Aftershocks
Grade : C-

Nancy Warren's Aftershocks features crisp writing, strong characterizations, and a well-developed plot. Unfortunately, though, it's also saddled with a frustrating heroine and an uncomfortable premise.

Briana Bliss had an ulterior motive when she applied to be the executive assistant to Mayor Patrick O'Shea. Patrick became mayor of Courage Bay, California, by defeating her uncle Cecil, who was like a father to her after her parents died. Cecil's chances were ruined when a story appeared in the newspaper shortly before the election, claiming that he had been arrested for having sex with a prostitute twenty years earlier. Cecil told her the story was faked and Patrick O'Shea was behind it. He wanted Briana to get a job in Patrick's office and dig up some dirt on the man to ruin him the way he ruined Cecil. Briana agreed, determined to catch the unethical man who did this to her uncle.

From the moment Briana came to work in his office, Patrick had to fight his attraction to her since he knows he can't get involved with a subordinate. The previous mayor resigned in shame after he was caught having an affair with his secretary, and that's all the more reason Patrick can't be involved with Briana. Then one night, they find themselves trapped in an elevator together after an earthquake aftershock. Stranded for hours, they give in to the attraction between them, but not before Briana turns on the tape recorder in her purse to record the encounter for her uncle. This is where Briana officially lost me.

The more time she spends with him, the harder she finds it to believe Patrick could have been so underhanded to make up lies about her uncle. After they have sex, she becomes more determined to uncover the truth. But her relationship with Patrick might become more complicated when she loses the tape of them having sex.

The whole encounter is really creepy to read. Patrick is completely into Briana and she's thinking of the best way to get him to make incriminating statements on tape. The author does her best to portray Briana's conflicted feelings, but she comes across as conniving from the start and never completely makes up for that behavior. It's especially off-putting since Patrick tries so hard to do the right thing. Before they have sex, while Patrick attempts to resist, she tells him he can fire her and then rehire her in the morning so they can have sex right then. So he tells her she's fired. Later in the book, as he tries to pursue a relationship with her, Patrick wants to transfer her to a different department so that she won't be working for him and there wouldn't be any impropriety if they continue to pursue a relationship. She refuses. She thinks it would be a step backward in her career. Never mind that she's putting his career at risk, and getting caught sleeping with her boss won't do hers any favors either. He gave her the perfect out to do both the right thing and the smart thing. Briana shows she is capable of doing neither.

The deck is so stacked to show that Patrick is good and Briana's uncle is not, that her actions and her uncertainty are incredibly frustrating. If the lines had been less clearly drawn and the ending less predictable, I might have had more empathy for her. Patrick is a single father with two children and a big loving family. Briana spends time with all these people, getting to know them, but never comes clean. He's so obviously a good man, almost a saint (but in a non-cloying way), that she seems like an idiot for not having figured out his innocence long before their night in the elevator. I read this book in one sitting, partly because it was well-written, but mostly with an uneasy feeling, wanting to get through it sooner because it was making me so uncomfortable. It certainly doesn't help that having the tape out there makes the situation even more excruciating, with this big ticking bomb sitting there in the middle of the plot just waiting to explode.

As I said, this book is well-written. It moves quickly. It's well-plotted. The author's writing is gripping and really drew me into this story and didn't let me go. The emotions are vivid. Patrick is a great hero. His battle with the city council to obtain more money for emergency services is the kind of stuff that could be boring, but it's not. It's actually really interesting, as Patrick shows strength and ingenuity. All of the characters, and that includes Briana and her uncle, are well-developed. They feel real. Strictly in a technical sense, this is the best-written book in the Code Red series so far. But these strong points are outweighed by the premise and the heroine. "Discomfort" and "frustration" should not be the predominant adjectives used in describing a romance.

The thing is, I actually enjoy both deception and revenge plots. When done right, they have the potential to be very dramatic and emotionally-charged. But in order for them to work, the author has to make it so that the person doing the deceiving or seeking revenge isn't completely unlikable. In this case, Briana's reasons for doing this weren't strong enough for me to care about and the way she went about her mission rubbed me wrong at every step. There's a great deal to like about this book. She was enough to ruin it for me.

Reviewed by Leigh Thomas
Grade : C-
Book Type: Series Romance

Sensuality: Warm

Review Date : February 28, 2005

Publication Date: 2005/03

Review Tags: 

Recent Comments …

Leigh Thomas

Subscribe
Notify of
guest

0 Comments
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments
0
What's your opinion?x
()
x