Ebook review: Between by Cyndi Tefft
Between is a story which didn’t quite work for me, but which wasn’t really bad either. It’s a story about the afterlife, and while I don’t really agree with the author’s interpretation, I don’t see much point in arguing about something that everyone has guessed at at one time or another. It’s like saying, “Nuh-uh, your imaginary castle isn’t like the one Jebus promised me!” So, taking this story in its own merits, it wasn’t bad. But was I swept off my feet and left breathless? No, not exactly.
Between starts with the rather exciting and tragic automotive death of the main character, Lindsey, where she meets a “transporter” named Aiden whose job is to help prepare Lindsey for heaven. Instead of going to heaven, Lindsey falls in love with Aiden, and they spend some time “casting” through each other’s memories to learn about each other. Just when they are becoming a Very Happy Couple, Lindsey returns to the land of the living and must learn how to live without her soul mate.
As much as I wanted to identify with Lindsey, I never quite got into her character. The same goes for Aiden, who was physically attractive, but whose personality didn’t quite ring any romantic bells for me. This wasn’t helped by the story’s fade to black method of handling intimacy, but then I might be biased for having read some awesome erotica in the last few months. I’ve got nothing against using a fade to black in fiction of any genre, and have used it many times in my own stuff. But the lead up to the fade out didn’t quite pass the wet test for me either. So while I liked this story, it never quite made my heart go pitter patter.
This is not to say I hated the story. Far from it, I found the author’s take on the afterlife to be kind of interesting, and I liked how later chapters allowed Lindsey to see her memories in a different light by listening to her parents. (Once she was back in the land of the living)
Having said that, there was a bit of tossing around thew word slut, and Lindsey’s sheltered life and sheltered views were what created some distance between me and her. She’s pretty quick to call her mother a slut, and Aiden is also fast to say that Lindsey is dressing like a slut. Aiden’s sheltered views are partially explained by his history, and later chapters show how some of Lindsey’s perspective is sheltered, but at the time, the way the scenes played out tended to rub me the wrong way.
So I give Between 3 stars. It’s a good story, though it didn’t quite work as a romance for me. This is part of a series, and I will be looking for the sequel, Hell Transporter, in the future. So I guess I would recommend this to fans of paranormal romance looking for a book about romance in the afterlife.
