Rachel Van Dyken

By chapter two i knew i would hate this book, by chapter five i wanted to throw my reader against the wall.

This story was so over the top it might as well been pulled out the authors ass then written.

This is a revised version of my original review. I just had to come back to it, it was bugging me THAT MUCH.

My original review was a rant of just a few key points of the novel that I had issues with. But now a few days and conversations later I am ready to properly explain why I hated this book show more so much.

I would usually start at the beginning and work my way on but there is one paragraph that I would like to quote.

“Chase shrugged. “He’s not just in charge of the key cards, he’s student body president. He makes sure that access is limited for each student. Take for example, a kid from North Korea going to school here. You think they’re going to get along with a South Korean? Or better yet, some ritzy American kid?”
“Um… no?”
Everyone laughed.
Phoenix shook his head. “That’s a hell no, New Girl.”

Well done van Dyken...
Now for those of you that haven't yet read this book this paragraph refers to Nixon, our leading man in the novel. He is a student that is student body president and somehow manages to teach a class as well. That is nothing to get worked up about, but however the fact that he is in charge of all of the administration, gets to decide who lives where, who eats when and how much is. Another example : “He reached into his pocket and pulled out a blue key card and dangled it in front of me. “Say thank you.”
“For what?” I would not cry. I would not cry!
“Allowing you to eat, of course.”
“What?”
“I’m not finished talking,” he said smoothly. “This key card gains you access into the elevator only once a week. It also gains you access into the cafeteria, twice a day. Not three times. We don’t want you gaining weight. Use it wisely and if you impress me with your ability to follow directions. I may just up your freedom. Until then…” He shrugged and cleared his throat. “Move aside.”

I shall return to Nixon shortly right after the Korea disaster. Now this is a school right? And in this school you might find children that are the sons and daughters of diplomats and politicians but that is just it. They are, and to quote van Dyken herself -KIDS!!!! Van Dyken angled to prove just how exclusive this place is by adding bits of real life to it, with absolutely no research what so ever. But just in case I wasn't overreacting because of fictional characters I decided to ask for the opinion of my very real, very South Korean colleague. After the initial 'the b*tch said what?' look, she greeted that particular nugget with two middle fingers raised and a bunch of profanities I chose not to repeat. Long story short, that paragraph made as much sense as saying you can't have a Catholic in the same room as a Muslim. I bet she got the idea watching the evening news one night when North Korea was mentioned. The author wanted to imprint the exclusivity and the importance of her characters but had not thought of how to achieve it that she shot off the first thing that came to mind, and not even bothering to think on how little sense it all made. If she did, she would realise just how unbelievable ranting about some random kid making school cafeteria seating schedule for the benefit of all mankind and world peace really is, or how offensive it would be to label people based on their nationalities alone. That last one by the way......is a big NO-NO.

Now the rest of it...Jesus, where even to begin?

Lets just stick to Trace and Nixon.

Trace, as the author wants us to believe is an innocent as flowers little farm girl. So innocent that she refers to hair curlers as “weird rod thingy”. I would even believe it if she wouldn't refer to the guys in the next chapter as GQ models or “having nothing on Tommy Hilfiger”. So she knows about models and fashion, but has never heard of hair curlers? Right, another believable and thought- trough moment there. Secondly she gets nothing but abuse but she never has any real emotions involved. Her emotional response is about a sentence long. She gets drugged with a date rape drug and dumped in some random guys bed and she just gets up and gets on with her day? Huh?

That is not cool. That is not how any woman on this planet would feel and most certainly that is NOT OK! She is not a naïve little farm girl-she is a moron.

Nixon is the biggest fail in this book. With him the author went for all or nothing and would up with a smelly carcass achieved by an overkill of her vivid imagination. He looks and acts like a GOD, he speaks ten languages, he is single-handedly responsible for the peace between the kids in school therefore in the world by his very politically correct lunch seating arranging skills. He is student body president and a teacher. I mean Superman move the phuck over, we got Nixon in the house.His real traits however are as sad as can be. He is self obsessed and an abusive asshole.

This book is a disaster. The author gave it an honest try but failed in every aspect that counts. She did no research whatsoever and it shows. If it's not a cliché upon a cliché then its absolute and utter nonsense. The conversation between the characters was so immature, the alleged humor was so childish and forced it was like reading a kid's first attempt at writing an essay. Why did i still go trough it? Let's just say that this particular novel was like a bizarre accident, you know what your eyes are seeing is horrific but you just cannot seem to be able to look away.

There are more things about this book that just don't add up but it's just not worth the mentioning. Suffice to say that the sheer amount of idiocies in these pages are enough to make the experience of reading them painful. They flow trough your mind like salted sandpaper on a burn.

Congrats van Dyken, you just made to the top of my I won't read that sh*t list.

What a waste of money this was. I could have had my fave coffee at Starbucks instead.... damn show less

My Review:

This book was a pure delight and so refreshing. Something I have loved about this series is the refreshing feel of a take it has on the mafia world that this author has created. I love the humor, the banter between the family members but also the deep heart that is hidden in the layers of the story. This features our hero, who has been working undercover for the FBI but is becoming entrenching and bonded with this mafia family. Then we have our heroine, who is damaged and hiding show more the abuse she suffered with bravado and a prickly outer core. But Tank knows that something is wrong, something that hurt his girl to turn her from bright and bubbly and sweet into being bitter and outrageous in ways that don't fit her heart.

I loved seeing Tank work on our heroine, to dig deep and peel one layer at a time to really understand the woman he loves, and to shed his own ego and pride and share their own vulnerabilities together. The sense of family is powerful in these books and they get so outrageous and fun, so its definitely not your normal mafia romance you normally read. I had a fun time with Mafia King and this was a good one to be part of the 1001 Dark Nights series as well. Definitely eager to explore the rest of the series. show less

People Brant like make me not believe in relationships these days. They are also the ones who kill romance for me. He thinks of Nikki in almost everything he does and yet he spends the four years he was away from her manwhoring and drinking. The drinking, I can understand. He and Nikki share a very tragic story. But manwhoring? Why? He even taunts Nikki with the conquests he had over the years. Brant is the worst hero in the series and I didn't like him from the beginning until the end of show more the book. I felt sorry for poor Nikki. She didn't deserve what happened to her or someone like Brant. She deserved someone like Cole. He proved that he was better than Brant more than once and he was the better man. I wish Nikki had gone on a couple of dates with him to give Brant a taste of his own medicine. This book is one of the few cases where I said that either the heroine or the hero was better off with someone other than the person the author intended them to be with aka the other main character. Cole should have gotten Nikki because he was the one who had her back when she needed help and was worried about her. Instead, he was pushed aside when mister STD came into the picture again. Not cool with me. Brant treated her badly when all those years back and in present time. And guess who came to the rescue.

I wish Cole will get a story. He needs to find his happy ending with someone who will love him. To be honest all the people in the resort were great and I would love a series where they get their happy endings. Or at least where Cole does. His character is my favorite, after Nikki. The "love of her life" is in the last place in case you are wondering.The people at the resort saved the book as well as Brant's family. I liked the heroine so she also gave points to the book. I just don't understand why she tried to have something with Brant after everything. Since Brant's type is the norm these days I will say that most of "romance" readers will enjoy the book so if you want go and read it. I know I won't do it again. show less

Holy moly! I feel like I just drove along the windiest, twistiest, curviest road ever! And I loved every last curve.

Rachal Van Dyken has done it, she has squeezed out 5 stars from me. Every one of those stars is deserved!

All of the characters in this book sucked me in, captivated me and made me want to know more. Even the ones I hated!

What is truly brilliant is that while I want more, more, more I am not feeling like if I was left hanging. I got SO much story here, I am satisfied. (for show more now ;) )

When you are ready for the roller coaster grab a glass (or bottle) of wine to calm your nerves when you start feeling the anxiety and enjoy! It’s an amazing, amazing ride! show less