At the very beginning I couldn't stop thinking that I have already read this book, which is nearly impossible since I note every book I read meticulously. Still, I had an impression that I somehow know it. So either I indeed already read it and missed to notice it or this book was so similar to some other one that I had a déjà vu. It was a really short story with the idea of the lust at first sight. More like a category romance than a full contemporary romance. That is why, it was lacking in character and plot development. The events went so quickly that there was no place for any explanations or descriptions. The motives of the characters' actions were unclear.At the beginning I just couldn't believe that Jordan can be a hero and I was expecting him to turn out to be a villain and for Alyssa to meet a real hero. Well, you can say that I wasn't very fond of Jordan, he is a possessive caveman with more than a little bit of alpha attitude who thinks a woman is his property. I can not respect a man who is likely to give his woman a lesson or to punish her for her believes. And Alyssa… I don't think I have any feelings about her, she just wasn't described enough for me to know her. Also, some of the expressions connected with gambling sounded so funny I couldn't stop laughing. Especially when used as a part of dialogue when Alyssa and Jordan had sex. In fact, all the bed talks and other dialogues between Jordan and Alyssa were rather silly and eye-rolling. I can't say that I liked this book, I rolled my eyes too many times.
I should have guessed I wouldn't like it since the setting is something I don't enjoy "casinos and gambling" but I thought I'd give it a try anyways but at the end I wasn't grabbed by the book , the plot was a bit boring to me and the characters weren't intriguing or even a bit interesting , they lacked chemistry and likeability. Alyssa contradicted herself sometimes especially at the end of the book , maybe if it was done in a slower pace it would have made sense but instead her job turned from the most important thing she has into " I couldn't care less about it " I wasn't convinced. Jordan was a jerk and embarrassed her more than once in situations he had no right to interfere in , he was obnoxious. The whole gambling thing was handled very distastefully I thought there would be consequences for their actions but nothing happened , the whole thing was pictured as perfectly normal and okay. Not my kind of book.
Although the setting is in a world I don't care for, i.e., gambling (There is nothing more boring I have found), I did enjoy the math references, few as there were. Being a math major myself, I was surprised that Alyssa had found a job anywhere other than in computer science or teaching. There wasn't enough on that in the book to understand what her firm actually did with the math. As for the relationship between them, Jordan was a bit too aggressive and at times, almost a bully, but by the end, he seemed a bit more vulnerable and likeable, so I'll let that pass.
—Maria
This was such a bizarre story - and not in a good way. It was down right awful. The hero was such a jerk that I kept waiting for her to get the restraining order and kick him and his dominating angry temper to the curb. But nooooooo, this brilliant modern woman must like the abuse - despite her desire for a good decent loving man. This book implies that he is a good man, but the story never shows it. And within a matter of days she turns her entire life upside down to be in this sick codependent relationship. I realize JAK is a popular author, but this early book of hers is not a great place to start if you want to read a book by her. They fall in love, but you never know why. He's emotionally abusive to the point of serial-killer scary, but she finds him charming. Ugh. She desperately wants a promotion, and then on whim (or what feels like a whim) she changes her tune completely. It's a bizarre awful book. Not my cuppa.
—♡Karlyn P♡
I normally like this author a lot. This was an earlier Jayne Ann Krentz book written as Stephanie James. I read it as a bath book and it was a quick and easy read with a slight but predictable plot. Unlike her later books this was a bit overblown and the main charcters weren't fully fleshed out, the relationship didn't really ring true to me and the whole thing felt a little old-fashioned but given that it was writtne in the 1980's this isn't a surprise. Not a bad book just more obviously formulaic than some and fewer turns in the plot. Good for a bath read though.
—Jenny
