Title :: Dark Paradise
Author :: Tami Hoag
Publisher :: Orion Books
Rating :: (out of 5)
Recommendation :: Only for those hard core epic romance fans. I didn't even finish the book, so, for those who read the stuff I do, don't.

:: Full Review
To be fair, I'll admit it. I was a fan of Tami Hoag. A big fat one, at that. At the age when puberty first hit me fast and hard, I was hooked on every kind of romance novel there was to be read and Tami Hoag was one of my favourite writers for romance novels. I even have her signed autograph addressed to a certain Marsha Barton...a name I wanted to go by at that time cause I thought Marsha Maung was just so....ASIAN, hence uncool.

A long, hard and difficult life later...I don't fancy reading any more of those stuffs....or so, I have discovered.

It just doesn't seem logical anymore, the way she wrote it. It simply didn't make any sense whatsoever. To keep up with times....she still wrote profanity in the book and still, it was as refined as refined can be. But still....it was missing....that something, you know what I mean?

I have to force myself to read on through my incredulous disbelief. Let's take theng scene as an example.

The city girl, Mari (Marilee) went to her bestfriend's house in one of those farms only to find that she's dead right...only she didn't know it yet. She went to the empty house which was messy and all broken up. Out pounce someone who grabbed her and held her captive. Well, not captive but held her still while she struggled against him....sounds like an epic romance novel yet? And one of the other things that struck me when I read the book was this: How can anyone, in the face of danger and fear, think about breasts and the solidity of the chest wall of the man she was afraid of?

How can a man who have just received a death blow to the groin (or it could be some other parts of the body) think about caressing the breasts of the woman who delivered the blow?

Plus, the writer didn't make any effort in giving us, the readers, an insight into the relationship between the protagonist and the bestfriend. All we know, from the start was that they were close.

So, if all close friends with no relatives whatsoever give their fortune to their bestfriends without any particular reason, then I guess I want to start a bestfriend hunt now. A bestfriend with no boyfriend, no parents, no relatives and no other good friends....perfect.

Maybe I was expecting too much from Tami Hoag because I have very deep memories about liking the way she writes. But the writing seems to be lost on me now.

Honestly, I wish I tried harder at finishing this book - I really do. Maybe it deserves more than I gave it. But it just wasn't my cup of tea....or it isn't my cup of tea anymore, I suppose. One day...I may want to finish up the story. But not right now.

:: Dark Paradise - Tami Hoag