*sigh*
I guess I should just accept that I'm not into MC romances. The few that I've read so far (or tried reading only to end up putting them on my DNF shelve) were either too cheesy, too cliché or too unrealistic for my taste. Still, being a story about an MC wasn't by far the main issue I had with this book.
There were quite a few things that put me off.
The romance felt rushed and corny, especially in the first, say, 40% of the book. For example, on their first "date", the main characters, Ani and Knox, hardly knew each other, had barely spoken ten sentences in total, had just had an open air quickie against a cabin wall, and were already talking about future plans and what to expect from each other? And it didn't get better from there...
The sex scenes were awkward and seemed kind of forced. Nothing hot about them, so I just skipped them, and I NEVER do that. What is more, they never, not even once, thought or talked about protection of any sorts. Just got it on.
There were times when the story just dragged on and nothing really happened, except Ani repeating over and over in her mind why she wanted or didn't want to be with Knox or Cash. I found myself skimming more than once, only to get past those parts.
I didn't really like the main characters. There wasn't anything wrong with them per se, I think, but I couldn't connect with them. Maybe it was just me. (I'm totally Team Cash, btw, although I think he deserves better than Ani)
Despite not exactly loving the main characters, I did like some of the secondary ones. Cash, Rage, Charon, all of them acceptable even though they weren't overly well developed. I loved Ani's father, though. He was sweet.
Also, I enjoyed the suspense parts in this book, a lot more than the romance. At about 75%, things finally started to get a little more exciting, and that's why I'm giving it two stars instead of one.
I don't like giving bad reviews (this is actually my first review of a book I rated lower than 3 stars), but since everyone else seems to love this book, I thought it can't hurt to mention some of the things that weren't so great.
Won't be reading the sequel.