Elvie Doll's Reviews > Night Whispers

This book felt formulaic and tired. Also, the first quarter of the book is filled with people and situations that I would avoid to my utmost in reality, which made that part of the story trying. The heroine's biological clock is practically deafening her, her mother comes across as a brainless twit, her best friend is portrayed to be shallow and mercenary, and her boss is such a blatant chauvinist that he ought to be up to his neck in lawsuits. Is it any wonder that I was questioning whether I would even finish this book?

Things improve with a change of venue, which completely changes out that cast of characters, with the exception of the heroine. She, predictably, gets immediately swept into a sizzling romance with the brilliant, sexy, single billionaire next door. Because, they're just lying around for the taking all over the place. He is the requisite jaded womanizer, soured on women and relationships, who nevertheless is instantly entranced and sexually captivated by our naive, near-virginal sweetheart heroine, someone so flawless you need shades so as not to be blinded by her halo.

Anyone who tries to bill this book as a suspense story is yanking your chain. The murder mystery is simplistic and easily solved, and the story revolves entirely around the relationships the heroine develops with her billionaire and some long-lost family members. Even the McNaughtian Great Misunderstanding which temporarily separates the two lovers seems limp and easily conquered compared to previous offerings, although, since the Great Misunderstanding is probably my least favorite McNaught trope, this was not really a negative for me. This one was easily solved because the characters got around to unstopping their ears and behaving like rational people much more quickly than usual.

Despite these flaws, fans of McNaught's modern romances will probably find things to enjoy about this book. It benefits from her fluid prose, the pert, witty banter in which her characters engage, the lush, sweet sensuality of the physical romance, and the pleasure of having nearly every character's problems tied up in neat bows by the end of the story (even if some of the HEAs seem pat to the point of absurdity).

All in all, this is the stalest of McNaught's books that I've read so far. McNaught is a talented writer. She just needs to get a new playbook.