Mary Ann Rivers

4.5

Empecé esta novella sin demasiada esperanza de que fuera buena y nada más como un medio de distracción para no pensar en una lección que tengo hoy . Quería dormirme en paz ...

Sorpresa para mí porque después de los primeros dos capitulos , no pude parar de leer hasta que no la terminé . Incluso después del final me quedé con ganas de que hubiese sido una novela entera, con muchas más situaciones y diálogos , y estos protagonistas íncreibles.

Para hacerla corta e instarlos a show more que la lean :

Esperaba la típica erótica con personajes esculturalmente bellos y una historia de sexo entre "anónimos" donde el anonimato se rompe después del primer encuentro , y la relación sexual es la (como cantan Anna y Hans) la puerta hacia el amoooooor.

Me encontré, en cambio , con un énfasis que no está puesto en la cercanía del sexo , sino en la menospreciada anticipación del primer beso: en la nostalgia romántica que evoca el simplemente besar.

Estamos lidiando con gente sin tiempo, gente ocupada o abrumada que extraña esa cotidiana simplicidad. Es ahí que está la genialidad de la historia: tomar lo que para muchos es rutinario o un mero comienzo de algo más y convertirlo en el centro, en el auge del encuentro erótico . Las escenas están tan bien escritas que la sensualidad aparece casi sin que te des cuenta, entre la incomodidad de lo desconocido y la ceguera al dejarse llevar.

Y no es eso nada más, no . Los personajes son personas, tienen sus dramas pero no se revuelcan en ellos ni se dejan vencer. Podemos relacionarnos con sus pesares y emocionarnos con sus derrotas.

Una joya, verdaderamente. Un libro imperdible que cuenta una historia de amor simple y desgarradora a la vez .

Es menos The Notebook y mucho más: esta joya del cine europeo . (No porque The Notebook tenga algo malo , pero la diferencia está) show less

There are some romances that make a reader smile. There are some romance novels that steam up glasses. And there are romances that make a reader cry from joy and again from sadness and then again from joy. The Story Guyis all of these and more. I could not put this book (or my kindle ..) down. There are are some romances where everything is too easy. There are some romance novels that end almost too perfectly happy and the problems just disappear. And then there are some romance novels that show more purposely break your heart. The Story Guy is none of of these. It is an emotional ride, it is beautiful and it is rewarding - but never easy or convenient.

Novellas do not often completely suck me in, but The Story Guy did. From the first page I was in this world; I was invested and I could not (and did not want to) let go. In her guest blog post at Badass Book Reviews, author Mary Ann Rivers discusses the challenges and benefits of writing a novella compared with a full length novel. She admits it is challenging but in a novella she can take risks as a writer. Those risks paid off in The Story Guy.

The set up is not entirely new and but yet it is completely unique. The main character Carrie is a working woman with strong friendships but not in a romantic relationship. She is stuck in a rut and cannot seem to get out. To pass her insomnia, late at night she reads personal ads online, one night -- one of these ads catches her eye. This is where the unique begins.The dialogue in The Story Guy is smart, intellectual and witty. I want Carrie and her friends to be my friends. The importance of a strong backdrop to the romance means that the story was so much richer and more complex. While the romance was the focus, the story was rich because of the characters beyond just the hero and heroine.

Read The Story Guy. You will not be disappointed.

For a chance to win an ebook copy of this novella, come play Badass Book Reviews

To read this review and others like it, check out Badass Book Reviews show less

Mary Ann Rivers' second book delivers and more. Sam the eldest of the Burnsides and an adult with ADHD fights to change his relationship with his siblings, pursue a woman he really cares for while juggling all his duties as brother, friend, lover and physician. Again his romantic lead, a complicated woman named Nina comes with her own baggage and as they navigate the waters of their connection the author reveals the very essence of who they are and how willing they are to confront their own show more pasts and make positive changes. The sex in this second book is even more beautifully written and full of emotion and insight into both characters. I found myself genuinely loving the characters of Sam and Nina. Sam especially surprised me in light of the way I reacted to his negativity in the first book. Made me remember to look below the surface in the negative people in my own life. Love it when fiction teaches me! show less

Wow. For a novella (it’s just over 100 pages of story total), this one packs quite a wallop. I managed to make it through to the end okay, but then the first two paragraphs of the author’s acknowledgements, of all things, had me in tears. The good, happy kind, of course. I’m going to start stalking this author’s website to see when her next book comes out for sure.

This story just blew me away. It was steamy, moving, poignant, and funny. I loved Brian and adored Carrie. I strongly show more suspect that Carrie and I were separated at birth, actually. Even though this novella is fairly short on page count, somehow I couldn’t just read this book quickly—it felt, like Brian’s personal picture, as if it had many layers that I needed to investigate at a slower-than-usual reading pace. (Though, yes, I still read it in a day. It’s summer break! And I’m probably going to read it again before school starts up again in the fall—it’s that good.)

And I am totally getting myself one of those “Reading is Sexy” totes. Or maybe the hoodie. show less