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A review by lenoreo
Stranded on the Beach by Noelle Adams
3.0
https://celebrityreaders.com/2021/07/06/summer-of-love-week-3-stranded-on-the-beach-by-noelle-adams/
3 stars — Well bummer. I was kind of disappointed in the writing for this one. I mean, it was super quick and easy to devour…but it was also kind of flat and shallow. Like something in the writing felt forced instead of natural or something. I noticed it the most in the steamy scenes — like maybe a really talented audiobook narrator could have acted it out better, but when I tried saying some of the sexytimes dialogue out loud, I literally cringed. It was…well not realistic in my mind. But maybe it’s just me.
I think I wanted to like this one more than I did. I remember reading book 2 in this series as part of a Christmas anthology and really loving it, and thus wanting to read all the Holiday sisters stories. But this one just didn’t have the same magic for me. Or maybe, just 2.5 years on, I’m that much of a different person? I don’t know. I’ll give the other stories a try since they’re short.
Rebecca and Phil were both solid characters, if a little flat. I kind of wish I’d learned a bit more about Phil’s past with his father and family. We get strong hints, but not enough to really understand his level of disconnectedness and fear. He ended up feeling pretty emotionally stunted…which, is reasonable. But. I don’t know. I really don’t know why it was sort of meh for me.
I think the same can be said for Rebecca — we got hints of depth, but not enough to satisfy me. I just had a harder time connecting with her.
As I said, the steamy scenes kind of put me off. Phil’s constant talking about how Rebecca was so hot and fiery for a quiet girl just…I don’t know…for some stupid reason it rubbed me wrong. I seriously can’t articulate why though, so take it with a grain of salt.
I’m really hoping that the writing just improved as the series went on, and so I’ll enjoy the 3rd and 4th books more. But maybe it’s partly just the kind of characters? Ah well.
3 stars — Well bummer. I was kind of disappointed in the writing for this one. I mean, it was super quick and easy to devour…but it was also kind of flat and shallow. Like something in the writing felt forced instead of natural or something. I noticed it the most in the steamy scenes — like maybe a really talented audiobook narrator could have acted it out better, but when I tried saying some of the sexytimes dialogue out loud, I literally cringed. It was…well not realistic in my mind. But maybe it’s just me.
I think I wanted to like this one more than I did. I remember reading book 2 in this series as part of a Christmas anthology and really loving it, and thus wanting to read all the Holiday sisters stories. But this one just didn’t have the same magic for me. Or maybe, just 2.5 years on, I’m that much of a different person? I don’t know. I’ll give the other stories a try since they’re short.
Rebecca and Phil were both solid characters, if a little flat. I kind of wish I’d learned a bit more about Phil’s past with his father and family. We get strong hints, but not enough to really understand his level of disconnectedness and fear. He ended up feeling pretty emotionally stunted…which, is reasonable. But. I don’t know. I really don’t know why it was sort of meh for me.
I think the same can be said for Rebecca — we got hints of depth, but not enough to satisfy me. I just had a harder time connecting with her.
As I said, the steamy scenes kind of put me off. Phil’s constant talking about how Rebecca was so hot and fiery for a quiet girl just…I don’t know…for some stupid reason it rubbed me wrong. I seriously can’t articulate why though, so take it with a grain of salt.
I’m really hoping that the writing just improved as the series went on, and so I’ll enjoy the 3rd and 4th books more. But maybe it’s partly just the kind of characters? Ah well.