Heart of the Storm by Nicole Stiling

My rating: 2 of 5 stars


I thought I had a good chance at enjoying this book but by about halfway through, I was struggling to keep with it. It’s a tough premise: falling for someone who will likely destroy your relationships with those closest to you. Throw in a murder mystery and, bam!, interesting read, right? Not exactly.

Here are some of the main problems I had with the book. Repeatedly – REPEATEDLY – agreeing that the two MCs will NOT, absolutely not, do anything romantic with each other and then literally minutes later, kiss or have sex. Or move in together. It was sort of maddening. The kid who was 15 acted more like a petulant 12 year old. Might not seem like a big difference but as the mother of a 16 year old, I can tell you, there is.

I also didn’t feel even the slightest bit of chemistry between the women. It might have been just me but the author has there being a few months pass from the first time they spent an afternoon together in a car (Sienna had been step-mother to the kid for nine years but after one car trip of talking horror movies, the love sparks) but it only felt like a week or two by the flow of the story. Maybe I missed something important but the noting of time passing didn’t work for me.

I won’t go into the murder mystery because I don’t want to spoil it but, for me, it was just beyond anything believable.

I just checked to see if I’d read anything else by the author and I have. I should have checked before reading Heart of the Storm because it seems I had pretty much the same reaction to Secrets in a Small Town. Which made my thinking that Juliet reminded me of the Emma character in Once Upon a Time seem more valid…

My favorite Canadian really liked Secrets in a Small Town so I’m betting she’ll like this one, too. If she reads it, maybe we’ll do a “point/counter point” type of review. She already said she’d lead with “Cheri, you ignorant slut.” (Hat tip to all of you old enough to catch the reference)

I do tend to be tough on any f/f romance that includes crime/mystery subplots because I apparently want it all so take that into account when deciding whether or not to read Heart of the Storm.

Thanks to BSB and NetGalley for the book!





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