I am a fan of Theodora Taylor and have enjoyed her creative and unique approach to stories. One of my favorite books that I return to every so often is Taylor's HER VIKING WOLF because of it's uniqueness and the story is pure entertainment. I am mentioning this to soften the blow for myself and anyone who reads this review-so here it goes. I didn't particularly enjoy HIS FOR THE SUMMER. There I said it.
HIS FOR THE SUMMER is a very quick read which is fine because you do get a complete story; however I just didn't enjoy most of the story that I got. The story felt off somehow. Mostly I can't see anyone agreeing to belong to a man that they don't know at all even with real and urgent financial problems. That's so far into dangerous that I didn't want to accept it. Especially with what Cera has to do once she agrees. Yes, there is a twist to the story but at the time Cera has no idea who has her. She blindly submits herself to a stranger who could do anything to her and no one would be the wiser. I mean blindly literally. She has to wear a blindfold when she interacts with her 'benefactor'. WHAT? You have no idea who this man is and you wait naked and blindfolded for him to use your body as he sees fit? No one even knows where this poor girl has gone. No friends, no co-workers, no one. No ma'am. That should go against your natural sense of self preservation. Danger-danger Will Robinson! And of course Cera enjoys it and feels a connection to this stranger immediately.
As for the stranger. The reader knows who he is and quickly gets a hint as to why he does what he does but it doesn't make much sense to me. What he asks of Cera is in no way his only option. He's wealthy, he's supposedly sincere, and he really hasn't done anything wrong against Cera so there is no real need for all of the cloak and dagger maneuvers. A simple direct approach could have been just as successful and more honest. If he really wanted to help her he could have paid off everything with or without her knowledge and she would have been unable to do anything about it. Once debts are paid it's not like Cera could go back and tell people to charge her again.
This did not feel, to me, like a Theodora Taylor story. At least not what I have come to anticipate getting from her. I am sad to say that this was not a good read for me.
Happy Reading!
Monica
Synopsis
Baby you ain’t never had a Summer Love like this….
Aspiring teacher, Cera Winslow, is three days away from being out on the streets when a cashier’s check arrives, bearing one word in the memo line: JUNE
Just when she’s at her most desperate, a mysterious benefactor shows up, offering her more money than she could ever earn on her own as a teacher in exchange for three things: June, July, and August.
He wants her. In his bed. For the entire summer.
The only thing is, Cera has no idea who he is…
Or why he’s doing this…
Or what he wants with an inexperienced, super curvy grad student…
She takes the deal anyway. Determined not only to survive, but to also provide for her autistic sister.
In her mind, she knows she’s doing what she has to in order to get by. But when passions explode, Cera’s no longer sure her heart will survive becoming His for the Summer. Especially when she finds out the very dark answers to all of her questions.
I'm actually intrigued now and will give it a read.
ReplyDeleteGood! I look forward to reading what you think!
Delete*twists lips up* hmmm....so just from the blurb, it's kinda obvious dude know hers so he wants her, okay but he couldn't just give her the option in her face? What would have been the harm, she would have took it anyway it seems. But for her to go blindly to a man like that? like I get that she's desperate but she used no common sense and no one know's where she went? #nope
ReplyDeleteAs a woman and mother of 2 girls I REALLY wanted to snatch Cera! All you have to do is watch the news and know that attractive young girls disappear ALL of the time! She is pretty much alone in the world but I just couldn't get behind her decision. I really do feel bad about this review but it is what it is for me.
DeleteNot going to lie she lost me at the book blurb, I don't really go for the blindfold reads or kidnapping unless the heroine is in on it like she knows who it is in like the first chapter. BC who has time for that, I do not like the time they usually spend in their own heads wasting angst about the why this person or who could it be you know.
ReplyDeletePart of what bothered me is that the whole scenario felt unnecessary and Cera being willing to basically risk her safety was not good for me.She really doesn't know what she has agreed to and that was a turn off for me. But the story just didn't flow well for me in any case.
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