already wrote.  

I didn't like this heroine because I thought she was annoying.  I didn't like the hero either. He reminded me of a Christian Grey copycat: young & ridiculously rich. That's about it. I couldn't tell you much more about his personality than that. 

Not only did I not like the book's characters, the book lacked a relational development between the H&h. AND the book lacked just plain old common sense. 

** IMO, the H&h didn't spend a lot of time together in the book. I actually felt more of a relationship development between the h & her bodyguard. There were really very few smex scenes compared to most - something I missed to connect these 2 together as a couple - & because the 'intelligence' to the story was so lacking I needed the additional entertainment value. Also, I was confused on the H&h's relationship because the H was basically a stranger to the h @ the beginning of the book, but was somebody who was "always" part of the h's family by book's end. All this lacking & inconsistency made making the H&h jive as a couple unsuccessful. I just didn't 'feel' the luv. 

** What mostly did this book in for me was the lack of common sense in the characters' actions, especially that of the h. It's hard to root for or to get caught up in the story of stupid people. Yeah, I"m a romance junkie like most of you; I want a luv connection in my reads. However, being the silly gal that I am, I like the idea of the story I spend $$ on & take the time to read to have some sense of intelligence to it. IMO, this book had a juvenile mentality to it. I'm wondering if this author might be on the young side. It's more on the lines of "Gossip Girls" than "The Bronze Horseman" in comparison. (& some people prefer that)

That's my opinion anyway. I'm sure there are a lot of posters that would appreciate the Christian-Grey-like character of the H. As for me, this type of H is a dime a dozen anymore. I personally appreciate characters a bit more interesting & different, thus more entertaining to me.

Since my speculation is that this author is on the young side, I'm kind of thinking she might grow as an author & person & develop future characters with a more mature mentality.  Because of that, I'd be willing to give her another chance If she writes anything else that peaks my interest.  Maybe I'll like her work next time.  

By default, visitors to your Shelf page will initially see your books sorted by the date they were added, with the most recently added books first.  Want to change the initial sort order for your shelf page, for instance to show your most recently read books first?  Here's how:

1. Navigate to your template customization page (Settings -> Blog -> Customize).

2. Edit the template html for your Blog page, and add the following to the end of the element, right above the tag:

3. Save your changes.

4. Return to the template customization page, and scroll to the bottom of the settings pane.  You should see two new settings, 'Shelf Sort By' and 'Shelf Sort Order'.  Choose the sort order options your prefer, for instance 'Date Read' and 'Descending' and save the settings.

5. Edit the template html for your Blog page, locate the following:

{% if blog.isSiteShelf %}


{{ "Shelf"|l }}


{% endif %}



and edit it to read:

{% if blog.isSiteShelf %}


{{ "Shelf"|l }}


{% endif %}



6. Save your changes.

7. Repeat steps 5 and 6 for your Timeline, Followings/Followers and Page pages.

8. Edit the template html for your Shelf page, locate the following:

{% if blog.isSiteShelf %}


{{ "Shelf"|l }}


{% endif %}



and edit it to read:

{% if blog.isSiteShelf %}


{{ "Shelf"|l }}


{% endif %}



9. Save your changes.

And you're done!  Visitors to your shelf page will see your books initially sorted in the order you've chosen.  If you want to change the order, you can now do so via the 'Shelf Sort By' and 'Shelf Sort Order' settings on your template customization page.