What do you think?
Rate this book
No Strings Attached
She saved his life, but she wants more from him than gratitude…
Mei Jing is feeling conflicted about not telling Rod that she is his rescuer. And as their relationship grows, her conflict is heightened after each date… She knows Rod is seeking the woman who saved his life, but Mei Jing struggles to find the right time to tell him the truth. Will she be able to trust that what she feels is his love for her or Rod’s gratitude for his rescuer?
Mei Jing is feeling conflicted about not telling Rod that she is his rescuer. And as their relationship grows, her conflict is heightened after each date… She knows Rod is seeking the woman who saved his life, but Mei Jing struggles to find the right time to tell him the truth. Will she be able to trust that what she feels is his love for her or Rod’s gratitude for his rescuer?
175 pages, ebook
First published December 1, 2012
1 person is currently reading
56 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
December 23, 2012
Another of my purchases from Escape Publishing, bought right after Grease Monkey Jive, when the December titles were on sale.
Mei Jing and Rod were both in Thailand during the 2004 tsunami, and she saved his life. In the years since, he's devoted much effort and money to finding the woman who rescued him, based only on his friend's half-remembered glimpse of her at the hospital, and a couple more small details.
And then one night they meet in Brisbane, where they both happen to live. When it becomes clear that Rod doesn't remember her at all (he was pretty much unconscious during the rescue), Mei Jing hesitates, and decides not to tell him just yet. They have clicked from the very beginning and, quite reasonably, she feels introducing the whole "you owe me your life" thing into the equation will colour their developing relationship.
I really liked the premise, and completely understood Mei Jing's thinking, and her reluctance to introduce an element of obligation and debt into the relationship. This fear is exacerbated by the fact that she was raised in a traditional Chinese family, where such concepts were made much more transparent and explicit in relationships than would normally be the case in Western culture.
The thing is, the way this is all developed felt a bit off, not quite right. Forced, even. I found it very difficult to believe that Rod wouldn't have figured it out on his own. I mean, when they first meet, Mei Jing makes it clear that they have met each other before. Rod trying to remember where is even a running joke between them. She tells him they have kissed (well, the CPR she administered involved mouth to mouth), and that she's seen him with his top off. He knows his rescuer was Asian and that she had trained to work with children (Mei Jing is a special education teacher). But nope, not a clue. And then when he finds out it's all misunderstanding after misunderstanding, which felt a bit frustrating.
Additionally, the romance wasn't particularly well-developed. It felt very shallowly done. I felt like I knew and understood Mei Jing, but not so much Rod. We spend very little time in his POV, and at the end of the book, I just didn't know much about him beyond the superficial.
Actually, we spend too little time with Mei Jing and Rod, period. I wish we'd spent more time understanding how they fit and why they should be together. It's a short book, under 200 pages, I'd say, and we get 3 different romances. In addition to the main one, there are Mei Jing's best friend, Tina, and Mick, her neighbour and friend from childhood. Mick's loved her forever (even though he's spent the years sleeping with blonde cheerleaders), and here they finally get together, but Tina doesn't know if she wants to take it further. Then there's Tina's sister, Ksenija, who's a moody artist, and Rod's friend Stewey, who braves her prickliness.
All 3 of the romances were ones I was interested in, and would have read an entire book about each. Unfortunately, trying to cram them all in such a short book left them all feeling slightly underbaked and unsatisfying.
I did have a good time reading this, though. It felt breezy and fun and fresh, with people I haven't really read about much in romance. It's just that it could have been much better.
MY GRADE: A C+.
Mei Jing and Rod were both in Thailand during the 2004 tsunami, and she saved his life. In the years since, he's devoted much effort and money to finding the woman who rescued him, based only on his friend's half-remembered glimpse of her at the hospital, and a couple more small details.
And then one night they meet in Brisbane, where they both happen to live. When it becomes clear that Rod doesn't remember her at all (he was pretty much unconscious during the rescue), Mei Jing hesitates, and decides not to tell him just yet. They have clicked from the very beginning and, quite reasonably, she feels introducing the whole "you owe me your life" thing into the equation will colour their developing relationship.
I really liked the premise, and completely understood Mei Jing's thinking, and her reluctance to introduce an element of obligation and debt into the relationship. This fear is exacerbated by the fact that she was raised in a traditional Chinese family, where such concepts were made much more transparent and explicit in relationships than would normally be the case in Western culture.
The thing is, the way this is all developed felt a bit off, not quite right. Forced, even. I found it very difficult to believe that Rod wouldn't have figured it out on his own. I mean, when they first meet, Mei Jing makes it clear that they have met each other before. Rod trying to remember where is even a running joke between them. She tells him they have kissed (well, the CPR she administered involved mouth to mouth), and that she's seen him with his top off. He knows his rescuer was Asian and that she had trained to work with children (Mei Jing is a special education teacher). But nope, not a clue. And then when he finds out it's all misunderstanding after misunderstanding, which felt a bit frustrating.
Additionally, the romance wasn't particularly well-developed. It felt very shallowly done. I felt like I knew and understood Mei Jing, but not so much Rod. We spend very little time in his POV, and at the end of the book, I just didn't know much about him beyond the superficial.
Actually, we spend too little time with Mei Jing and Rod, period. I wish we'd spent more time understanding how they fit and why they should be together. It's a short book, under 200 pages, I'd say, and we get 3 different romances. In addition to the main one, there are Mei Jing's best friend, Tina, and Mick, her neighbour and friend from childhood. Mick's loved her forever (even though he's spent the years sleeping with blonde cheerleaders), and here they finally get together, but Tina doesn't know if she wants to take it further. Then there's Tina's sister, Ksenija, who's a moody artist, and Rod's friend Stewey, who braves her prickliness.
All 3 of the romances were ones I was interested in, and would have read an entire book about each. Unfortunately, trying to cram them all in such a short book left them all feeling slightly underbaked and unsatisfying.
I did have a good time reading this, though. It felt breezy and fun and fresh, with people I haven't really read about much in romance. It's just that it could have been much better.
MY GRADE: A C+.
December 19, 2012
This was a fabulous read. I enjoyed the Australian setting and all the different characters and what they brought to the story.
I especially loved the humour throughout.
What a great debut novel.
I especially loved the humour throughout.
What a great debut novel.
March 20, 2013
Rating: 3.5/5
I really enjoyed this story for the most part--my main issue being, this novel should have been broken into three novellas!
The Australian voice was distinct and refreshing, and while I have problems with the probability of Rod not knowing who Mei Jing was, the portrayal of 'debt-paying' inherent to Chinese culture (among other things), and how easily the Big Misunderstanding was resolved, I loved that I was so invested in all the characters. I just wished I'd seen more of the Mei Jing and Rod development, because the flow became disjointed when the narrative turned its focus to the other relationships going on between their friends.
I have now read two contemporary romances featuring Asian-Australian characters from Escape Publishing. I cannot wait to see more!
I really enjoyed this story for the most part--my main issue being, this novel should have been broken into three novellas!
The Australian voice was distinct and refreshing, and while I have problems with the probability of Rod not knowing who Mei Jing was, the portrayal of 'debt-paying' inherent to Chinese culture (among other things), and how easily the Big Misunderstanding was resolved, I loved that I was so invested in all the characters. I just wished I'd seen more of the Mei Jing and Rod development, because the flow became disjointed when the narrative turned its focus to the other relationships going on between their friends.
I have now read two contemporary romances featuring Asian-Australian characters from Escape Publishing. I cannot wait to see more!
May 17, 2013
Wow, this was a wonderful book. Absolutely hilarious in (lots of) places, great insight into what it might be like to be a modern Australian daughter of rather traditional Chinese parents, and three addictive love stories rolled into one book. The catalyst for the story is the Boxing Day tsunami disaster and its effects on three Australian tourists. I couldn't put this book down. Bring on the next one, Bridget Gray!
December 21, 2012
I really fell into this book, I truly felt this story was non-fiction rather than fiction, flowed well and reflected the story brilliantly and the funny one liners were great too.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews