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Title:  Winter’s Island

Author:  Lillian MacKenzie Rhine

Published:  2013 by Match Point Publications

Genre:  Paranormal Romance, Erotica

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Cay Winter’s is taking a road trip when her aunt Lulu calls.  Lulu wants Cay to go to St. Thomas to chaperone her 17 year old cousin who will be attending college there; Lulu is also paying all Cay’s expenses.  Cay wasn’t about to turn up that opportunity so she headed home to pack.  Cay and her cousin, Malcolm, fly to St. Thomas and on arrival meet Malcolm’s mentor, William.  Cay is taken aback by him and his appearance so much that she actually passes out.  She comes to and William is by her side.  They start to form a relationship, but William is moody and gets angry easily.  William also warns Cay to stay away from his brother.  Will Cay find love in St. Thomas, or something else a little more…paranormal?

I did not finish this book.  I got to page 82 out of 159, so I read a little more than half.  I really didn’t like the story at all.  Here are some reasons why.

The lack of contractions during conversations.  When people talk casually they use contractions, and if they don’t, it just doesn’t feel real.  There are some instances in other books, where the use of no contractions show how formal a person talks and that is purposely done.  But that is not the case in this book, because all the characters talked without contractions.  There were the occasional ones thrown in every now and then, but most of the time it went something like this:

“I do not know William.  I am not comfortable in crowds of people.  Do not ask me why, but I am not okay with this [..}” (p. 51)

Also, I couldn’t always tell who was talking because there would be two different quotes with two different people talking in one paragraph.  A lot of times I had to backtrack to figure out who was actually speaking.  Here’s an example:

“Hey Cay.  I am starving.  There are a few crab legs and shrimp calling my name.  Did you want me to bring you something back?” Malcolm licked his lips looking toward the food stands in the distance.  “No thanks.  I think I will wait until William gets here.”

“Okay your loss.  I will catch up with you later.” Malcolm jogged off towards tables filled to the brim with edible items from the local eateries.  “Have fun kiddo! She yelled as she unhitched her lens cover, watching the men dressed in warrior attired complete with shields, spears, and face paint. (p. 78)

Other than the technical issues, I just didn’t like the story.  It didn’t feel real; I couldn’t get lost in it.  The story would jump; a character would be there in the scene and then all of a sudden be leaving.  It was too choppy.  The chemistry between the characters didn’t feel genuine either.  The whole story didn’t feel real.

Also, I didn’t know I’d be reading an erotica.  I’ve read them before, so it’s not a problem, but I just thought it was poorly done, and the terms used in sexual situations were just corny.

There was one good part that I did like, when the aunt, Lulu, was telling Cay about how she got pregnant with her son Malcolm.  In that one part, I did get temporarily lost in the story.  But that was the only time.

I gave Winter’s Island a fair chance, but I didn’t enjoy the book at all.  I would not recommend.

My Rating:  1 out of 5 stars

~Pam

*****I received this book free from the author in exchange for an honest review.*****