Tuesday 28 August 2012

Book Review: Sharing Hailey


Book Title: Sharing Hailey (purchase)
Author: Samantha Ann King
Publisher: Carina Press
Format: ebook
Cost: $5.39 (from the publisher)
Pages: 240
How I got it: NetGalley
My Rating:★★★☆☆
Erotica Rating: ★★★★☆
Synopsis:
Hailey Anderson's deep, dark secret? She's been madly in lust with her overprotective brother's two best friends for years. Gorgeous woodworking artist Mark Allen and sexy doctor Tony Adamo have no idea they star in her fantasies every night.
After a nasty breakup with her abusive boyfriend, Hailey's looking for a little distance. Headed for a two-week Hawaiian vacation with her brother and his hot friends, Hailey can't wait to feast her eyes on Mark's and Tony's rock-hard, ocean-slick bodies. Even if she can't touch.
But instead of treating her like their little sister, Mark and Tony have a surprising proposition: a monogamous ménage à trois. The three of them—and no one else. Both men want Hailey and have agreed to share her. The red-hot reality is even better than the forbidden fantasy. Until Hailey's ex threatens their newfound happiness…
My Review:

With a premise like that how could I resist reading, hot men, Hawaii, a menage and lots and lots of fun to be had. I dove right in. I give this book about three stars; it was okay, nothing earth shatteringly new.  The concepts were great and the potential for an awesome story was there, yet the characters weren't as fleshed out as they could have been.

Now for the good stuff, when Hailey was with Mark and Tony it was good, I mean really good. They(the men) clearly have worked out before propositioning her what they wanted from the relationship, although that first bedroom scene clearly freaked the men out. LOL. I did get some serious chuckles out of that scene.   The story had to move faster than they clearly were prepared for due to Hailey's past coming home to roost but the overall emotions between the three was great to read, especially when they went dancing at the little club.   Now that dance was sensual.

Even saying all of that I found that the men were kind of forgettable, we really didn't get as much info about them as we could have, yes one worked with his hands and had a great home, but why was he like that?? It would have been nice to hear from the guys a little too. I did find that the most memorable characters are Hailey and the douche-bag ex, and her sister in law.  If your writing an erotica then make it an erotica, don't bog it down with real world issues; I get that she was trying to show how abused women don't really think of themselves that way, but it could have been written a little better.  It's still an okay read. 

As I was reading I took these notes, and just want to share them as the review because it think it explains better how i felt about the book.
1) Hailey is clearly an abused woman and is still covering for him. I get that she wants to move on with her life but has she never seen a Lifetime movie?? How did she not see the signs?? Why is she still protecting him?? I would have told my big brother and my new partners all about it so there would have been no surprises when his crazy butt showed up uninvited.  Why put yourself in danger by getting out of the car, I would have seen him, & I would have kept driving. Hailey does some seriously questionable stuff because she's a people pleaser. Also she's a bit of a prude, they say it to her in the book and it's made clear throughout the book, especially after she calls herself a slut several times because she was lusting after two men.  Which then call into question the relationship, and what exactly she wants from it and for herself. Her concepts of what domestic violence is and her reality is a very off. She still trying to protect both him and herself from the truth. I wonder if she realized she was so easy to manipulate was because she refused to seek help even though she needed it??
2) Why does she care what her brother thinks of her sex life, Your clearly passed the age of consent, yes it might be a little awkward at first, but ummm.... not sure why your hiding it.

At this point I kind of started to dislike Hailey & here is why: This is my beef, I loved Hailey until the author compared her to Jennifer Aniston. I dislike, no loathe, maybe it would be better to say I can't stand the actress, nope let's go with the undiluted truth I hate Jennifer Aniston, yep harsh truth but my truth none the less (no I'm not judging her as a person I hardly know her, but as an actress?? If I pay money then you are fair game for me to judge you). To me she is just meh..and UGh.. she can't act, she always looks like she's about to cry and I just can't understand why the tabloids love her so much!! Her one accomplishment in life is that she was the first Mrs. Brad Pitt, to that I say so??? She still can't act her way out of a paper-bag.  When a character that I liked was compared to her?? Instant dislike. Anyone else, just about anyone else would have been better. And that dear authors is the danger in putting a famous person in your book for comparison, the readers preconceived notions and feelings about the famous person can and will change their reading experience.  

I do like that the author made an attempt to tackle such a tough subject, but the issues Hailey has goes deeper than this book explored. Not to mention she took no time to heal and work through what made her so vulnerable to being abused before jumping into a new relationship. I get that these men have been there for years, and have been men she has wanted but never acted on because she couldn't choose, a little time to heal would have still been nice.  Mark and Tony clearly loved her as more than a friend for years, and yet neither said anything, I loved that they valued their friendship more than the off chance that it wouldn't work. 

I wanted to love it, but instead I walked away liking it, I was happy for Hailey in the end, but man she clearly needed to see a Lifetime movie. 
Happy reading..
Enjoy.


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