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My Review:Title: Snowbound Seduction
Author: Helen Brooks
Published by: Harlequin Presents
Release Date: January 1, 2010
Format: Kindle Book
Pages: 192
Genres: Romance, Holiday, Contemporary
Reading Challenges: Lenoreo's 2020 12 Books of Christmas Challenge, Lenoreo's 2020 Beat the Backlist Challenge
Find it: Goodreads ✩ Amazon ✩ B&N ✩ Google ✩ Kobo ✩ iBooks
My rating:
Blurb:Rachel Ellington is used to being invisible to men, and that's fine. One example of male deceit in the past was enough to put her off for life! Now she's being pursued by millionaire businessman Zac Lawson—but what can this dazzlingly handsome man see in her?
It's with trepidation that Rachel accepts Zac's invitation to a Christmas country house party. And when they end up stranded because of the wintry weather, she suddenly knows exactly why she's been feeling so nervous…. This is the perfect setting for slow, sweet, seasonal seduction…something Rachel's never experienced before!
2 stars — Oh dear. I don’t know why I didn’t DNF this book. I should have. I think I just needed to see how it would all end up. But I am so not the reader I used to be, and I can’t unsee some things. BTW, this review is going to be spoilery…and ranting.
Now to be fair, I would probably not have liked this book even 10 years ago. Rachel is a BITCH with a capital BITCH. I mean, she’s completely unreasonable in how she compares Zak to Giles, and especially since she holds on to it with every muscle in her body LONG after she should have let it go. She’s like SUPER rude to Zak, and I’m sorry, but it was just over the top.
And what the hell is with Zak?? Why in the world would you be intrigued by someone who treats you like you’re the literal worst? And then I find out he IS the literal worst, because even though she was super clear about her limits and what she wanted, he had EVERY intention of seducing her. It was only after he found out she was saving herself for the right man that he backed off and respected her? So a woman who wasn’t a virgin is fair game?? Fuck that!
Oh! And while I am usually super drawn to ugly duckling books, I did NOT like the way this author promoted stereotypes of other women…there was some inherent girl shaming in the background. I don’t like ugly duckling books where the heroine then goes around comparing with other women about other attributes to make herself feel better. I mean, granted, Rachel had a horrific mother, and that kind of emotional abuse is just not good, but still…
And after all of the cold shoulders and meanness, somehow Rachel falls in love with Zak. Wait, what? Oh yeah, it must have been during the conversations we *didn’t* get to actually read, just hear about how awesome they were. Super helpful with promoting their chemistry and compatibility.
And on a side note? I know Zak wasn’t born Canadian, but he’d been there long enough (though where in Canada, I have no idea, b/c he was just “from Canada”) that there is NO WAY he would have been stupid enough to rent an Aston Martin during a blizzard…and certainly he wouldn’t have brazened it out saying he knew better because he lives in Canada. Idiot.
OK, got that off my chest. I went and looked at my kept Harlequins, and I have 3 others by this author. I wonder if I’ve changed that much, or if this was a super bad example for her. I started rereading one and I think it’s a bit of both. It’s not as bad as this, but it’s still bugging the shit out of me. I wonder how many other Harlequins I’m going to have to abandon now? Probably most of my Presents…well shit.
Well, this certainly sounds like a horrible holiday read. Sorry you didn’t DNF it.