Could have been great
356678
This book had potential. The plot line was actually really good it was just the telling of the story that fell short. I am not saying there were not good part because there was, its just that there was so much repeated information that it made about a third of the book redundant reading. I thought that the characters could have been better written however, their lack could be due to the constant repetition of their thoughts. There was also quite a few grammar mistakes in the book but I got an ARC copy so I was expecting some of that. I think this book could use some time with a professional  editor. Just for extra, it is frowned upon for military personnel to wear cologne and perfume while deployed or in the field for the simple reason that it can alert your enemy to your position. That really stood out and bothered me in the book, something that could have been fixed by simple research on military regulations.
2536813
This could have been so much better. It has a wonderful premise, terrific characters that you will really care about. The location is fascinating. But some parts of this were almost painful to read. The transitions are so abrupt you could get whiplash. The police procedural portions are totally laughable. The bad guy attacks s cop. You take him down and never get questioned, Don't go to the station, collect no evidence, never file a report. The autopsy was a joke. Little hint for you cause of death will never be determined without an internal. Never. Yet there were so many great ideas in this novel, so many unrealized plot lines that would have added so much were just hinted at. I really see potential here and hope this author keeps trying.
514464
This book had so much potential; an adorable, heart-breaking romance, interesting world-building, an epic quest, strange monsters, well done characters. Sadly, the book falls short on the writing. The perspectives switch in an untidy and often unexpected fashion which can really take you out of the world and adventure, as well as some plot points were a bit weaker. Certain things seemed too easy after the build up for an epic quest and it's difficulties. Doing my best to avoid spoilers, there's even a second quest near the end that is significantly shortened compared to the first quest, though it seems more important. I feel like with more editing and a better handle on perspectives, this book could've been outstanding. It gives me a lot of internal conflict when I do love all the potential and elements but am displeased with the presentation.
2302680
Not bad, but could have been awesome. Starts out with a strong premise: It has been years since the earth has been overrun--a great set-up.  But then the rest of the book is just a standard start-of-zombie-apocalypse.  Points earned for being a military group that's well-trained and efficient. The ending is just a pause point before the next book without a satisfying wrap-up.
520940
The story had potential.  The ideas were great and could have worked well, but it felt like the initial plot dealing with past mistakes was somewhat glanced over.  It was so easily dismissed, which just did not work for the story.  The editing was an issue, too.  Several times I had to stop and re-read a passage, due to misplaced words or punctuation.
3676724
This couldve been a great novel with just a few tweaks. Mainly the explicit/graphic sexual content, and the casual use of vulgar language by the women -- if  that doesn't bother you than maybe you'll like this. It bothered me and I'm not a prude. I feel there are times when certain words are appropriate, even in sex, but it's all in the way it's presented. It's sad to think that today's professional women in their 30s feel they must talk like a man in order to feel equal to one in casual conversation with their peers. Couldn't a question like "Did you f*** him yet?" be phrased differently? ... "have you gotten him in bed yet?" or perhaps "seduced him yet?" Which isn't as crude and accomplishes the same objective. I know many middle aged professional women who take pride in their femininity and do not resort to vulgar expressions to make a point.

I skimmed through a lot of the sex scenes as they were lengthy, graphic, and didn't add that much to the story line. I liked the story line of Finns family (the guy).  He has an interesting (yet poorly developed) grandmother who raised him, a son who needs his guidance and a daughter in a wheel chair, but no money. Hed never forgotten his first love, Liz, the main character. Liz, is likable enough, has money, a good business, but lacks personal-self confidence due to being formerly fat. She is supposed to be smart, a professional woman with a strong business expertise, but her plan to have unemotional sex with her first love, Finn, is unrealistic and predictable. Her girlfriends didn't add much to the story either, except a few expletives, but I understand each of them has their own novel.

SPOILER: I agree with many that commented that Finn's reaction at the end was crude, when he found out his seduction was all planned in advance. There again he didn't have to say she'd been "f***ing" him for practice" in front of everyone... He could've said she'd hopped in the sack with him, but apparently the writer feels she needs to use the F word for shock value. She should realize that all readers are not comfortable with that, and that if the writing is good enough, the shock value isn't needed.

Although this was entertaining enough for lovers of romance novels, it is not something I will recommend to anyone I know.
1741346
Could have been a great story, but too many holes. Decent acting, filming was a little choppy - not my thing. OK Si-Fi.
1398871
This is a intriguing story with very lovable characters. It would have been great.... except that 50% of the book is filler.... just repeating the characters feelings and fears. If she added another element that the couple had to defeat, instead of a couple hundred pages of them refusing to discuss a 10 year old misunderstanding, then this book would be really great!! As is, it would be a pretty kicking short story.
29354
The premise and plot were great.  The editors, however, missed their marks. Not just grammatical errors, I could have attributed that to an odd artistic choice.  The wrong words in several instances created temporary confusion. For example,  characters were to read maps to get a feel for the "reason" not the "region."  Similarly,  the word "alter" instead of "after."  It really cheapness the story.

I think someone, editor, friend, even the author , should have reviewed it for clarity as well. I can overlook the flaws in govt agencies' missions, but the characters were not consistently represented. It really read like a great first draft that was rushed to publication.  Again, the plot and premise held great promise, and with attention to detail could have been the foundation for a great novel.
4523826
Like others have said, this story has a lot of potential. I liked the characters and the premise of the story....what there was of it. It ended very abruptly and felt unfinished, leaving me feeling unsatisfied with no real pay-off. It would be nice if the author actually finished the story. It needs another chapter or two, or at least an epilogue.
1588601
A very good premise for a spanking fiction with lots of potential, but the story fell short for me. So much more could have been done to build the characters and their relationship. Izzy was feisty and understandably dismayed at being taken for a mate without any input on her behalf. Grayson kept telling her that her opinions were valued, as were her feelings, but he was constantly scolding her for expressing those opinions, and he outright ignored her distress at others. I would have liked to have seen him compromise more - it was all about his needs and his way of life. I didn't care for the fact that he punished in anger at one point and used sexual punishments. I would have liked to have seen Izzy put up more of a fight over what SHE wanted - and perhaps have him make amends and again, do some compromising and learning what Izzy needed to be happy (and not sexually as that was OTT).
344315
A story that could have been great but fell apart brick by azure brick. The premise was interesting enough but the elements and detail to hash out the environment and character development weren't there. At times the characters seemed unrealistic, and the storyline rushed, which made for a shaken and jumpy read. I had high hopes reading the summary and looking at the cover for this book. But as I got further into it I realized it was something that fell way short of my expectations. I feel like it needs to be rewritten to be made right. All in all so disappointed.
2807967
Like the story, good writing, characters almost good. Why fail? Put more than one story entwined in a book, doesn't know how to develop & bam. The story is cut A lost story. I expect a little more for my money
4654637
I liked the movie very much--it was very entertaining.  However, they tried to put so much material into it that it really lacked some of the plot development it needed to carry through all of the points within it.  There was so much here that it would have made more sense to turn it into a full-fledged season of a TV show or a longer mini-series at least.  I don't want to get into spoilers, so I will simply say there are definite breaking points throughout that could have been developed into full-fledged features on their own.  I would be interested in seeing this same idea in an expanded format.
4063795
This CD is very enjoyable, but could have been so much better.  Let me start by saying the vocal performances are fantastic.  The booming resonance of Jonathan's tenor combined with the pure sweetness of Charlotte's soprano are a joy to listen to.  I was not bothered that most of the vocals are in Italian, because I believe Italian is the most beautiful language in the world and anything sung in Italian sounds better.

The problem I have is with the production.  It is mediocre at best.  It feels like they rushed to get this out to market.  No effort was put into producing any new harmonic arrangements; almost every track is the same back and forth between Charlotte's verses and Jonathan's refrains.  Reminds me of a tennis match.  The editing is choppy; on some tracks, like The Prayer, it's blatantly obvious that the final cut was pieced together from different takes.  On some tracks the recording wasn't clean.  I can't tell if it was due to a cheap mic or the audio post processing.  The mixing levels are off as evidenced by the choir drowning out Charlotte and me having to adjust the volume level from one track to the next.  They butchered up the Ave Maria.  Charlotte started out beautifully and everything was still fine when Jonathan came in, but then he got the lyrics wrong and next they decided to omit a good portion of the second verse in lieu of a choral interlude.  I don't mind the interlude, but you can't arbitrarily leave out part of the Hail Mary!  They also decided to truncate Caruso.  I don't get it.  Why not sing the whole song?

In summary, I think Jonathan & Charlotte are immensely talented, but need to find a better producer.
3545732
the title of this review says it all pretty much.  This movie had a lot of potential.  Don't get me wrong, it did have some extremely funny scenes, and the special features aren't terrible, but it could definitely could have been better.
4389519
I could have loved this book, I really could. There was a lot to like in it. I loved Trent Hawthorne, another slightly eccentric and socially awkward character, and Adelaide, who was also something of a misfit with clumsy streak (yeah, I really identify there).

It was all about two characters who married in less than desirable circumstances learning to love one another, with all their foibles. There was plenty of wit and humour, especially involving Adelaide's mother who was- for lack of a better word- a total harpy.

However, there were two elements that ruined it for me. First was the matter of the consummation. The scene itself was not nearly as graphic as I had expected from some reviews, not at all really. Yet the characters went off and discussed it with family members afterwards. This made the whole thing embarrassing and really, awkward for the reader as well as the characters

The other major complaint I had was with the language and certain social details. Again, as with the previous installments, this Regency novel was riddled with Americanisms. I can ignore these if they are not too obvious, intrusive or only in the narration instead of the character's speech, but that was not the case here. I would be getting into the book, and then another Americanism would just knock me straight out of the setting.

British people don't say 'fix tea' or 'fix breakfast'. We say 'make' or 'prepare' tea- fix means something different in Britain. Nor do we say  'drapes' or 'candies' We say 'curtains' and 'sweets'. Regency ladies did not write their mothers'. They wrote to them.
Also, please, for goodness sake, I once again implore American authors to stop writing about Brits putting cream in tea. WE-DONT-DO-IT. If what is meant by 'cream' is thick, whole milk call it milk. Not cream.

I don't deny that this author worked hard on this series, and generally she did a good job, but she would really benefit from a British beta reader, who could spot that sort of things, because sadly this Brit found the constant use of American terms and phrases not just jarring, but really grating.
Overall, I did enjoy this book, I like the characters, and I will read the next one, but I'm not sure I would want to spend money on the paperback. Maybe the Kindle edition. Without some of the problems above, this series could be comparable to the Greats of the Christian Regency genre, but sadly feel short.

I requested an electronic copy of this book from the Publisher via Netgalley for review. I also purchased the paperback of my own volition. I was not required to write a positive review and all opinions expressed are my own.