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Obsessed
He is a serial rapist whose calling card is the broken heart he carves on each victim's chest. She is a Seattle emergency room doctor who has seen her share of brutality and bloodshed. Now Ivy Pennington is about to enter his terrifying world of madness and violence. Because he wants her.
She feels him watching her. Stalking her. Fears the silky; seductive voice on the phone telling her she is his next very special girl. Ivy can run, she can hide, but there is no safe haven from a stranger who knows who she is ...what she wants...where she's going. Not even the handsome cop next door can help her.
And it won't end until he catches her and locks her in his deadly embrace ...until he hears her scream out in terror.
She feels him watching her. Stalking her. Fears the silky; seductive voice on the phone telling her she is his next very special girl. Ivy can run, she can hide, but there is no safe haven from a stranger who knows who she is ...what she wants...where she's going. Not even the handsome cop next door can help her.
And it won't end until he catches her and locks her in his deadly embrace ...until he hears her scream out in terror.
384 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 1993
118 people are currently reading
674 people want to read
About the author
Susan Andersen
104 books1,272 followersI grew up in a household with two brothers, a daddy, and my grandfather. Too many men, in other words. They diluted M'ma's influence by diverting my attention to things like the danger of answering nature's call in the dead of the night. I've got a hint for those of you raised in a less spit-and-scratch world: check before you sit, because chances are that seat is gonna be up. And they don't even have the grace to be embarrassed about it. According to my sweet baby boy, if you're the minority sex in the household, you oughtta be putting it up for them. Sigh.
Having brothers was a mixed bag. When anybody messed with me they were always quick with an offer to beat them up. That was sorta nice, although I personally believe it had more to do with the fact that guys just like to fight than with any towering concern for my welfare. You might think that's cynical but guess who the target was if no one else was around and they were tired of fighting each other? I must've spent half my childhood locked in the bathroom, screaming, "Dad's gonna get you when he gets home." I know, I know, nobody likes a stoolie. But it was either that or have my block knocked off on a regular basis, and trust me, Daddy was the best deterrent going.
A smart woman probably would've gone away to an all-girl school or moved in with some girlfriends at the first opportunity. Me, I got married to my high school sweetie. And the tradition continues. Our only kid (who hasn't been a kid for quite some time now) is the aforementioned sweet baby boy, and except for an Irish setter we had for eleven years a long time ago, even our pets have all been male. I just try to stay afloat whenever I find myself in the deep end of the testosterone pool, and if you don't think that isn't a trial sometimes, I'm here to tell you- it can be hell.
Then again, it can also be heaven. In fact, it mostly is. But listen, don't tell my guys I 'fessed up to that, okay? Trust me, it's difficult enough already, just trying to stay one step ahead of the game.
Having brothers was a mixed bag. When anybody messed with me they were always quick with an offer to beat them up. That was sorta nice, although I personally believe it had more to do with the fact that guys just like to fight than with any towering concern for my welfare. You might think that's cynical but guess who the target was if no one else was around and they were tired of fighting each other? I must've spent half my childhood locked in the bathroom, screaming, "Dad's gonna get you when he gets home." I know, I know, nobody likes a stoolie. But it was either that or have my block knocked off on a regular basis, and trust me, Daddy was the best deterrent going.
A smart woman probably would've gone away to an all-girl school or moved in with some girlfriends at the first opportunity. Me, I got married to my high school sweetie. And the tradition continues. Our only kid (who hasn't been a kid for quite some time now) is the aforementioned sweet baby boy, and except for an Irish setter we had for eleven years a long time ago, even our pets have all been male. I just try to stay afloat whenever I find myself in the deep end of the testosterone pool, and if you don't think that isn't a trial sometimes, I'm here to tell you- it can be hell.
Then again, it can also be heaven. In fact, it mostly is. But listen, don't tell my guys I 'fessed up to that, okay? Trust me, it's difficult enough already, just trying to stay one step ahead of the game.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 56 reviews
May 29, 2018
Dr. Ivy Pennington becomes the deadly obsession for a rapist. Vince D'Ambruzzi is the cop who is on the case, who must surely be one of the most unlikable, exasperating "heroes" you're ever going to find in the romantic suspense genre. Any suspense in the story takes a backseat to spending time in the headspace of this wildly insecure manchild, with serious rage issues and severe small-dick syndrome.
I like my romantic suspense to have a good mix of both, but even if it doesn't, I don't mind a romance focus, so long as I like the participants. Here, I didn't. I LOATHED Vincent! His ex-wife was a "slut" who slept around with any man she met. He calls her "The Bitch", and as such has trust issues the size of Europe when it comes to women, thinking they'll turn around and sleep with someone else behind his back at a moment's notice. It was utterly exhausting being in his head. He is so ANGRY, ALL the time. It's even ludicrously suggested that Ivy should know Vincent loves her, because he's "out of control" when he's around her. To me, he was barely better than the rapist! At least the rapist sent Ivy flowers! Vincent hardly has a nice thing to say to her, let alone send her flowers. Even when she's constantly telling him she loves him, Vincent refuses to return the sentiment. He's always grabbing her by the wrist, hauling her around, or looming over Ivy aggressively. He's constantly accusing her of being ready to sleep around on him. He's always finding some new thing to get angry about. It was Just. So. Exhausting.
I hated him. He needed serious therapy.
Ivy, on occasion, wasn't much better. I do lose patience when people show a complete inability to simply talk to each other. Here, Ivy and Vincent just get pissed, and clam up. I just didn't see the relationship working, because I got no indication that Vincent, despite his late-in-the-game exclamation of love, could ever get around his anger and trust issues, not to mention his jaw-droppingly acute insecurity.
So, if the romance doesn't work, what else does? Not much. The suspense is severely lacking, because 90% of the story is taken up with Vince and his multitude of issues. The rapist sends a couple notes, some flowers, and makes a couple of phone calls. That's it. Hardly thrilling! The tale caps off with some sleazy sexual assaults, I suppose to remind us it's supposed to be a "thriller". It just left a bad taste in my mouth.
Then we have the subplot about the kissing cousins! Well, to be more accurate, Terry is in love with his cousin Jaz. It was a bizarre subplot, and I don't really want to read about incestuous yearnings in a romance - or anywhere, really!
Then we have the frequent head-hopping, often within the same paragraph. One person will be thinking something, and then all of a sudden we're in somebody else's head. A bit sloppy. About the only good thing I can say about the book is the ahead-of-it's-time (this was published in 1993) approach to sexual assault and sexual assault victims. There wasn't anything that made me cringe. Rape is about power, women don't "ask" for it, etc, which was refreshing. Which makes it so strange that it would then have a "hero" who can't trust women and thinks they're all sluts!
I need a nap! Vince's relentless, non-stop anger and vitriol has sapped me of all of my energy!
I like my romantic suspense to have a good mix of both, but even if it doesn't, I don't mind a romance focus, so long as I like the participants. Here, I didn't. I LOATHED Vincent! His ex-wife was a "slut" who slept around with any man she met. He calls her "The Bitch", and as such has trust issues the size of Europe when it comes to women, thinking they'll turn around and sleep with someone else behind his back at a moment's notice. It was utterly exhausting being in his head. He is so ANGRY, ALL the time. It's even ludicrously suggested that Ivy should know Vincent loves her, because he's "out of control" when he's around her. To me, he was barely better than the rapist! At least the rapist sent Ivy flowers! Vincent hardly has a nice thing to say to her, let alone send her flowers. Even when she's constantly telling him she loves him, Vincent refuses to return the sentiment. He's always grabbing her by the wrist, hauling her around, or looming over Ivy aggressively. He's constantly accusing her of being ready to sleep around on him. He's always finding some new thing to get angry about. It was Just. So. Exhausting.
I hated him. He needed serious therapy.
Ivy, on occasion, wasn't much better. I do lose patience when people show a complete inability to simply talk to each other. Here, Ivy and Vincent just get pissed, and clam up. I just didn't see the relationship working, because I got no indication that Vincent, despite his late-in-the-game exclamation of love, could ever get around his anger and trust issues, not to mention his jaw-droppingly acute insecurity.
So, if the romance doesn't work, what else does? Not much. The suspense is severely lacking, because 90% of the story is taken up with Vince and his multitude of issues. The rapist sends a couple notes, some flowers, and makes a couple of phone calls. That's it. Hardly thrilling! The tale caps off with some sleazy sexual assaults, I suppose to remind us it's supposed to be a "thriller". It just left a bad taste in my mouth.
Then we have the subplot about the kissing cousins! Well, to be more accurate, Terry is in love with his cousin Jaz. It was a bizarre subplot, and I don't really want to read about incestuous yearnings in a romance - or anywhere, really!
Then we have the frequent head-hopping, often within the same paragraph. One person will be thinking something, and then all of a sudden we're in somebody else's head. A bit sloppy. About the only good thing I can say about the book is the ahead-of-it's-time (this was published in 1993) approach to sexual assault and sexual assault victims. There wasn't anything that made me cringe. Rape is about power, women don't "ask" for it, etc, which was refreshing. Which makes it so strange that it would then have a "hero" who can't trust women and thinks they're all sluts!
I need a nap! Vince's relentless, non-stop anger and vitriol has sapped me of all of my energy!
October 7, 2020
4 stars.
If you don’t like books written in the 80s and 90s I wouldn’t read this one. I had to work hard to get the image of tom selleck out of my mind as the wardrobe and physical descriptions were really outdated. Putting that aside I actually really quite enjoyed this easy read. Easy as in quick to read, not the subject matter at the end of the book as it was surprisingly graphic.
The suspense was good and it reminded me of a Karen Robards or old Linda Howard.
I tried one of the author’s comedy romances and I hated it with a passion. To be honest if I’d realised it was the same author i probably wouldn’t have picked this up but I’m glad ultimately i did. I may try another of her suspense novels.
If you don’t like books written in the 80s and 90s I wouldn’t read this one. I had to work hard to get the image of tom selleck out of my mind as the wardrobe and physical descriptions were really outdated. Putting that aside I actually really quite enjoyed this easy read. Easy as in quick to read, not the subject matter at the end of the book as it was surprisingly graphic.
The suspense was good and it reminded me of a Karen Robards or old Linda Howard.
I tried one of the author’s comedy romances and I hated it with a passion. To be honest if I’d realised it was the same author i probably wouldn’t have picked this up but I’m glad ultimately i did. I may try another of her suspense novels.
September 2, 2016
The book sounds more interesting in the summary. The whole stalker thing was not bad , the villain was disturbing but nothing ever seemed to happen until right before the ending. What ruined the book for me was Vincent , Ivy was a well constructed character .. I liked her but Vincent on the other hand brings a whole new meaning to the word "Jerk" , he's absolutely horrible .. I mean I get his past and all but that still doesn't justify the horrible things he kept on doing and saying , no woman with self respect should tolerate someone like him , I did not like the hero at all and I can't understand what Ivy saw in him other than his *gasp* gorgeous body *eye roll* the book would have been much better if it had a decent hero.
January 20, 2010
This was a pretty good read. I found I couldn't put it down. I will say that the hero kinda of got on my nerves every once in awhile but what man doesn't? Its a keeper for me.
January 11, 2013
I picked this book up at the library as I love everything Susan Andersen has written. It was published in 1993 and has a very different style than her recent books. As it turns out, this is a re-read for me. I got to the condom bowl and knew I had read it before. It is a great book. Lots of romance, some humor and edge of your seat suspense. Ivy is a new ER doctor who moves in next to a Special Victims cop, Vincent. The whole relationship starts off bad and gets really good, then really bad. Ivy had one of Vincent's rape victims as a patient. The scum who did it followed the victim to the hospital and fixated on Ivy. Ivy has a real down to earth family who love her and support her. Vincent is closed off emotionally and only wants to relate to Ivy sexually. Can Vincent and Ivy get past the white hot sexual attraction in order to get this guy? Read it and find out.
May 23, 2015
I was a little worried that this would be too creepy-scary for me, but Andersen came through. There were tense moments but nothing too extreme for this wussy girl. There was a big icky scene at the very end, but that's where they're supposed to be. Not in the middle where it would require escalation. So, the hero is a stick-up-his-backside cop who jumps to laughingly wrong conclusions from the instant he meets her. The heroine is a recently graduated ER doc who takes care of a rape victim and attracts the bad guy's attention. Oh, and they live next door to each other. And they are attracted to each other. And we're off! It's a really good read. I liked it a lot.
October 1, 2011
I liked Ivy but for Vincent it was another story. Because of his emotional past, he sometimes reacted like a moron. Moreover I found the atmosphere of this book a bit weird and something about one of the secondary characters bothered me:
July 5, 2018
Slow starting book, usually I don't bother with those kind. But about the time I would have stopped trying to get into the book it hooked me. Can't wait to see how it ends.
Definitely wasn't my usual read. But I am glad I stuck with it. Loved it
Definitely wasn't my usual read. But I am glad I stuck with it. Loved it
July 14, 2015
The best Susan Andersen book I've read so far...
July 12, 2024
needs major editing. like so much to the point where i thought this book was machine translated at times. italics, no italics, italics again, then no italics again—make up your mind! stop ransoming putting italics wherever you want! also, the suspense was not there. the building of it was terrible. we’d spend two paragraphs on the stalker and then it’s right back to the mmcs arguing abt the same thing for the 1846483927th time or having sex and then arguing again. i actually couldn’t care less abt their relationship cause i was more invest in what the stalker was gonna do to the fmc and what he actually did was.. let’s say lackluster. okay, flowers, two notes and two phone calls.. now what? would have liked the book more if the author didn’t go on and on abt how breathtaking and gorgeous jaz is like i don’t care?? how many times are you gonna remind us of this? and also, what’s the use of adding that terry having a crush on jaz plot? it went nowhere. jaz wanting to be more than beautiful also went nowhere. why tell us these side characters aspirations if you’re not gonna do anything abt it? why even tell us at all if they’re not the mmcs? and we never found out anything abt the backstory of the stalker except just assuming that he got sa’d too when he was younger. like a *she* is mentioned in his pov, but that’s abt it. it’s never expanded on either 💀
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 4, 2023
Once again, we have a decent start with the author establishing distinctive characters with solid and defining backstories. These characters are presented with deeply ingrained and hard-set perspectives and personalities owing to the things they've experienced in life, and how they have each been impacted.
THEN... the story progresses, and as we watch these characters start to interact, they begin to do and say things and behave in ways that are SO contrary to who the author has established them to be, that their behavior makes little sense. It causes the character development to feel contrived, stunted and abrupt, to say the least, and it asks a LOT of the reader to blindly accept that the radical shift in these characters could occur in the short amount of time that this story covers (around 2 months).
The "lusty stuff" seemed over-done and gratuitous and didn't seem to flow well within the story. Again, based on the backstories and personalities of these characters (established in the beginning) the type of sexual behavior in the book seemed quite out of character for these people.
Overall, the resolutions of the plot points were not extremely satisfying, and left me wondering "why?"
THEN... the story progresses, and as we watch these characters start to interact, they begin to do and say things and behave in ways that are SO contrary to who the author has established them to be, that their behavior makes little sense. It causes the character development to feel contrived, stunted and abrupt, to say the least, and it asks a LOT of the reader to blindly accept that the radical shift in these characters could occur in the short amount of time that this story covers (around 2 months).
The "lusty stuff" seemed over-done and gratuitous and didn't seem to flow well within the story. Again, based on the backstories and personalities of these characters (established in the beginning) the type of sexual behavior in the book seemed quite out of character for these people.
Overall, the resolutions of the plot points were not extremely satisfying, and left me wondering "why?"
December 2, 2018
Vincent D'Ambruzzi is the detective assigned to serial rapist who only strikes during a full moon. Dr. Ivy Pennington is oncall the night one of the rapists victims passes out on him before he could finish his deed. She is no nonsense and puts Det. D'Ambruzzi in his place when he wants to speak to the latest victim. Unknown to both of them the rapist is watching and becomes obsessed with Dr. I Pennington.
Ivy has a boisterous, crazy, noisy family that loves her and becomes engrossed in this cat and mouse game. To say nothing of the cat and mouse game going on between him and Ivy. They are neighbors and when the rapist reaches out to her she seeks Vincent's comfort. Vincent however has his own demons to slay and he take that out on Ivy. Also there is a thing between her cousins. Her cousin Terry lusts after her cousin Jaz and well that connection, how they are related is never fully explained.
Ms. Andersen admits in the letter before the novel starts that she gets a bit long winded and she does. The story dragged on at times but there was a lot of action as well. I will read more of her stories because I like the character development for the most part.
Ivy has a boisterous, crazy, noisy family that loves her and becomes engrossed in this cat and mouse game. To say nothing of the cat and mouse game going on between him and Ivy. They are neighbors and when the rapist reaches out to her she seeks Vincent's comfort. Vincent however has his own demons to slay and he take that out on Ivy. Also there is a thing between her cousins. Her cousin Terry lusts after her cousin Jaz and well that connection, how they are related is never fully explained.
Ms. Andersen admits in the letter before the novel starts that she gets a bit long winded and she does. The story dragged on at times but there was a lot of action as well. I will read more of her stories because I like the character development for the most part.
September 2, 2018
Obsessed by Susan Andersen was one of my favorite books in like my senior year of high school, so of course I had to get it when I saw it recently at The Ripped Bodice.
When Ivy Pennington gets the attention of a murderous serial rapist, it’s up to Detective Vine D’Ambruzzi to keep her safe. Soon Ivy is trusting Vince with more than just her safety. As o mentioned I absolutely loved this book when I was younger. Now, I still enjoyed it and I can definitely see why it appealed to me so much before but it just didn’t enrapture me the same way. That said it was still an enjoyable read.
When Ivy Pennington gets the attention of a murderous serial rapist, it’s up to Detective Vine D’Ambruzzi to keep her safe. Soon Ivy is trusting Vince with more than just her safety. As o mentioned I absolutely loved this book when I was younger. Now, I still enjoyed it and I can definitely see why it appealed to me so much before but it just didn’t enrapture me the same way. That said it was still an enjoyable read.
January 10, 2018
I knew I should have skipped this book since it was centered around sex crimes.
The romance ran hot & cold, and it took the whole book before Vincent figured out what he wanted.
Aside from those two factors, the writing was good, and I liked the characters and their close family unit.
The romance ran hot & cold, and it took the whole book before Vincent figured out what he wanted.
Aside from those two factors, the writing was good, and I liked the characters and their close family unit.
September 25, 2018
OK Read
This was an ok read. The story could have focused more on the characters and less on superfluous details that didn't really contribute to the story. Vincent's character wasn't too much different from Tyler's. He was verbally and psychologically abusive to Ivy.
This was an ok read. The story could have focused more on the characters and less on superfluous details that didn't really contribute to the story. Vincent's character wasn't too much different from Tyler's. He was verbally and psychologically abusive to Ivy.
March 21, 2018
good good
September 18, 2018
Awful hero....
December 17, 2022
Really good plot twist!
June 14, 2023
Terrible.. got halfway through and I couldn’t take it anymore. Poor writing, terrible characters.. blah
Read
August 23, 2024I haven't read this yet, but I'm just going to assume that the cop is her stalker?
December 1, 2024
Outstanding story and genuinely so sad I’ve finished it. I NEED another book like this one, I don’t want to let go of Ivy and Vincent. It’s just a perfect book, a masterpiece.
September 8, 2025
This has to be the most unlikable mmc in the history of books. Just ugh.
May 8, 2021
Liked the story line and the characters, but to much jumping around from one character to another. Took a little bit to get used to it.
January 21, 2011
The book I have read for this this semester was Obsessed. The author of this book is Susan Andersen. This book is about a Doctor who has the name of Ivy Pennington. She recently moved into a new apartment and a new city. Her next door neighbor is a police man. She recently met her next door neighbor when he came to her home because she was playing cards with her cousins to obnoxiously. He introduced himself calmly. He said frustrated, that his name was Vincent D’Ambruzzi, and that she and her cousins should keep the racket down because he was woken up at 4:30 in the morning. They were then on the wrong side of the page with each other. Until the day she got to the hospital the next morning.
When she arrived that morning at the hospital she was speechless at what she had to do for the day. She had seen her shares of horrors but nothing compares to the young woman wheeled in, barley alive, with a broken heart carved into her chest. She was assigned to a victim of a rape case. And the detective that was assigned to the case was Vincent D’Ambruzzi. Obviously they were not seeing eye to eye. Ivy then gave all the evidence Vincent needed. When Ivy was done with her shift she was called down to the nurses station and she received flowers and a letter with a broken heart on the letter.
After receiving the letter she gave it to Vincent and tried to continue on with her life. She was just so obsessed with the fact that the rapist was getting away. The things that make the author of this book so unique is that she writes about rape victims and the doctor that is obsessed with the case and a detective that is in love with the doctor. Things that might make people want to read this book would be all of the suspense in the book. Finally things that might make people not want to read the book would be the genre. Some people might not like this book because of the fact that its mostly about a rapist and its victims and the fight to get the rapist in jail.
When she arrived that morning at the hospital she was speechless at what she had to do for the day. She had seen her shares of horrors but nothing compares to the young woman wheeled in, barley alive, with a broken heart carved into her chest. She was assigned to a victim of a rape case. And the detective that was assigned to the case was Vincent D’Ambruzzi. Obviously they were not seeing eye to eye. Ivy then gave all the evidence Vincent needed. When Ivy was done with her shift she was called down to the nurses station and she received flowers and a letter with a broken heart on the letter.
After receiving the letter she gave it to Vincent and tried to continue on with her life. She was just so obsessed with the fact that the rapist was getting away. The things that make the author of this book so unique is that she writes about rape victims and the doctor that is obsessed with the case and a detective that is in love with the doctor. Things that might make people want to read this book would be all of the suspense in the book. Finally things that might make people not want to read the book would be the genre. Some people might not like this book because of the fact that its mostly about a rapist and its victims and the fight to get the rapist in jail.
January 27, 2011
The book I have read for this this semester was Obsessed. The author of this book is Susan Andersen. This book is about a Doctor who has the name of Ivy Pennington. She recently moved into a new apartment and a new city. Her next door neighbor is a police man. She recently met her next door neighbor when he came to her home because she was playing cards with her cousins to obnoxiously. He introduced himself calmly. He said frustrated, that his name was Vincent D’Ambruzzi, and that she and her cousins should keep the racket down because he was woken up at 4:30 in the morning. They were then on the wrong side of the page with each other. Until the day she got to the hospital the next morning.
When she arrived that morning at the hospital she was speechless at what she had to do for the day. She had seen her shares of horrors but nothing compares to the young woman wheeled in, barley alive, with a broken heart carved into her chest. She was assigned to a victim of a rape case. And the detective that was assigned to the case was Vincent D’Ambruzzi. Obviously they were not seeing eye to eye. Ivy then gave all the evidence Vincent needed. When Ivy was done with her shift she was called down to the nurses station and she received flowers and a letter with a broken heart on the letter.
After receiving the letter she gave it to Vincent and tried to continue on with her life. She was just so obsessed with the fact that the rapist was getting away. The things that make the author of this book so unique is that she writes about rape victims and the doctor that is obsessed with the case and a detective that is in love with the doctor. Things that might make people want to read this book would be all of the suspense in the book. Finally things that might make people not want to read the book would be the genre. Some people might not like this book because of the fact that its mostly about a rapist and its victims and the fight to get the rapist in jail.
When she arrived that morning at the hospital she was speechless at what she had to do for the day. She had seen her shares of horrors but nothing compares to the young woman wheeled in, barley alive, with a broken heart carved into her chest. She was assigned to a victim of a rape case. And the detective that was assigned to the case was Vincent D’Ambruzzi. Obviously they were not seeing eye to eye. Ivy then gave all the evidence Vincent needed. When Ivy was done with her shift she was called down to the nurses station and she received flowers and a letter with a broken heart on the letter.
After receiving the letter she gave it to Vincent and tried to continue on with her life. She was just so obsessed with the fact that the rapist was getting away. The things that make the author of this book so unique is that she writes about rape victims and the doctor that is obsessed with the case and a detective that is in love with the doctor. Things that might make people want to read this book would be all of the suspense in the book. Finally things that might make people not want to read the book would be the genre. Some people might not like this book because of the fact that its mostly about a rapist and its victims and the fight to get the rapist in jail.
October 23, 2015
Talk about a rollercoaster of emotions. It was actually rather serious, only a little cute or funny part every once in a while.
There was quite a bit of fighting between the two characters but, given the circumstances of what happened to Vincent, I can kind of understand it.
The constant POV changes kept throwing me off, I mean don’t get me wrong, I appreciated them, they kept me in the main characters head but, the way they were written is what I had a problem with. They weren’t exactly separated enough to let me know that there was going to be POV change, it just happened, they kind of just bled into each other.
The writing was a little too detailed, for example, taking nearly a whole page to describe what someone looked like, another case of it feeling like the author was trying to reach word count.
Other than those things, it was actually a really good read and I only felt the need to take away one star because I did really like this book.
I would recommend this for those who want to maybe get into a psychological thriller without it actually being a psychological thriller.
Thank you for reading my review.
-Sam
There was quite a bit of fighting between the two characters but, given the circumstances of what happened to Vincent, I can kind of understand it.
The constant POV changes kept throwing me off, I mean don’t get me wrong, I appreciated them, they kept me in the main characters head but, the way they were written is what I had a problem with. They weren’t exactly separated enough to let me know that there was going to be POV change, it just happened, they kind of just bled into each other.
The writing was a little too detailed, for example, taking nearly a whole page to describe what someone looked like, another case of it feeling like the author was trying to reach word count.
Other than those things, it was actually a really good read and I only felt the need to take away one star because I did really like this book.
I would recommend this for those who want to maybe get into a psychological thriller without it actually being a psychological thriller.
Thank you for reading my review.
-Sam
October 3, 2012
I really liked the first meeting between Vincent and Ivy, full of misunderstandings, unexpected attraction from both sides. Each of their following meeting added something to the pot, or contributed to deplete the infamous obnoxious vase (private joke for readers).
Vincent's behavior several times exceeded the acceptable, and he was indeed lucky that Ivy managed to be so abstemious, mild-tempered and understanding. However he managed to redeem himself in my eyes later on, as obviously his past was not sufficient to explain his behavior.
Ivy was a very likable character. I also liked her cousins.
What I was a bit disappointed at was the fake romantic suspense environment. Why fake ? One of the main difference with Mr Perfect, from Linda Howard, is that there's no mystery here around the identity and motivation of the rapist. This somehow makes his demise not so satisfying, as no revelations come to light. Probably it's less hollywoodesque but closer to reality though.
Very enjoyable read, in a contemporary not-all-shiny context.
Vincent's behavior several times exceeded the acceptable, and he was indeed lucky that Ivy managed to be so abstemious, mild-tempered and understanding. However he managed to redeem himself in my eyes later on, as obviously his past was not sufficient to explain his behavior.
Ivy was a very likable character. I also liked her cousins.
What I was a bit disappointed at was the fake romantic suspense environment. Why fake ? One of the main difference with Mr Perfect, from Linda Howard, is that there's no mystery here around the identity and motivation of the rapist. This somehow makes his demise not so satisfying, as no revelations come to light. Probably it's less hollywoodesque but closer to reality though.
Very enjoyable read, in a contemporary not-all-shiny context.
December 24, 2015
Really liked it. The main characters were so real. Ivy and Vincent's relationship was up and down, but I completely understood his fears and he fought against them so well. The dialogue between them was great - even when they were fighting, maybe especially when they were fighting. I don't need a ton of suspense and the stalker/rapist was creepy enough for me. I didn't mind that we knew who he was from early on. I particularly liked the understanding of child abuse dynamics and while there was sympathy, he wasn't getting away with anything.
I loved Ivy's family and the funny relationship between Vincent and Keith. Loved the vase of condoms - too hilarious! On her website, SA talks about the secondary relationships that she never wrote sequels for. I really wish she had - Ivy's cousins would have made a great series, even if the one relationship hadn't worked out and the story about how Terry got over it and found a new love could have been fabulous.
I loved Ivy's family and the funny relationship between Vincent and Keith. Loved the vase of condoms - too hilarious! On her website, SA talks about the secondary relationships that she never wrote sequels for. I really wish she had - Ivy's cousins would have made a great series, even if the one relationship hadn't worked out and the story about how Terry got over it and found a new love could have been fabulous.
March 14, 2021
YO THIS BOOK EFFING SUCKED. i have no idea how anyone could rate this 5 stars. LIKE SERIOUSLY IF U RATED THIS 5 STARS, GET HELP 😍
i remember one of the 5 star ratings saying that this book had “high vocabulary” so i was expecting the book to be a little bit harder to read but it wasn’t at all. it was very easy to read and skim through and damn did i skim through it because it was B L A N D AF. BRO I THOUGHT THIS WAS A ROMANTIC THRILLER. WHERE WAS THE THRILL PART OF IT. the majority of the book was taken up by the main character and her love interest’s crusty dry arse relationship.
the serial rapist was such a freaking cliché. and there was this one scene where the mc asked the love interest dude why he wanted her or something like that and he said “your body.” very romantic, man. so freaking smooth. i thought everyone was exaggerating when they said vincent was an arsehole but like yeah nope theyre not exaggerating 😀
anywys overall thoughts?? i should’ve dnfed 😀👍
i remember one of the 5 star ratings saying that this book had “high vocabulary” so i was expecting the book to be a little bit harder to read but it wasn’t at all. it was very easy to read and skim through and damn did i skim through it because it was B L A N D AF. BRO I THOUGHT THIS WAS A ROMANTIC THRILLER. WHERE WAS THE THRILL PART OF IT. the majority of the book was taken up by the main character and her love interest’s crusty dry arse relationship.
the serial rapist was such a freaking cliché. and there was this one scene where the mc asked the love interest dude why he wanted her or something like that and he said “your body.” very romantic, man. so freaking smooth. i thought everyone was exaggerating when they said vincent was an arsehole but like yeah nope theyre not exaggerating 😀
anywys overall thoughts?? i should’ve dnfed 😀👍
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