Frustrating, Frustrating, Frustrating

This is another book that was recommended by a friend (and because of that, I slogged my way through to the end.) Unfortunately, it didn't turn out as well as Dirty.

The Slightest Provocation by Pam Rosenthal
(2006, Regency Historical) 6/14/07
Grade: 2.5

Ten years after their marriage, and nine years after their separation, Mary and Kit meet again, and find their sexual attraction is as strong as ever, even if they still drove each other crazy. Their plan is divorce, but can they ever be happy apart? Amid political upheaval, they discover what brought them together in the first place - and might bring them together again.

Very frustrating! I don’t normally care about style, but Rosenthal’s “style” drove me nuts. She writes in disjointed phrases, jumping from present to past, putting in pauses at random, and skipping from one storyline to another just when things are getting interesting. Her self-consciously “literary” style kept me from caring about the characters. For most of the book, I didn’t feel that the hero and heroine had any connection at all, other than sexual attraction. Even when they begin to interact on other levels (200 pages in!), the author kept the emotions from building to a satisfying conclusion, by shifting the focus away from the hero and heroine every time we got a glimpse of their inner thoughts. It’s only in the last couple of chapters that we get any sustained emotional buildup. The political side-plot was interesting (especially in the last 50 pages) but it wasn’t explored in enough detail to really make a difference. I found the book very difficult to finish.

It's rare for me to criticize a book on the basis of style. Even when I recognize the flaws in an author's style, it doesn't usually prevent me from enjoying the book, as long as the characters are good. But for me to enjoy a romance, I need to bond with the characters. To get inside them and understand what makes them tick. A few authors have a style that puts a barrier between me and the characters, and prevents me from getting inside of their skins. Their style may be admirable in a literary sense. (I think Judith Ivory's prose is lovely, for example, but I've never been able to enjoy one of her books.) But it fails for me, as a romance reader, because it maintains this emotional distance.