The Long Tease of Bella Andre
Bella Andre's From This Moment On is remarkable the way she carries a romance with nothing happening between the characters for about 154 pages.
And I don't just mean there's no sex, which is fine. There's no plot, either. Yet she displays a discipline in maintaining the story even though there's little tension between the extraordinarily polite and handsome Marcus Sullivan and pop star Nicola.
Marcus really is an amazing guy. He takes Nicola home from a club and his intention is to have sex with her. Her intention is to have anonymous sex with a guy, too. He's 36 years old and yet he calls his mother and has Nicola speak with her to assure her that she will be safe.
She falls asleep on his lap the first time and he's polite enough to not touch her in any way and he makes sure she's comfortable.
When they finally do get to have sex for the first time, a mother with two small children and a fussy baby come out of the hotel elevator and Marcus is kind enough to hold the baby while the mother and the two children snap a picture with pop star Nicola.
Marcus is ever so careful to pay attention to all of Nicola's needs while the two have sex and he's careful to have her go slow even though she wants to go hard.
He's quite a guy and probably like one I would never write. Although, I can't say that's completely true.
From this Moment On is a light-hearted read.
What I found annoying in this story is the same trait I found annoying in a Karen Kingsbury novel. Bella Andre hits us over the head time and again with how kind and handsome Marcus is and how much of a pop star Nicola is. Karen Kingsbury, an inspirational author, did the same thing in her story with a Hollywood handsome leading man and kept repeating over and over how he was world famous over. It became annoying in its repetitive nature.
This lends a superficial nature to the characters and yet the prose is disciplined in its telling.
I admire Bella Andre for keeping the story simple – and simple is not easy to do. That truly is not a criticism. There's a discipline in her prose and it's deceptively simple.
It's just the sex is almost too clean and Marcus is some fabulous kind of guy who has phenomenal self control. Or maybe I'm just jealous.
And I don't just mean there's no sex, which is fine. There's no plot, either. Yet she displays a discipline in maintaining the story even though there's little tension between the extraordinarily polite and handsome Marcus Sullivan and pop star Nicola.
Marcus really is an amazing guy. He takes Nicola home from a club and his intention is to have sex with her. Her intention is to have anonymous sex with a guy, too. He's 36 years old and yet he calls his mother and has Nicola speak with her to assure her that she will be safe.
She falls asleep on his lap the first time and he's polite enough to not touch her in any way and he makes sure she's comfortable.
When they finally do get to have sex for the first time, a mother with two small children and a fussy baby come out of the hotel elevator and Marcus is kind enough to hold the baby while the mother and the two children snap a picture with pop star Nicola.
Marcus is ever so careful to pay attention to all of Nicola's needs while the two have sex and he's careful to have her go slow even though she wants to go hard.
He's quite a guy and probably like one I would never write. Although, I can't say that's completely true.
From this Moment On is a light-hearted read.
What I found annoying in this story is the same trait I found annoying in a Karen Kingsbury novel. Bella Andre hits us over the head time and again with how kind and handsome Marcus is and how much of a pop star Nicola is. Karen Kingsbury, an inspirational author, did the same thing in her story with a Hollywood handsome leading man and kept repeating over and over how he was world famous over. It became annoying in its repetitive nature.
This lends a superficial nature to the characters and yet the prose is disciplined in its telling.
I admire Bella Andre for keeping the story simple – and simple is not easy to do. That truly is not a criticism. There's a discipline in her prose and it's deceptively simple.
It's just the sex is almost too clean and Marcus is some fabulous kind of guy who has phenomenal self control. Or maybe I'm just jealous.
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